MediaCorp TV Channel 8
Encyclopedia
MediaCorp Channel 8 is a 24-hour free-to-air 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 Channel U, formerly of SPH MediaWorks
.
terrestrial television station in Singapore
and programming at that time consisted of a mixture of Tamil
and Mandarin Chinese programming, with a majority of the programmes bought from foreign television stations. The stations with Tamil language
programmes were moved to Prime 12
and Channel 8 became a solely Mandarin Chinese channel.
Channel 5 began transmitting in colour
on 7 July 1974.
Channel 5 began transmitting in full colour
on 1 November 1977.
The station was airing stereo
audio television on 1 August 1990.
The station was privatized on 1 October 1994, SBC became Television Corporation of Singapore
(TCS) (Chinese: 新加坡電視機構).
Malay
programmes were transferred to Prime 12
, later renamed Vasantham on same date (as of 27 September 1995).
The station was airing 24-hours on daily transmission opened business broadcasting on same date (as of 27 September 1995).
The station was privatized on 12 February 2001, TCS became MediaCorp TV
(Chinese: 新傳媒電視).
In 1 November 2011, Channel 8 now broadcasts in 16:9 HDTV, however, some programmes including news programmes and a few encores were broadcast in 4:3 SDTV.
and Taiwan
, which resulted in these programmes being broadcast in a variety of regional Chinese dialects (such as Cantonese and Min Nan
with no dubbing in Mandarin. This anomaly ended in 1979 when the government began to forbid Singapore's electronic media from broadcasting 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, SBC decided to begin producing Chinese drama series domestically, and established a Chinese Drama Department (華文戲劇部) towards that end. The new department had to hire many production staffs overseas, as the station only had experience in producing short television 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 television 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 on 24 July 1982 to be the birth of Singaporean Chinese Drama Production.
, were privatized on 1 October 1994, and became a part of the new Television Corporation of Singapore
(TCS) (Chinese: 新加坡電視機構). Further restructuring were made and by 12 February 2001, TCS became MediaCorp TV
(Chinese: 新傳媒電視).
(SPH) to operate television stations, which resulted in the establishment of SPH MediaWorks
. It offered two television channels: SPH MediaWorks Channel U
(Chinese: 优頻道) and TV Works
(Chinese: 電視通), which was later renamed Channel i (Chinese: 爱頻道).
Channel 8, then still known as the Eight Frequency, 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 31 December 2004 when Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew
commented that Singapore's size cannot sustain more than one television station for each language. This spurred the two sides into a merger negotiation, which was completed by 31 December 2004. On 1 January 2005, Channel U became a part of MediaCorp TV. SPH MediaWorks Channel i was disbanded in the merger process.
Television channel
A television channel is a physical or virtual channel over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the broadcast or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with carrier frequencies of 55.25 MHz for NTSC analog video and...
in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. It is one of the two Mandarin Chinese over-the-air television channel in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
the other being Channel U, formerly of SPH MediaWorks
SPH MediaWorks
SPH MediaWorks Ltd was an ephemeral free-to-air terrestrial television broadcaster in Singapore. In 6 May 2001, SPH MediaWorks brought 2 alternative free-to-air terrestrial television channels to the audience in Singapore, operating SPH MediaWorks Channel U and SPH MediaWorks Channel i.A...
.
History
The station began broadcasting on 23 November 1963 as Saluran 8 Television Singapura is a first free-to-airFree-to-air
Free-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...
terrestrial television station in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and programming at that time consisted of a mixture of Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
and Mandarin Chinese programming, with a majority of the programmes bought from foreign television stations. The stations with Tamil language
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
programmes were moved to Prime 12
MediaCorp TV12
MediaCorp TV12 is a subsidiary of MediaCorp. It operates the Suria, Vasantham and okto channels, which cater to specific groups in Singapore. It once operated Central...
and Channel 8 became a solely Mandarin Chinese channel.
Channel 5 began transmitting in colour
Color television
Color television is part of the history of television, the technology of television and practices associated with television's transmission of moving images in color video....
on 7 July 1974.
Channel 5 began transmitting in full colour
Color television
Color television is part of the history of television, the technology of television and practices associated with television's transmission of moving images in color video....
on 1 November 1977.
