Mediacorp
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Company type | Private Limited |
---|---|
Industry | Entertainment Mass media Interactive media Media consultancy Outdoor advertising |
Founded | February 15, 1963 |
Headquarters | 1 Stars Avenue |
Area served | Singapore Southern Malaysia Riau Islands |
Key people | Teo Ming Kian (Chairman) Shaun Seow (CEO)[1] |
Owner | Temasek Holdings |
Parent | Temasek Holdings |
Subsidiaries | Mediacorp TV Singapore Pte Ltd Mediacorp Press Ltd Mediacorp VizPro International Pte Ltd Mediacorp Raintree Pictures Pte Ltd Singapore Media Academy Media Research Consultants Pte Ltd OOH Media Pte Ltd 1-Net Singapore Pte Ltd |
Website | www.mediacorp.sg |
Mediacorp Pte Ltd, better known as Mediacorp, is a group of commercial media companies in Singapore, with business interests in television and radio broadcasting, interactive media, and, to a lesser extent, print publishing and filmmaking.
Currently, Mediacorp runs 7 television channels and 12 radio channels, making it the largest media broadcaster and provider in Singapore, and the only terrestrial TV broadcaster in the city-state. It is wholly owned by Temasek Holdings, a government-owned investment arm.[2]
History
Before 12 February 2001, Mediacorp was formerly known as:
- Television Singapore (TV Singapore, 15 February 1963 – 30 December 1963)
- Television Malaysia (Singapore) (28 December 1963 – 8 August 1965)
- Radio and Television Singapore (RTS, 9 August 1965 – 31 January 1980)
- Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC, 1 February 1980 – 30 September 1994)
- Television Corporation of Singapore (TCS), Radio Corporation of Singapore (RCS) and Singapore Television Twelve (STV12) (1 October 1994 – 11 February 2001)
Timeline
Year | Date | Event |
---|---|---|
1935 | 21 July | Radio services in Singapore began when the broadcasting licence was awarded to the British Malaya Broadcasting Corporation (BMBC) |
1937 | 1 March | Official opening of BMBC studios and transmitters at Caldecott Hill |
1940 | BMBC was taken over by the Government of the Straits Settlement, and became part of the British Department of Information known as Malaya Broadcasting Corporation | |
1961 | 4 April | Television Singapura started planned obtaining transmission for television. |
1963 | 21 January | Television Singapura started test of transmission for television. |
1963 | 15 February | Television Singapura was launched as Singapore's first television station. |
1963 | 3 April | Television Singapura officially began broadcasting. Regular broadcast on Channel 5 began and broadcast programmes mainly in English and Malay. |
1963 | 23 November | Regular broadcast on the second channel, Channel 8 was launched and shows programmes mainly in Mandarin and Tamil. |
1963 | 28 December | TV1 began broadcasting in time for New Year 1964. Television Singapura renamed as Television Malaysia (Singapura) when Singapore became part of Malaysia on 16 September 1963. |
1964 | 1 January | The first advertisement was aired to reduce the station's reliance on subsidies. |
1965 | 9 August | Radio and television operations were joined together as Radio and Television of Singapore (RTS). |
1980 | 31 January | RTS ceased transmission and officially dissolved by David Gabriel, who was the voice of announcements.[3] |
1980 | 1 February | RTS became the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) and became a statutory board. |
1980 | 3 February | Rolling off the presses for the very first time in 1980, the Radio and TV Times became an important source of weekly radio and television programme schedules for Singapore. First published in English and Mandarin, these magazines also served up local and international entertainment news and trivia. They have grown to be today's best-selling 8 Days and i-Weekly magazines. |
1984 | 31 January | SBC 12, later renamed MediaCorp TV12 was launched. |
