Technical and expert committee meetings tied to the 63rd General Assembly of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union opened on Friday at Cinnamon Life, City of Dreams, in Colombo.

Sessions of the ABU’s Sports Committee, Programme Committee and Technical Committee were held with international media executives and regional representatives attending, NewsFirst reported.

ABU Secretary-General Ahmed Nadeem and Yasarath Kamalsiri, chief executive of MTV Channels (Pvt) Ltd, welcomed the visiting delegations. Kamalsiri said hosting this year’s assembly was an honour for MTV Channels and the Maharaja Media Network, and pointed to the broadcaster’s Gammadda initiative as an example of media contributing to social change.

What the ABU chief told delegates

Nadeem said audiences — younger viewers in particular — are shifting towards short-form content and personalised experiences, and argued that broadcasters must embrace innovation while protecting the quality, credibility and cultural relevance of their output.

He also addressed artificial intelligence, saying it is playing a growing role in content production and can improve workflows and support producers and content creators. Alongside that, he said the industry needs to confront cybersecurity, content security and authenticity challenges.

The week ahead

The committee discussions were due to continue on Saturday, turning to policies expected to shape broadcasting across the Asia-Pacific region. The event signage photographed at the venue gives the sitting times as 09:00–17:00 on 30 October and 09:00–12:30 on 31 October.

The official inauguration of the 63rd General Assembly is set for Sunday, 1 November at Cinnamon Life. A concert featuring artistes from across the region is scheduled for Monday, 2 November at the Stein Studios Complex in Ratmalana.

Update: the assembly’s scale and theme, from a second newsroom

A second verified outlet has since filed on the assembly, answering several of the questions this article originally recorded as unreported. The Island puts attendance at more than 350 broadcasters, media leaders, industry experts, policymakers and partners, gives the theme as ‘Media for Peace and Humanity: Truth, Trust and Transformation’, and sets the full run of the event from 30 October to 3 November 2026, The Island reported.

It also records two firsts stated by Secretary-General Ahmed Nadeem: this is the first time Sri Lanka has hosted the ABU’s main annual event, and the first time a private broadcaster has been host. The opening ceremony was to be attended by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

The Monday concert referred to below is identified as the 15th ABU Song Festival, held at Stein Studios in Ratmalana with performers representing ten Asia-Pacific nations. The week closes with an excursion to Galle and Bentota. The Island describes the ABU as founded in 1964 and headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, spanning half the globe and reaching more than 50% of the world’s population, and quotes ABU vice-president Zhou Jihong on the assembly’s agenda of emerging broadcasting trends, media resilience, AI-driven transformation, public service media and regional collaboration.

Government support for the event came from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Tourism, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and Tourism Development Authority, the Department of Immigration and Emigration, Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd, Sri Lanka Police, the Colombo Municipal Council and the Ruhunu Tourist Bureau.

Not reported

No filing says what decisions the General Assembly itself was expected to take, or names all the countries represented.

Correction to this article’s sourcing note. As first published, this report carried a paragraph stating it rested on a single verified source. That is no longer accurate: The Island’s account of the assembly was published on 1 November and is now cited above. The original note recorded, correctly at the time, that a Friday-evening check of the Daily Mirror and Hiru News rails found no filing from either outlet on the committee meetings; Ada Derana has returned a CloudFront block to this desk for roughly 51 consecutive days.