The station was airing stereo
STEREO
STEREO is a solar observation mission. Two nearly identical spacecraft were launched into orbits that cause them to respectively pull farther ahead of and fall gradually behind the Earth...
audio television on 1 August 1990.
The station was privatized on 1 October 1994, SBC became Television Corporation of Singapore
Television Corporation of Singapore
Television Corporation of Singapore was a private company that provide television broadcasting services in then monopolised media industry. TCS existed from 1 October 1994 to 11 February 2001; Singapore Broadcasting Corporation was privatised on 1 October 1994 at 00:00 am...
(TCS) (Chinese: 新加坡電視機構).
Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
programmes were transferred to Prime 12
MediaCorp TV12
MediaCorp TV12 is a subsidiary of MediaCorp. It operates the Suria, Vasantham and okto channels, which cater to specific groups in Singapore. It once operated Central...
, later renamed Vasantham on same date (as of 27 September 1995).
The station was airing 24-hours on daily transmission opened business broadcasting on same date (as of 27 September 1995).
The station was privatized on 12 February 2001, TCS became MediaCorp TV
MediaCorp
Media Corporation of Singapore, better known as MediaCorp, is a group of commercial media companies in Singapore, with business interests in television and radio broadcasting, interactive media, and, to a lesser extent, print publishing and film-making....
(Chinese: 新傳媒電視).
In 1 November 2011, Channel 8 now broadcasts in 16:9 HDTV, however, some programmes including news programmes and a few encores were broadcast in 4:3 SDTV.
Chinese Language Broadcasting
In the infancy of the station, Chinese programmes were acquired from stations in Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Taiwan
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
, which resulted in these programmes being broadcast in a variety of regional Chinese dialects (such as Cantonese and Min Nan
Min Nan
The Southern Min languages, or Min Nan , are a family of Chinese languages spoken in southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, Taiwan, and southern Zhejiang provinces of China, and by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora....
with no dubbing in Mandarin. This anomaly ended in 1979 when the government began to forbid Singapore's electronic media from broadcasting 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, SBC decided to begin producing Chinese drama series domestically, and established a Chinese Drama Department (華文戲劇部) towards that end. The new department had to hire many production staffs overseas, as the station only had experience in producing short television programmes. Due to the closure of Commercial Television
Commercial Television
Commercial Television was the third free-to-air broadcast television station in Hong Kong. It first went on air in 1975, and ceased transmissions in 1978.-History:...
and the sale of Rediffusion Television
Rediffusion Television
Rediffusion Television was the first television station in Hong Kong, established on May 29, 1957, making it both the first British colony and the first predominantly Chinese city to have television...
(now Asia Television) in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
at the time, many production staff from those two television stations were hired, thus creating a basis for domestic Chinese drama series production.
Although there were earlier productions, the station considers Seletar Robbery
Seletar Robbery
Seletar Robbery is a 90-minute Singaporean action drama produced by Singapore Broadcasting Corporation in 1982.-Story:...
to be its first-ever Chinese drama production, and considers the day of its premiere on 24 July 1982 to be the birth of Singaporean Chinese Drama Production.
Privatisation
The station, along with its sister stations Fifth Frequency and Twelfth FrequencyMediaCorp TV12
MediaCorp TV12 is a subsidiary of MediaCorp. It operates the Suria, Vasantham and okto channels, which cater to specific groups in Singapore. It once operated Central...
, were privatized on 1 October 1994, and became a part of the new Television Corporation of Singapore
Television Corporation of Singapore
Television Corporation of Singapore was a private company that provide television broadcasting services in then monopolised media industry. TCS existed from 1 October 1994 to 11 February 2001; Singapore Broadcasting Corporation was privatised on 1 October 1994 at 00:00 am...
(TCS) (Chinese: 新加坡電視機構). Further restructuring were made and by 12 February 2001, TCS became MediaCorp TV
MediaCorp
Media Corporation of Singapore, better known as MediaCorp, is a group of commercial media companies in Singapore, with business interests in television and radio broadcasting, interactive media, and, to a lesser extent, print publishing and film-making....