1989 | The launch of Singapore's first 24-hour radio station, Perfect 10, now known as 987FM | |
1990 | 1 Jan | The launch of the first Mandarin music radio station Y.E.S. 93.3FM |
1990 | 1 August | SBC began stereo broadcasts on all television channels. |
1993 | 1 December | SBC was the first broadcaster in Singapore to launch an international satellite television directed from Caldecott Hill and the Singapore International Foundation's regional broadcasting venture, Singapore International Television (SITV). |
1994 | 1 January | SBC 5 revamp the channel logo for a new look and Malay programmes were transferred from SBC 5 to SBC 12. |
1994 | 1 February | Radio Singapore International (RSI) is a first international shortwave radio station and SBC 12 revamp the channel logo for a new look. |
1994 | 29 May | SBC 8 revamp the channel logo for a new look. |
1994 | August | The premiere of AM Singapore on SBC 5. The first channel in Singapore to have ever launched their very first breakfast programme and the first channel to do so. |
1994 | 30 September | SBC ceased transmission at midnight on Saturday, 1 October 1994 at 00:00:00 SST was renamed as Television Corporation of Singapore/新加坡电视机构 (TCS/新视), Radio Corporation of Singapore/新加坡广播机构 (RCS/新广) & Singapore Television Twelve/新加坡电视十二 (STV12) it was officially launched on Saturday, 1 October 1994. |
1994 | 1 October | SBC was privatised into a new holding company's Singapore International Media/新加坡国际传媒 (SIM) to own our television & radio form 3-companies such: Television Corporation of Singapore/新加坡电视机构 (TCS/新视), Radio Corporation of Singapore/新加坡广播机构 (RCS/新广) & Singapore Television Twelve/新加坡电视十二 (STV12) such: TCS operated 5th Frequency (Channel 5)/第五波道 & 8th Frequency (Channel 8)/第八波道 while RCS operated Gold 90.5FM, Warna 94.2FM, 95.8FM/958城市频道, Olikalanjiam 96.8FM, Symphony 92.4FM, Perfect 10 98.7FM, Class 95.0FM, 93.3FM/933醉心频道, Ria 89.7FM & 97.2FM/972最爱频道 which STV12 operated 12th Frequency (Channel 12)/第十二波道. |
1995 | 1 January | Programmes produced by TCS 8 were broadcast in Taiwan, via the newly established TCS International cable channel. |
1995 | March | The premiere of Good Morning Singapore on TCS 8, the first breakfast programme in Mandarin to have ever broadcast on this channel. This was the first Mandarin-Tamil channel to do so after TCS 5 launched their first breakfast programme in Singapore. |
1995 | 1 September | TCS 5 is currently a 24-hour free-to-air new English news and entertainment television channel and TCS 8 is currently a 24-hour free-to-air Mandarin news and entertainment television channel, TCS 5 and TCS 8 now broadcasting 24-hours a day, STV12 revamp the channel logo for a newly launched Prime 12 was a free-to-air new Malay and Tamil language news and entertainment television channel and Premiere 12 is a sports, life to nurture a gracious, elegant society art and cultural programmes marking the inception of niche programming was launched, Tamil programmes were transferred from TCS 8 to Prime 12 was a free-to-air new Tamil language news and entertainment television channel. |
1998 | 1 August | Raintree Pictures was launched.[4] |
1998 | 31 December | Singapore International Media (SIM) ceased transmission. |
1999 | 1 January | SIM Group of Companies becomes Media Corporation of Singapore (MediaCorp Singapore). |
1999 | 1 March | Channel NewsAsia (CNA) was launched as Singapore's first national news channel and on Analogue terrestrial. |
2000 | 30 January | Prime 12 and Premiere 12 were renamed Suria, a full-fledged Malay channel with a mix of news and entertainment, Central is a full-fledged English children's and niche channel with the channel's important motto, educating children, life to nurture a gracious, elegant society art and cultural programmes marking the inception of niche programming and Tamil language news and entertainment television channel and SportCity was a full-fledged English sports channel was launched. |
