Television in Singapore

Chinese language television
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Television in Singapore is strictly regulated by the government. MediaCorp TV, fully owned by government holding company Temasek Holdings, has a monopoly on terrestrial television channels, while the sole cable operator is StarHub. The private ownership of satellite dishes is banned.

History

Broadcasting developed from a single terrestrial channel operated by the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) in the 1 January 1980 to 31 December 1993. When SBC was rebranded as Television Corporation of Singapore (TCS) it launched Channel 5, Channel 8 and Channel 12. A reorganisation on 1 January 1996 saw the creation of MediaCorp and a redistribution of programming among the channels.

On 1 January 2002, the government allowed Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) to offer competition in the television market, and SPH MediaWorks soon launched two channels, Channel U (Mandarin) and Channel i (English). On 1 January 2005, SPH MediaWorks was acquired by MediaCorp TV, which thus reasserted its monopoly on the industry.

Cable

StarHub TV is the sole cable television operator in Singapore. StarHub Cable Television was formed as a result of a merger between StarHub TV and Singapore Cable Television (SCTV) on 1 January 2002. The latter first began broadcasting as a terrestrial pay-television operator in 1 January 1990 as the first cable network was not completed until 1 January 1994. Around 80% of households in Singapore are connected to the StarHub network. The remaining 20% have mio TV only or no cable TV at home.

Free-to-Air Terrestrial Television Stations

MediaCorp Channels

MediaCorp TV Channels

SDTV (Standard-definition television) Terrestrial Free-to-air Channel

MediaCorp TV

• MediaCorp TV Channel 5 (VHF 5 from Starhub Cable Point and ATT, also DVB-T)
• MediaCorp TV Channel 8 (VHF 8 from Starhub Cable Point and ATT, also DVB-T)
• MediaCorp TV Channel U (UHF 28 from Starhub Cable Point and ATT, also DVB-T)

MediaCorp News

• MediaCorp News Channel NewsAsia International (UHF 32 from Starhub Cable Point and ATT, also DVB-T)

HD-TV (High-definition television) Channel

• MediaCorp TV HD5 (UHF 607.25 MHz from DVB-T)

MediaCorp TV12 Channels

SDTV (Standard-definition television) Terrestrial Free-to-air Channel

• MediaCorp TV12 okto replacing MediaCorp TV12 Kids Central and MediaCorp TV12 Arts Central owner by MediaCorp TV12 Central and SPH MediaWorks Channel i onwer by SPH MediaWorks (UHF 30 from ATT, UHF 25 from Starhub Cable Point, also DVB-T)
• MediaCorp TV12 Vasantham replacing MediaCorp TV12 Vasantham Central formerly by MediaCorp TV12 Central (UHF 24 from Starhub Cable Point and ATT, also DVB-T)
• MediaCorp TV12 Suria (VHF 12 from Starhub Cable Point and ATT, also DVB-T)

Discontinued

1 January 2005

• SPH MediaWorks Channel i (UHF 543.25 MHz from SCTV point to antenna and DVB-T)

20 October 2008

• MediaCorp TV12 Central (UHF 495.25 MHz from SCTV point to antenna and DVB-T)
  • MediaCorp TV12 Kids Central
  • MediaCorp TV12 Vasantham Central
  • MediaCorp TV12 Arts Central

1 January 2010

• MediaCorp TV TVMobile (UHF 196.25 MHz from DVB-T)

Stations From Neighbouring Countries

Due to Singapore size and proximity to Malaysia and Indonesia, Singaporeans, especially those very close to those countries' respective borders are able to enjoy a variety of TV programmes from the following neighbouring countries which are broadcasting on UHF bands:

Television Channels From Malaysia

• RTM TV1 (TV1) (Johor Bahru 55 UHF)
• RTM TV2 (TV2) (Johor Bahru 10 VHF)
• TV3 (Johor Bahru 26 UHF)
• NTV7 (Johor Bahru 7 UHF)
• 8TV replacing Metrovision (Channel 8/TV4) (Johor Bahru 46 UHF)
• TV9 replacing Channel 9 (Johor Bahru 44 UHF)

Television Channels From Indonesia

• TVRI (Batam 6 VHF (TVRI Nasional)
• RCTI (Batam 43 UHF)
• SCTV (Batam 47 UHF)
• MNC TV (Batam 41 UHF)
• ANTV (Batam 46 UHF)
• Indosiar (Batam 49 UHF)
• Metro TV (Batam UHF)
• Trans TV (Batam 45 UHF)
• Global TV (Batam UHF)

Viewers farther away from the Indonesia or Malaysia border usually require higher-quality equipment to receive the signals. In spite of this however, only RTM TV1 (TV1) onwer by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) and TVRI Siaran Nasional (TVRI Nasional) are carried on StarHub TV.

Singtel mio TV

Launched officially in 1 January 2007, SingTel mio TV is an IPTV service offering over 30 different channels.

References

See also

• Broadcasting in Singapore
• High-definition television in Singapore
• List of Malay language television channels

External Links

Technical and location inforrmation