Singapore International Television

Television channel

Singapore International TelevisionCountry| Singapore

|

Broadcast area| Southeast Asia/ASEAN (including Singapore)
Network| Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (25 December 1993-30 September 1994)
Television Corporation of Singapore (1 October 1994-11 February 2001)
Affiliates| Channel 5
Channel 8
Channel 12
Channel NewsAsia (28 September 2000-11 February 2001)
Headquarters| Caldecott Broadcast Centre, Singapore
Programming
Language(s)| English/Singlish, Mandarin/Singdarin and Malay
Picture format| 4:3 576i SDTV
Ownership
Owner| Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (25 December 1993-30 September 1994)
Singapore International Media (1 October 1994-11 February 2001)
Sister channels| Channel 5
Channel 8
Channel 12
Channel NewsAsia (28 September 2000-11 February 2001)
History
Launched| 1 January 1994; 30 years ago (1994-01-01) at 10:00 pm SGT
Closed| 31 December 2000; 23 years ago (2000-12-31) at 11:59pm SGT (merger with Channel NewsAsia Singapore International Television)
11 February 2001; 23 years ago (2001-02-11) at 11:59pm SGT (merger with Channel NewsAsia)
Replaced by| Channel NewsAsia Singapore International Television (1 January 2001-11 February 2001)
Channel NewsAsia (since 12 February 2001)

Singapore International Television (SITV) (Malay: Televisyen Antarabangsa Singapura)[1] was a Singaporean satellite television channel operated by Television Corporation of Singapore (TCS). SITV was broadcast from Palapa B2P, an Indonesian satellite, which covers Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. It was officially opening ceremony at grand opening or formally opening night in Singapore by Prime Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong on New Year's Day 1994 at 10:00pm SGT based in Singapore and it operated from TCS head office and headquarters in Caldecott Broadcast Centre, Singapore along with Channel NewsAsia.

The channel was based in Singapore and operated from TCS. It sought to cater to the Singaporean diaspora across Southeast Asia with a hour broadcast daily, featuring Singapore based news bulletin, capital market and comedy. Informational and entertainment programmes, such as Inside Asia, Money Mind, Mum's Not Cooking, Under One Roof, Comedy Night, Tuesday Report, Tinjauan, Portret Keluarga and Hiburan Minggu Ini was broadcast in the first half hour while the second half hour consisted of Singapore's news bulletin programmes.

## History[edit]

### Pre Launch[edit]

The SIF announced the start of SITV in November 1993 eyeing for a New Year's Day 1994 launch date. The channel was going to use the Indonesian Palapa B2P satellite to provide programming for one hour a day from 10 pm to 11 pm SGT.[2]

### Test Broadcast (Trial Broadcast)[edit]

SITV's launch was touted as rather unambitious, with a limited staff of only 20 personnel officially considered by the The Business Times and The Straits Times as "the smallest satellite TV launch in history", with deputy director Aileen Lim calling it an "experiment". The station rented a slot on a transponder owned by the Australia Television International to broadcast its programming. Test transmission started on Christmas Day 1993 ahead of the projected launch date.[3] Launch night consisted of two programmes: a special edition of Inside Asia and a live simulcast of News 5 Tonight both from Channel 5.[4]

### Launch (before privatisation)[edit]

The channel launched on the same day as Televisyen Antarabangsa Brunei under the same arrangement on the same satellite. Televisyen Antarabangsa Brunei is a six-hour free-to-air television channel in Brunei owned by Radio Television Brunei (RTB), the country's state broadcaster. The channel officially pilot service on New Year's Day 1994. The channel shows Malay archipelago, delivering news, current affairs programmes and documentaries produced by RTB. Televisyen Antarabangsa Brunei beginning of a six-hour satellite slot using the Indonesian Palapa B2P satellite named Televisyen Antarabangsa Brunei was set to start on same day. The primary audience was Bruneians in the Malay archipelago, delivering news, current affairs programmes and documentaries produced by RTB.[5][6] On launch day, a full-page advertisement was given to SITV on the Straits Times.[7]

From Christmas Day 1993 to New Year's Eve 1996, RTB's Antarabangsa Televisyen Brunei for six-hour telecasts from 4:00pm to 10:00pm and TCS SITV for one-hour telecasts from 10:00 pm to 11:00 pm with telecast by the three live telecast simulcast free-to-air terrestrial TCS Channel 5, TCS Channel 8 and TV12 Channel 12 nightlife telecast time.

From New Year's Day 1997 to 11 February 2001, RTB's Antarabangsa Televisyen Brunei for six-hour and forty-minute telecasts from 4:00pm to 10:40pm and TCS SITV officially commenced its full 24-hour 7-days a week broadcasts becoming the very first international channel in Singapore to do so. with telecast by the three live telecast simulcast free-to-air terrestrial TCS Channel 5, TCS Channel 8 and TV12 Channel 12 all full completed enjoy telecast time.