2001 | 12 February | TCS, STV12 and CNA becomes MediaCorp TV, MediaCorp TV12 and MediaCorp News. |
2001 | 14 February | TVMobile began broadcasting programmes on SBS Transit buses. |
2001 | 6 May | Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) were given a television broadcasting licence, and SPH MediaWorks was established. MediaWorks offered two channels Channel U and TV Works (later renamed to Channel i. At the same time, MediaCorp was given the license to print, write and distribute the free daily tabloid Today. |
2004 | 17 September | To stop further economic losses, MediaCorp and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) agreed to merge their free-to-air television and free newspaper operations. |
2004 | 31 December | MediaCorp and SPH announced that the merger is legally completed, It created the new holding company MediaCorp Television Broadcasting Arm which will manage and operate Channel 5, Channel 8, TVMobile, Channel NewsAsia, Suria, Central, Teletext and Channel U (formerly known as SPH MediaWorks). |
2005 | 1 January | Channel U joined MediaCorp and relaunched as MediaCorp Channel U. Its sister channel, Channel i ceased transmission due to the limited English channel market that was proved by a research done in Singapore to check its commercial viability and 3 years later, it was also relaunched as MediaCorp TV12 okto. |
2007 | HD5 was launched, becoming the first free-to-air HDTV channel in Singapore. MediaCorp also launched MOBTV, an online television service. Radio division was forced to lock listeners from the United States out of its webcasts, due to royalty rates imposed by the US Copyright Royalty Board. | |
2008 | 1 January | MediaCorp TV came out with a new look and a new forum for Channel 5, Channel 8 and Channel U websites. |
2008 | 19 October | Okto was launched, replacing MediaCorp TV12 Central with the 2 former strands and the former channel, Kids Central, Arts Central and it used the Channel i frequency on Channel 30. Vasantham was also launched, replacing MediaCorp TV12 Central's Tamil timeshared channel, Vasantham Central and it was broadcast on the same channel that Central formerly used (Channel 24). |
2010 | 1 January | TVMobile ceased transmission[5] |
2010 | March | xinmsn, a joint venture between MediaCorp and Microsoft was launched.[6] |
2010 | 31 August | The premiere of The Two of Us was shown on Channel 5 and HD5 in English with Malay and Mandarin subtitles. |
2011 | It launched a-ok (arts on okto) / ArtBites and broadcast on okto. | |
2013 | 21 January | Channel NewsAsia commenced their 24-hour broadcasts.[7] |
2013 | 15 February | MediaCorp celebrated its first 50 years for TV transmission, during the Chinese New Year season.[8] |
2013 | 30 September | Teletext ceased operations.[9] |
2013 | 16 December | All MediaCorp free-to-air channels were upgraded to DVB-T2 format. New ring of upgrades were accelerated for households.[10] |
2015 | 1 April | xinmsn ceased operations and all of its operations were moved to Toggle and MSN Singapore |
2015 | 4 May | Okto is now available in High Definition (HD). |
2015 | 26 May | Channel NewsAsia is now available in High Definition (HD). Channel U will be upgraded to HD by 2016. |
2015 | 8 December | Mediacorp opened its new premises at Mediapolis@one-north in Buona Vista.[11] In addition, a new logo has been introduced. Mediacorp will vacate its premises at Caldecott Hill progressively for a period of nine months. |
2016 | 1 February | Channel U is now available in High Definition (HD) and all Mediacorp free-to-air TV channels has been available in HD. |
2016 | 26 November | Final entertainment programme to be telecasted live from Caldecott Hill, the 3rd episode of the 20th season of The Sheng Siong Show, and was marked with a symbolic switching off the lights of the studio. |
