Planet Urban on ETV

Planet Urban on ETV is the biggest and best produced youth entertainment programme currently telecasted on the Sri Lankan English language television. The show is filmed in both Australia and Sri Lanka and is a first of its kind 'Urban Culture TV Series' developed in collaboration with young Sri Lankan reporters and journalists across the world.

Planet Urban runs for thirty minutes and explores the latest global pop culture trends inspired by music, fashion, film and the arts. It's also the first Sri Lankan TV series to have Sri Lankan reporters interviewing major celebrities such as Jay Sean, Akon and Sean Paul to name a few. The show is programmed to contain five major features which are stories on overseas pop culture trends, interviews with major celebrities, interviews with young Sri Lankan entrepreneurs and with quirky college students with advice on how to survive university.

The show is the brainchild of Sri Lankan-born Australian TV/Radio producer Desh Amila and popular Sri Lankan recording artiste Randhir. 'Planet Urban' is in fact the name of an urban music programme Desh produced for a community radio station early in his career. Desh is currently a well known figure in Melbourne's event production industry and has toured some of the world's biggest Hip-Hop and RnB acts for close to a decade.

While Randhir is best known as Sri Lanka's most prominent Hip-Hop/RnB artiste, he is also a talented documentary-film maker and has produced a range of documentaries for major NGOs, corporations and TV channels. Randhir's passion for music has also driven him to produce documentary films on the growth of the Sri Lankan Hip-Hop and Electronic Music industry.

"Planet Urban is revolutionary. It's the first Sri Lankan TV series with access to the world's major celebrities. This is the kind of programming young Sri Lankans have been yearning for", says Randhir. Planet Urban certainly sets a new benchmark in Sri Lanka's youth TV programming sphere. Youth programming is a crucial part of any station's portfolio. We are committed to developing youth TV programs that educate, entertain and orient Sri Lankan youth with the world at large", ETV Content & Business Development Director Ashani Jayasinghe said.

Planet Urban is produced and directed by veteran Sri Lankan TV producer Rudy Christiansen.The show is hosted by two dynamic young anchors Tanila and Thejani. Both presenters are of Sri Lankan descent and currently reside in Australia. Tanila and Thejani are university undergraduates and come from very strong artistic backgrounds. Both individuals are also keen stage performers.

The show which is sponsored by the Australian College of Business and Technology (ACBT) is telecast weekly at 8pm on Wednesday, 1pm and 9pm on Saturdays and 6pm on Sundays. The show can also be viewed online on Facebook: facebook.com/PlanetUrbanTV and on youtube.com/PlanetUrbanTV.