8TV (Malaysia)

Not to be confused with MediaCorp Channel 8.

8TV

Type	Private Terrestrial television
Country	Malaysia
First air date	8 January 2004
Availability	National
Slogan	We're different (Chinese: 我们是不同的)
Broadcast area	Nationwide
Owner	Media Prima Berhad
Key people	Brian Williams
Former names	MTV8 (1 July 1995-1 November 1999)
Official website	www.8tv.com.my

8TV (Chinese: 八度空间; Chinese: Ba Du Kong Jian; literal: 8th dimension) is a private Malaysian Chinese television station, previously known as MetroVision Channel 8. Metrovision closed on 1 November 1999. 8TV was officially launched on Thursday, 8 January 2004 as 8TV after being acquired by Media Prima Berhad.

8TV is a sister channel of TV3, ntv7 and TV9. It currently shares facilities with TV3 at its headquarters at Sri Pentas, Bandar Utama.

8TV currently broadcasts under UHF (Ultra High Frequency). In the Klang Valley the UHF channel is 25. 8TV is also available over Astro on Channel 708. Its daily broadcasting hours are from 07:00 am until 02:00 am the next day.

History

MetroVision Channel 8

8TV was formerly known as MetroVision Channel 8 or TV4. It was managed by City Television Sdn Bhd and broadcasts from Kuala Lumpur. This broadcast area was only limited to Klang Valley area only."MetroVision Tune in guide". http://web.archive.org/web/19981206190600/http://www.metrovision.com.my/discover/install.asp. 

The channel targets Malaysian English-speaking viewers; American English, Indonesian, Malaysian and Hong Kong Cantonese programmes are also shown in this channel.

Metrovision was launched started television broadcasting first airdate on Saturday, 1 July 1995 at 18:30 local time tonight officially launched by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia by Mahathir bin Mohammad. It was originally planned for a nationwide expansion but due to the then-recent Asian Financial Crisis the plan was put off. It has faced many challenges to its business foundation, most notably the rise of Astro on 1 June 1996 and the start of NTV7 on Tuesday, 7 April 1998. Metrovision was ceased transmission at Monday, 1 November 1999 at 00:00 local time midnight.

8TV

Prior to closure, the first hour of Berita Perdana (now known as Berita Nasional), RTM TV1's prime time news programme at 20:00 local time tonight was broadcast for several months before the channel ceased transmission. It was originally planned for relaunch on Tuesday, 1 February 2000 after its digitalisation but it was not until Thursday, 8 January 2004. Media Prima Berhad bought City Television Sdn Bhd where they restructured it and relaunched as 8TV.

Features

8TV targets the younger block of viewers with a "one station, two channels" concept whereby the first session of the broadcasts are the Chinese channel, while the second session of the broadcasts is mostly English-language programmes. A third part of the broadcast features interactive SMS games, with some music videos in English, Malay and Chinese.

It has a popular slogan, "We're different," and has partially attempted to show this by offering a large variety of popular series and movies that focuses on youth, urban and Chinese as the targeted audiences.

Parent company

Main article: Media Prima Berhad

8TV, together with three other channels, TV3, ntv7 and TV9, local English daily the New Straits Times and Malay daily Berita Harian form the largest media group in Malaysia, collectively known as Media Prima. It is currently headed by Ahmad Izham Omar. Its Director of Network Operations is Paul Moss, a recording executive who is also a judge on One in a Million and the now-cancelled Malaysian Idol.

Events

• 8TV Mall Tour (2006) - in selected major shopping malls in Malaysia.
• 8TV Youth Tour (2007) - in selected higher learning institutions in Malaysia.

Mascot

In early 2006, 8TV introduced its mascot, a toddler named "Pow Pow" who graces some of 8TV's promo ads as well as the main page of its official website. He was originally called simply the "8TV baby" until a name search contest was held to look for a suitable proper name, and eventually the name "Pow Pow" was selected. Pow Pow is always seen wearing a crimson collared shirt with the 8TV logo on its front, decorated by an orange cape with the 8TV logo again on it, as well as a diaper. Sometimes he is seen sporting an electric guitar. He bears an uncanny resemblance of the character Jack-Jack from Disney/Pixar's the Incredibles.

Pow Pow was potentially not the first mascot used by 8TV. During 8TV's early months, it featured a nerd named "Gary the IT Guy" and his fellow fictional 8TV workforce for its promotional activities, who functioned similarly in the form of a mascot for the then-new station.

Programmes

Notable programmes by 8TV include:

• Ho Chak! (好吃) (Hokkien for 'very delicious', a local programme that promotes mostly various local foods that can be found in Malaysia)
• 8TV Mandarin News (八度空间华语新闻) (8TV is currently the only private free-to-air channel that broadcasts news solely in Mandarin, including during primetime hours)
• 8 E-News (八八六十事) (a programme on latest updates and gossips in the entertainment industry, particularly the Chinese entertainment scene)
• Go Travel (a programme on travel destinations around the world in Mandarin)
• Project Superstar (绝对Superstar) (a Chinese reality singing talent search competition, which is franchised from the original version in Singapore)
• I Wanna Be A Model (我要做 Model) (a Chinese reality model search competition, supposedly modelled after Tyra Banks' America's Next Top Model)
• Summer Live Concert (夏日8°演唱会) (an annual live concert involving artistes from the Chinese entertainment industry, notably from Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, since 2003)
• *Goodnight DJ (A short local supernatural drama series) Goodnight DJ season 2 is currently airing on Sundays 8.30pm to 9.30pm.

Controversies

The station's 2011 Ramadan public service announcements (PSA) have sparked outrage among the online community for its allegedly racist content. All three ads, which run for 30 seconds each, show the same Chinese girl acting “inappropriately”, with three different scenarios, at a Ramadan bazaar. All of it were widely circulated in social networking sites by users who said the announcements left a bad taste in the mouth which left the station with no choice but to remove it after a few hours. ^[1]

See also

• List of Malaysian television stations

Reference

Metrovision first day schedule, 1 July 1995 New Straits Times

1. ^ "TV station withdraws ‘racist’ Ramadan ads" (in English). Kuala Lumpur: The Star Online. August 3, 2011. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/8/3/nation/9224933&sec=nation. Retrieved August 04, 2011. 

External links

• Official Site