2016 | 11 December | MediaCorp will be switching over to fully digital broadcast. |
2017 | 1st quarter | MediaCorp will completely shift out of Caldecott Hill and into Mediapolis and open its campus to the community with an array of public facilities. This marks the end of 80 years of transmission from Caldecott Hill. |
Television
Mediacorp offers seven free terrestrial television channels, and six high-definition channels As a result of the MediaCorp-MediaWorks merger in late 2004, Singapore Press Holdings currently holds a 20% interest in MediaCorp's TV operations.[12]
Notable TV shows from Mediacorp
TV drama and sitcom series
- Chinese language
Year | Name of drama | Description |
---|---|---|
1982 | Seletar Robbery 实里达大劫案 |
First Singaporean television film. |
1984 | The Awakening 雾锁南洋 |
The first epic drama. |
1993 1996 2002 |
The Unbeatables 双天至尊 |
First drama series in Singapore about gambling. Its three seasons were released in 1993, 1996 and 2002 respectively. |
1996 | Don't Worry, Be Happy 敢敢做个开心人 |
The first local Chinese sitcom. |
1998 | Return of the Condor Heroes 神雕侠侣 |
The most expensive wuxia drama ever produced by MediaCorp, based on Louis Cha's novel. The serial made waves in the Taiwan and China markets and was repeated due to overwhelming audience demand. It also made screen idols out of Fann Wong and Christopher Lee, who were the charismatic leads. |
2003 | Holland V 荷兰村 |
A long-running Chinese drama in Singapore TV history with 125 episodes. |
2004 | Double Happiness 喜临门 |
A long-running Chinese drama, it had 142 episodes in two parts. The first part was shown from May to August, while the second part began in October. |
2005 | Portrait of Home 同心圆 |
A long-running Chinese drama with 100 episodes in two parts. The first part (60 episodes) aired from May to July, while the second part (40 episodes) began in October. Was nominated for best drama serial in 2005, but lost to A New Life. |
2007 | Kinship 手足 |
MediaCorp's long-running 83-episode Chinese drama in 2007. |
2008 | Love Blossoms 心花朵朵开 |
MediaCorp's long-running 113-episode Chinese drama in 2008. |
2008 | The Little Nyonya 小娘惹 |
A 34-episode blockbuster on Peranakan Chinese culture in pre and post-World War II Malaya, celebrating Channel 8's 45th anniversary. It is the first drama to have been broadcast through Suria in dual sound. Awarded Best Drama Series Award in Star Awards 2009. |
2009 | The Dream Catchers 未来不是梦 |
A 20-episode drama about Singapore's engineering sector, commissioned by the Economic Development Board. Filming was conducted in SIAEC and Chartered Semiconductor, and was partially filmed in Japan, the leads were also interviewed by NHK. This drama was featured on BBC Asia Business Report. |
2009 2010 |
Your Hand In Mine 想握你的手 |
MediaCorp's long-running 180-episode Chinese drama in 2009, and also the mid-year drama in 2010 (2nd half version). |
2009 | Together 当我们同在一起 |
A 36-episode drama celebrating MediaCorp Channel 8's 46th anniversary. Awarded Best Drama Series Award in Star Awards 2010. |
2011 2013 2014 2016 |
C.L.I.F. 警徽天职 |
A police blockbuster trilogy in collaboration by the Singapore Police Force. Its four seasons were released in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2016, and was made as the second 9pm trilogy series after The Unbeatables. |
2013 2015 |
The Dream Makers 志在四方 |
A 30-episode mega blockbuster in 2013, celebrating 50 years of television. The drama focuses on the television industry. |
2013 2014 2015 |
The Journey 信约 |