(Chinese: 新傳媒電視).
Competition from MediaWorks
In an effort to inject competition into the Singaporean television broadcasting industry, the government allowed Singapore Press HoldingsSingapore Press Holdings
Singapore Press Holdings Limited is a media organisation in Singapore with businesses in print, Internet and new media, television and radio, outdoor media, and property. SPH has over 4,000 employees, including a team of approximately 1,000 journalists, including correspondents operating around...
(SPH) to operate television stations, which resulted in the establishment of SPH MediaWorks
SPH MediaWorks
SPH MediaWorks Ltd was an ephemeral free-to-air terrestrial television broadcaster in Singapore. In 6 May 2001, SPH MediaWorks brought 2 alternative free-to-air terrestrial television channels to the audience in Singapore, operating SPH MediaWorks Channel U and SPH MediaWorks Channel i.A...
. It offered two television channels: SPH MediaWorks Channel U
SPH MediaWorks Channel U
SPH MediaWorks Channel U as called name Channel U was defunct Chinese language television channel in Singapore which began broadcasts on 6 May 2001...
(Chinese: 优頻道) and TV Works
SPH MediaWorks Channel i
SPH MediaWorks Channel i as called by the name Channel i is a defunct Singapore English language television channel which began broadcasting on 20 May 2001. It was formerly known as SPH MediaWorks TV Works as called name TV Works...
(Chinese: 電視通), which was later renamed Channel i (Chinese: 爱頻道).
Channel 8, then still known as the Eight Frequency, 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 31 December 2004 when Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH is a Singaporean statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, governing for three decades...
commented that Singapore's size cannot sustain more than one television station for each language. This spurred the two sides into a merger negotiation, which was completed by 31 December 2004. On 1 January 2005, Channel U became a part of MediaCorp TV. SPH MediaWorks Channel i was disbanded in the merger process.
News Presenters
| News Programme | Weekday Newscasters | Weekend Newscasters |
|---|---|---|
| News 8 at One 1点新闻 1.00pm (Only on weekdays) |
Lin Zhi Ying （林稚瑛） Zhao Quan Yin （赵全胤） |
|
| Singapore Today 狮城6点半 6.30pm |
Ng Siew Leng （黄秀玲） | Wang Zheng Wang Zheng Wang Zheng is a male Chinese sports shooter. He competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics.He won the bronze medal in the men's double trap competition.Wang became part of the Chinese national shooting team in 2001.-External links:* *... （王征） |
| News Tonight 晚间新闻 10.00pm (Channel 8) 11.00pm (Channel U) |
Lin Chi Yuan （林启元） Tung Soo Hua Tung Soo Hua Tung Soo Hua is an award-winning television news anchor and current affairs presenter with MediaCorp TV Channel U. Tung joined MediaCorp in 1997 as a Chinese-language news editor before becoming a news reporter and anchor in 2000... （董素华） Zhang Haijie Zhang Haijie Zhang Haijie is a renowned Singaporean television news presenter with MediaCorp TV Channel 8, one of two Mandarin Chinese free-to-air television channels in Singapore. Born in Xi'an, China, she became a Singaporean citizen in 2003. Since 1 May 2008, she has been anchoring News Tonight every... （张海洁） |
Zhao Wen Bei （赵文蓓） |
Good Morning, Singapore! (7.00am, Mon-Fri)
- Desmond Lim Soo Guan （林树源）
- Iriana Halim （林有懿）
- Lim Yi Chyi （琪琪）
Former Presenters
- Huang Shuang Xi 黃雙喜
- Xu BingXu BingXu Bing is a Chinese-born artist, resident in the United States since 1990. He currently resides in Beijing.-Biography:...
徐冰 (Moved to Capital 95.8FMCapital 95.8FMCapital 95.8FM is a Mandarin radio station of MediaCorp in Singapore. It keeps the Chinese community informed about the latest news, and entertains with magazine-style programmes and popular music from the 60s to the 90s. It's programme often includes gossip, speculation and over-exaggeration of...
/958城市頻道) - Liang Ni 梁妮
- Serene Loo (呂詩琳)
- Lynee Chee (徐赟玲) (Now assistant producer of Frontline)