CHAPTER III BROADCASTING MEDIA

Broadcasting Media in Singapore

Broadcasting media, like the print media in Singapore, consist of both local and foreign organisations but are also subjected to strict controls by the government in terms of ownership, censorship and other media regulations.

Television broadcasting began in February 1963 with a pilot service run by the Department of Broadcasting under the Ministry of Culture. In August 1965, Singapore separated from Malaysia and television broadcasting became a state-run operation under Radio-Television Singapore (RTS).

The next major change came in 1980, when RTS became the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Communication and Information, following the adoption by the Singapore Parliament of the Singapore Broadcasting Act of 1979. It subsequently incorporated into the Singapore International Media (SIM) group of companies on 1 October 1994 and was later renamed Media Corporation of Singapore and is 100 % owned by the Singapore government's wholly owned investment arms, Temasek Holdings.

Radio in Singapore dates back to the period of amateur radio in the period before the Second World War from 1941 to 1945.(Endnote 20)

At present, there are eight local broadcasters in Singapore. These include:

• Television Corporation of Singapore (TCS) and Singapore Television Twelve (STV12) which operates a total of 6 channels: Channel 5 (English); Channel 8 (Mandarin), Suria (Malay) and Central (Tamil, Arts and Kids programming), Sportscity and Channel News Asia.
• Singapore CableVision Ltd (SCV) which provides a 39-channel cable TV services, and allowing access to foreign channels such as HBO, Cinemax, CNN, BBC, Australia TV, NHK World (Japan), TVB Zongyi (Hong Kong).
• Radio Corporation of Singapore (RCS), NTUC Media Cooperative LTD, SAFRA Radio, Rediffusion (S) Pte Ltd and National Arts Council which offer a total of 18 radio stations.

Out of the eight broadcasters above, only NTUC Media Cooperative LTD, SAFRA Radio, Rediffusion (S) Pte Ltd are free of government ownership. But all of them maintain strong ties with the government.

TV sets and radios must be licensed in Singapore. The majority of households in Singapore have at least one TV set. In 1998, there were about 680,000 TV licenses issued in early 1998 to households, as compared to a total of about 800,000 households on the island. Satellite dish is banned in Singapore and the only access to foreign broadcasting media is through the Singapore CableVision Ltd (SCV).

According to the ASEAN Media Directory, two bodies that play an important part in governing and regulating the media industry in Singapore are the Ministry of Information and the Arts (MITA) and the Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA). MITA formulates, implements and reviews policy concerning censorship and licensing of audio-visual materials. The SBA, a statutory board under the MITA, promotes and regulates the broadcasting industry.

Endnotes:

20. Television in Singapore, by Sankaran Ramanathan and Reetha Balakrishnan,http://www.interasia.org/results/tv_in_singapore.html