An end-year mega blockbuster trilogy spanning three years, from 2013 to 2015. The first volume of the series, A Voyage, will celebrate 50 years of television. It will be the first periodical drama to use special effects. The series revolves around the human spirit in Singaporeans of yonder years, from the 1920s to the 1930s. The producer was interviewed by local news programme Singapore Today in its 'live' outdoor telecast. Tumultuous Times, Part 2 of the series, revolves around World War II and the Independence days. Our Homeland, the final season of the series, revolves around post-independence, and how Singaporeans come together as a nation to overcome national crisis. It will culminate with the celebrations for the nation's 50th birthday (SG50) in 2015. |
2014-2015
- English language
- ABC DJ (2006) - local English sitcom, starring Korean actor Eugene C. Lee
- After Hours - local English drama, starring Linda Liao, Utt, Joanne Peh; two seasons
- Code of Law (2012) - local English drama about the legal profession in Singapore, premiered 13 September 2012
- Enbloc (2008) - local English drama, starring Patrick Teoh, Darren Lim, Nick Shen, Nathaniel Ho, Rebecca Lim
- Fighting Spiders (2009) - Channel 5's drama, premiered 14 April 2009
- First Touch (2000-2002) - local English drama, starring Edmund Chen, Amy Cheng, Vernetta Lopez, Nick Shen
- Growing Up (1996-2001) - the longest running English drama in Singapore, spanning around 1960s - 1980s
- Like My Own (2004) - local English drama, starring Flora Chan, Zhu Mi Mi, Ho Wen Long, Amy Cheng
- Living with Lydia - local English sitcom, starring Lydia Sum
- Maggi & Me (2006) - local English sitcom, starring Adrian Pang and Fiona Xie, premiered 25 July 2006
- Making Love (2000) - local English comedy, starring Andrea D'Cruz, Celest Chong, Jimmy T, Kevin Verghese
- Masters of The Sea (1994) - TV drama
- Moulmein High - local English drama, starring Cynthia Koh
- Oh Carol! - local English sitcom, starring Carol Cheng
- Phua Chu Kang (1997-2007) - local English sitcom, starring Gurmit Singh; criticized for its heavy use of Singlish)
- Point of Entry (2010) - local English action-drama about an elite team of ICA, premiered 2 December 2010
- Point of Entry 2 (2012) - local English action-drama about an elite team of ICA, premiered 5 January 2012
- The Pupil (2010-2011) - local English drama, about the legal profession in Singapore, premiered 7 January 2010
- Red Thread (2009) - local English drama, premiered 14 April 2009
- Tiramisu (2005) - local English drama, starring Sharon Au
- Under One Roof (1994) - the first local English sitcom, criticized for its use of Singlish
- VR Man - TV drama; an attempt at making a superhero show with local personalities
- Yang Sisters (2006) - local English sitcom, starring Cheng Pei-pei, premiered 28 September 2006
- Tamil language
- Nijangal
- Pradhana Vizha
- Pradhana Vizha 2014
- Vettai - Season 1: Vettai : Pledged to Hunt; Season 3: Vettai 3 : The Final Judgment
News
- Berita - Suria's flagship news programme in Malay, first shown at 8pm SST and repeats at 11:30pm SST
- Tamil Seithi - Vasantham's flagship news programme in Tamil, shown at 8:30pm SST and repeats at 11:30pm SST on Monday to Wednesday, time varies before closedown on Thursdays to Sundays
- News 5 - Channel 5's and HD5's flagship news programme in English, shown at 9:00pm SST
- Primetime World - Channel NewsAsia's flagship news programme in English, shown at 9:00pm SST
- News Tonight - Channel 8's flagship news programme in Mandarin, first shown at 10:00pm SST and repeated on Channel U at 11:00pm SST
Other shows
- Crime Watch - talk about crime prevention, partially based on the German programme; produced by MediaCorp and Singapore Police Force
- True Files - cases of past murders
- True Courage - the extraordinary courage of some Singaporeans
Radio
Mediacorp offers twelve free-to-air FM radio channels,[18] all of which can be accessed online and via mobile apps. The company's digital audio broadcasting (DAB) service was discontinued on 1 December 2011.[19]
Frequency | Station | Language | Format | Website |
89.7 MHz | Ria 89.7FM | Malay | Top 40 (CHR) | Link |
90.5 MHz | Gold 90.5FM | English | Classic hits | Link |
