Clifford Dodd
| Clifford R.Dodd | |
|---|---|
The Father of Commercial Broadcasting in Ceylon
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| Born | Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Radio Administrator |
| Employer | The Government of Ceylon |
| Known for | Founding the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon |
| Title | Director, Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon (contracted under the Colombo Plan) |
| Successor | Livy Wijemanne |
Clifford R. Dodd was an administrator and radio expert, with twenty years experience in broadcasting in Australia, before he arrived in Sri Lanka. He was sent by the Australian Government under the Colombo Plan to work in Radio Ceylon. He was appointed Director of the newly formed Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon.
The Colombo Plan was established in July 1951 to provide economic aid to areas of south and southeast Asia. The Headquarters are in Colombo, the former capital city of Sri Lanka.
Dodd, arriving in Colombo in the early 1950s, soon created the infrastructure of the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon and made it into a successful brand. Dodd hand picked some of the best Ceylonese talents around and trained them as broadcasters. The announcers trained in the 1950s by Clifford Dodd and Livy Wijemanne went on to become legendary announcers of the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon, among them: Vernon Corea, Tim Horshington, Greg Roskowski, Jimmy Bharucha, Christopher Greet and others. One of Dodd's protégés, Vernon Corea was appointed as the BBC's Ethnic Minorities Adviser – the first Asian to be appointed to senior management at the BBC in 1978. It was under Dodd's tenure that the Indian announcer Ameen Sayani was brought into launch Binaca Geetmala, a countdown of Hindi filmi music on the All Asia Service. It enjoyed iconic status across India.
The training at Radio Ceylon was rigorous, Dodd wanted the highest standards in broadcasting. He has the rare honour of being immortalised in a cartoon by the famous Sri Lankan cartoonist Aubrey Collette who published a cartoon titled ' Odd Man Dodd.'
Dodd created a positive business environment in Radio Ceylon. Dodd was a charismatic figure who had firm leadership skills. His arrival in Torrington Square created a real buzz in broadcasting circles in Ceylon. Clifford R.Dodd changed the face of broadcasting in the island. He upgraded the Hindi Service of Radio Ceylon. Millions of listeners in the Indian sub-continent wrote in and tuned into the radio station, the oldest in South Asia. Dodd was a prime mover in attracting advertisers who were aiming at the vast Indian market via the medium of radio.
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Wikipedia