The channel started off with a limited offering, with initial plans for the channel to increase its programming if time was available. The primary aim was to follow the same aims of the SIF, maintaining the connections Singaporeans in the diaspora had with their birth country and providing a window for Singapore to outsiders.[8]

Singapore International Television (SITV) was officially opening ceremony at grand opening or formally opening night in Singapore on New Year's Day 1994 at 10:00pm SGT after officially opening ceremony by Prime Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong based in Singapore owned and company by Television Corporation of Singapore daily with the first programme at launching ceremony: a special edition of Inside Asia and a live simulcast of News 5 Tonight (now News Tonight) was aired on Channel 5. It was originally based in Singapore.

During test broadcasts, Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia have asked SITV for information. There was also the possibility of having its own presenter and selling advertising time.[6]

SITV drew criticism from the Tamil community of Singapore because of its lack of programming in the language, and that viewers wanted the channel to broadcast in other languages, such as Russian and Japanese.[9]The SIF said that, if the service expanded, so would the number of languages, as the choice of language was merely due to the area of the B2P footprint.[10]

The service was officially made available at the embassy of the Republic of Singapore embassy in Jakarta, Medan, Batam and Johor Bahru.

### Post Launch (After Privisation)[edit]

On 1 October 1994, Formally privatised into a new holding company Singapore International Media (SIM) with four business units: Television Corporation of Singapore (TCS), Radio Corporation of Singapore (RCS), Television Twelve (TV12) and SIM Communications (SIMCOM).[11][12][13]

On 25 August 1995, after an agreement between Singapore and Brunei, it was announced that SITV would move to a new lease on Palapa C-1.[14]

### Becomes Channel NewsAsia[edit]

On New Year's Day 2001 at stroke of midnight SGT the channel merged with Television Corporation of Singapore (TCS) Channel NewsAsia. Initially, most of SITV's programmes and presenters migrated to the new channel and it operated from TCS headquarters in Caldecott Broadcast Centre, Singapore. Channel NewsAsia and Singapore International Television officially merged channel launched and was officially merged into Channel NewsAsia Singapore International Television. On 12 February 2001 at stroke of midnight SGT, Channel NewsAsia Singapore International Television was officially merged into Channel NewsAsia.

## Programmes[edit]

SITV had one fixed daily programme such as News 5 Tonight (now News Tonight) at 10:30 pm SGT. The other half-hour was filled by content from other TCS channels in three languages: English, Mandarin and Malay. SIF selected the shows it had for the non-news segments. Certain programmes, such as Talking Point, were left out from the schedule, with the channel aiming to attract non-Singaporeans. Inside Asia was picked because of its content "from the region on the region". The line-up reflected the diversity of Singapore.[6]

### English/Singlish[edit]

* News 5 Tonight (now News Tonight) (Channel 5)[6]
* Singapore Tonight (Channel NewsAsia)[6]
* Inside Asia (Channel 5)[6]
* Money Mind (Channel 5)[6]
* Mum's Not Cooking (Channel 5)[6]
* Under One Roof (Channel 5)[15]

### Mandarin/Singdarin[edit]

* Comedy Night (Channel 8)[6]
* Tuesday Report (Channel 8)[6]

### Malay[edit]

* Tinjauan (Channel 12)[6]
* Portret Keluarga (Channel 12)[6]
* Hiburan Minggu Ini (Channel 12)[6]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Mengembang sayap maklumat kedua". Berita Harian. 10 January 1994. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
2. ^ "S'pore to beam TV shows to Asia". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 11 November 1993. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
3. ^ "Low-key launch for pint-size export TV". South China Morning Post. 31 December 1993. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
4. ^ "Jan 1 launch for SIF's satellite TV broadcasts". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 23 December 1993. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
5. ^ "Brunei TV to introduce satellite broadcasts". The Straits Times. 25 December 1993. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "S'pore to beam TV shows to Asia". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 2 January 1994. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
7. ^ "PM to launch new satellite TV service". The Straits Times. 1 January 1994. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
8. ^ "PRIME MINISTER OF SINGAPORE, MR GOH CHOK TONG'S SPEECH FOR THE LAUNCH OF THE SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION (SITV) ON SAT. 1 JANUARY 1994" (PDF). NAS. 1 January 1994. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
9. ^ "No Indian items on SIF broadcasts?". The Straits Times. 14 February 1994. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
10. ^ "It's more brickbats for 'Same Boring Channel'". The Straits Times. 17 March 1994. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
11. ^ "A NEW ERA DAWNS IN SINGAPORE BROADCASTING". The Straits Times. 1 October 1994. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
12. ^ "A NEW ERA DAWNS IN SINGAPORE BROADCASTING". The Straits Times. 1 October 1994. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
13. ^ "TCS, RCS AND TV12 OFFICIALLY VERY FIRST RADIO AND TELEVISION SCHEDULE". The Straits Times. 1 October 1994. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
14. ^ "S'pore accepts Brunei's offer of satellite space". The Straits Times. 26 August 1995. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
15. ^ "Singaporeans who have made Suzhou home". The Straits Times. 19 April 1996. Retrieved 29 September 2023.

## External links[edit]

* Official website in 2000