Sirasa FM, owned by MBC/MTV of Sri Lanka, remains the number one station on the island according to the latest research.

The Sinhalese station reached around 3.5 million listeners per week during August, according to research by Lanka Market Research Bureau (LMRB).

The latest diary survey shows that Sirasa FM has a 20.8 percent share of all Sinhala radio listening in Sri Lanka.

Launched in March 1994, the station has recently consistently rated number one.

Hiru FM – owned by Asia Broadcasting  is a close second in terms of weekly reach but lower on share with 15.7 percent.

The number three Sinhala station during August was Neth FM, owned by Asset Radio Broadcasting.

In the Tamil space, the number one station was Sooriyan FM (owned by Asia Broadcasting) with a 41.7 percent share of Tamil listening.

Shakhti FM (MBC/MTV owned) came in second with 38.8 percent share and Vasantham was third with 7.5 percent.

Vasantham is run by the state-owned Independent Television Network.

While the research for Sinhala and Tamil stations is done through the diary method, ratings for English stations are compiled through a combination of diary, telephone and face-to-face surveys to target upper and middle socio-economic target in major cities (SEC AB Urban).

According to LMRB, the top three English stations in August were Gold FM (Asia Broadcasting) with an estimated 25.5 percent share of English listening.

YES FM (MBC/MTV owned) was second with a 17.2 percent share and Sun FM (Asia Broadcasting) third with a 14 percent share.

YES FM was number one (English) in terms of weekly reach at 6.6 percent.