MediaCorp TV Channel 8

Infobox TV channel
name = MediaCorp TV Channel 8
logofile = Mediacorp8_logo.jpg
logosize =
logoalt = Channel 8 logo
logo2 =
launch = November 23, 1963
closed date =
picture format = PAL 576i(SDTV) 4:3
share =
share as of =
share source =
network = MediaCorp TV
owner = MediaCorp
slogan = 最亲切 (Translation: The Most Caring)
country = Flagicon|SGP Singapore
broadcast area = Nationwide
headquarters = Caldecott Broadcasting Centre
former names = 第8波道 (Translation: The Eighth Frequency) (Until January 2005)
replaced names =
sister names = Digital 8
timeshift names =
web = http://8.mediacorptv.sg/
terr serv 1 = Analogue
terr chan 1 = Channel 8 (196.25 MHz)
terr serv 2 = Digital (DVB-T)
terr chan 2 = Channel 29 (538.00 MHz)
sat serv 1 =
sat chan 1 =
cable serv 1 = StarHub CableTV
cable chan 1 = Channel 3
sat radio serv 1 =
sat radio chan 1 =
adsl serv 1 = mio TV
adsl chan 1 = Channel 3
online serv 1 =
online chan 1 =

MediaCorp TV Channel 8 (Chinese: 八频道, Before 2005: 第八波道) is a Mandarin Chinese general entertainment television channel in Singapore. It is one of the two Mandarin Chinese over-the-air television channel in Singapore, the other being MediaCorp TV Channel U.

History

The station first went on air on 23 November 1963 as Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) Eighth Frequency (Simplified Chinese: 新广第八波道). Until 1984, programming on the Eighth Frequency consist of a mixture of Tamil and Chinese programming, with a majority of the programmes bought from foreign TV stations.

Colour programming began in 1976.

Chinese Language Broadcasting

In the infancy of the station, Chinese programmes were acquired from stations in Hong Kong and Taiwan, which resulted in these programmes being broadcast in a variety of regional Chinese dialects (such as Cantonese and Minnan, with no dubbing in Mandarin. This anomaly ended in 1979, when the government began to forbid Singapore's electronic media from broadcasting its Chinese programmes in any dialects other than Mandarin without prior consent.

This put a pressure on the station's budget, as Chinese programmes acquired overseas now have to be dubbed into Mandarin. As a result, the SBC decided to begin producing Chinese drama series domestically, and established a Chinese Drama Department (华文戏剧部) towards that end. The new department had to hire many production staffs overseas, as the station only had experience in producing short TV programmes. Due to the closure of Commercial Television and the sale of Rediffusion Television (now Asia Television) in Hong Kong at the time, many production staff from those two TV stations were hired, thus creating a basis for domestic Chinese drama series production.

Although there were earlier productions, the station considers Seletar Robbery to be its first-ever Chinese drama production, and considers the day of its premiere: 24 July 1982, to be the birth of Singaporean Chinese drama production.

Tamil broadcasting were completely phased out of the station's schedules by 1984, its programmes transferred to other channels.

Privatisation

The station, along with its sister stations Fifth Frequency and Twelfth Frequency, were privatized in 1994, and became the Television Corporation of Singapore (TCS (Chinese: 新加坡电视机构). Further restructuring were made, and by 2001, TCS became MediaCorp (Chinese: 新传媒).

Competition from MediaWorks

In an effort to inject competition into the Singaporean television broadcasting industry, the government allowed Singapore Press Holdings to operate television stations, which resulted in the establishment of SPH MediaWorks and its two television channels: Channel U (Chinese: 优频道) and TV Works (Chinese: 电视通), which was later renamed Channel i (Chinese: i频道).

Channel 8 and Channel U were both locked in a fierce ratings battle, with each station releasing statistics indicating that they are prevailing over the other station. The ratings battle began to cool in 2004, when Lee Kuan Yew commented that Singapore's size cannot sustain more than 1 TV station for each language. This spurred the two sides into a merger negotiation, which was completed by December of 2004, whereby Channel U will join MediaCorp as its second Chinese TV station.

The merger took effect on New Year's Day of 2005, with Channel i being the only casualty of the competition.

Programmes

See List of programmes broadcast by MediaCorp TV Channel 8

Current Primetime Schedule

comedies are in red; dramas are in blue; reality shows are in yellow; game shows are in beige; news programming/Info-Ed is in brown; Mini-Series/anthology series is in purple.

External links

* [http://8.mediacorptv.sg/ Official Website]
* [http://archive8.mediacorptv.sg/ Old Website]