92.4 MHz | Symphony 92.4FM | English | Classical | Link |
93.3 MHz | Y.E.S. 93.3FM | Chinese | Top 40 (CHR) | Link |
93.8 MHz | 938LIVE | English | Talk radio | Link |
94.2 MHz | Warna 94.2FM | Malay | News, infotainment | Link |
95.0 MHz | Class 95FM | English | Adult contemporary | Link |
95.8 MHz | Capital 95.8FM | Chinese | Talk radio | Link |
96.8 MHz | Oli 96.8FM | Tamil | Infotainment | Link |
97.2 MHz | Love 97.2FM | Chinese | Easy listening | Link |
98.7 MHz | 987FM | English | Top 40 (CHR) | Link |
99.5 MHz | Lush 99.5FM | English | Adult | Link |
Over-the-top broadcast: Toggle
Mediacorp offers free-to-air and pay-to-air over-the-top broadcasting website Toggle on 1 April 2015, after Xinmsn, a joint content website with Microsoft, was disbanded. Toggle provides entertainment, lifestyle tips, news and information, and is accessible online, on smart phones, tablets and connected TVs.[20][21][22]
MediaCorp Subaru Impreza Challenge
An annual event that Mediacorp anchors is the MediaCorp Subaru Impreza WRX Challenge. Much public attention and participation is drawn from the public to this event.
See also
- Broadcasting in Singapore
- Censorship in Singapore
- List of Singaporeans
- Media of Singapore
- Singapore Broadcasting Corporation
- Television Corporation of Singapore
- List of programmes broadcast by MediaCorp Channel 5
- List of programmes broadcast by MediaCorp Channel U
- Category:Singapore Chinese dramas
References
- ^ "New MediaCorp CEO is Shaun Seow". Channel News Asia. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
- ^ Temasek Holdings Major Portfolio Companies
- ^ Good Evening, From Tomorrow, RADIO TELEVISION SINGAPORE -becomes- Singapore Broadcasting Corporation abbreviation change of name "SBC" took over
- ^ "Raintree Pictures". 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- ^ "MediaCorp to discontinue TVMobile service". 15 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ "Microsoft and MediaCorp enter strategic partnership to create new online portal". 23 February 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ^ "Channel NewsAsia relaunches". 21 January 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
- ^ "MediaCorp celebrates 50 years of Television". 15 February 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
- ^ "Teletext to end service this month". 3 September 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
- ^ "All MediaCorp TV channels now available in digital broadcast". Channel News Asia. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ^ MediaCorp to move to Buona Vista
- ^ SPH Profile
- ^ a b c d "MediaCorp Interactive History". MediaCorp. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
- ^ "Suria Facebook". Retrieved 24 October 2012.
- ^ "Channel U Facebook". Retrieved 24 October 2012.
- ^ "Channel 8 Facebook". Retrieved 24 October 2012.
- ^ a b Seah, May (21 October 2008). "Two new free-to-air channels launch in Singapore". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Digital radio from MediaCorp to cease - Channel NewsAsia
- ^ Shah, Kyle Malinda (1 April 2015). "Goodbye Xinmsn, Hello Toggle: Microsoft & MediaCorp Disband Entertainment Site". Yahoo. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
- ^ "TOGGLE". Mediacorp. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
- ^ Lawler, Ryan (28 January 2013). "MediaCorp Taps Tvinci To Launch Toggle, Its Virtual Cable Service In Singapore". TechCrunch. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
External links
- Mediacorp
- Media in Singapore
- Companies of Singapore
- Temasek Holdings
- Newspapers published in Singapore
- Radio in Singapore
- Magazine publishing companies
- Newspaper companies
- Television networks
- Companies established in 2001
- Government-owned companies of Singapore
- Multilingual broadcasters
- External services (broadcasting)