The channel was launched on 20 May 2001 as TVWorks, accompanying the Mandarin-language Channel U. It was initially poised to be a serious alternative to its competition—MediaCorp's Channel 5—by placing an emphasis on local productions rather than imported programming. However, this strategy proved to be unsuccessful, causing the channel to frequently change its schedule and positioning. It eventually settled on a format emphasizing action series, films, and sports.
In 2004, SPH announced an agreement to divest its television stations and free newspaper business to MediaCorp in exchange for a stake in its television and publishing businesses. While MediaCorp would take over Channel U as a sister to its Mandarin channel Channel 8, the broadcaster considered Channel i to be unviable due to low viewership and a lack of advertiser support, and it was shut down on 1 January 2005.
History
Logo used as TVWorks
The name and logo of the channel were revealed at the SPH MediaWorks trade launch on 1 November 2000.[3] Later that month, it was announced that TVWorks would broadcast from a studio in Singapore's city centre.[4]
In January 2001, TVWorks revealed that much of the output carried by the new service would be local, as a counterweight to its future competitor Channel 5, promising that it wouldn't flood its airtime with foreign celebrities.[5] One of the scheduled programmes, The Big Buffet, was going to be a variety show akin to Talentime from the SBC phase.[6] TVWorks secured the broadcast rights to the three matches of Manchester United's tour in Singapore, scheduled for July 2001, in a decision that was considered to be a "fatal blow" for Sportscity.[7]
Weeks ahead of launch, TVWorks' primetime schedule would consist largely of local content on Monday through Thursday nights.[8] In May, Russell Koh (played by Adrian Pang) was selected by the company to become the film reviewer for The Big Buffet.[9]
On 26 April 2001, SPH MediaWorks received a nationwide free-to-air television service licence from the Singapore Broadcasting Authority, allowing them to start broadcasting two channels, Channel U, a Chinese language channel, and TVWorks, an English channel.[10] The channel was set to broadcast TV Land The Musical (named after a roadshow event SPH MediaWorks held on 29 April) on launch night.[11] On 20 May 2001, TVWorks was launched.[12][13] The first night on air was seen with dismal ratings, the channel opened with Godzilla peaking in at 4.7%, whereas TV Land (which cost $1 million to produce) received much lower ratings of 1.6%. By contrast, competing Channel 5 always stayed above 10%, peaking at 18% on TVWorks' launch night.[14] The initial format of delivering a large amount of Singaporean content didn't draw in any viewers, and it changed tactics, giving more slots for foreign content.[15] The changes caused criticism from a female viewer, who thought the revised programming was too male-skewing.[16] In June, The Big Buffet cut its length.[17] The highest ratings so far came on the first match of the Manchester United tour of Singapore in July, with 322,450 viewers tuning in.[18]
The channel started carrying highlights of the FA Premier League at the start of the 2001-02 season.[19] This came ahead of a new "quality over quantity" schedule that was introduced for the 2001–02 season,[20] and a rebrand on 3 September 2001.[21] In contrast to its attempts at producing local programming, TVWorks' schedule now heavilly resembled that of Channel 5, with a focus on imported programming (typically from the United States). So far, its only success was its coverage of the Manchester United tour of Singapore two months earlier.[22] Its coverage of the 2001 general election had 169,000 viewers, a number that paled to 1.721 million over the combined total of MediaCorp's channels.[23]
On 9 November 2001, TVWorks was restructured following a loss of 65 employees and a decreasing audience share. Plans for its shutdown were dismissed.[24][25][26] In January 2002, TVWorks secured the rights to carry one weekly match of the Italian league (Serie A), that had previously been carried by Premiere 12.[27] Furthermore, sports coverage was boosted in February with the announcement of the rights to air the S-League free-to-air, which up until then aired on MediaCorp's channels.[28] The first match to be televised was between Tampines and Geylang on 2 March, a day ahead of the rebrand.[29]
On 25 February 2002, it was announced that the channel would rebrand as Channel i. This rebrand became effective on 3 March 2002. Under the new name, Channel i would put a strong emphasis on action entertainment and coverage of the S.League, as well as offering movies every evening. The new brand reflected "the habits, preferences and tastes of the viewers"[30][31] The rebrand was also used as an opportunity to start resource-sharing with Channel U, enabling each other's talents to appear in its local programmes.[32][33] Upon the rebrand, the channel adopted a red sphere with a lowercase I, while print campaigns depicted the logos for both channels promising SPH's strategy of offering "double" offerings.[34][35] With the rebrand, the channel added a new news bulletin, Cue, at 6pm, targeting a different demographic than that of the 9:30pm bulletin.[36] Ratings for the channel grew largely due to the success of S-League matches.[37]
A new movie slot was added in June 2002, alongside an interactive music show, i2u.[38] In July, the channel secured the rights to air the qualifying rounds for Euro 2004, in a package of thirteen matches.[39]
The contract to air the S-League was extended in February 2003 to cover the 2003 and 2004 seasons.[40]
A multi-year agreement with Paramount Pictures was signed in March 2003 and took effect from 1 June the same year.[41][42] The Straits Times TV News was renamed Channel i News on 19 May 2003.[43] The new format was heavily visual.[44]
The channel rebranded on 3 November 2003, adopting what would be its last slogan, "Total Entertainment, The Way You Like It". Emphasis was given to non-stop entertainment from 9pm (Channel i News moved to 8:30pm).[45][46]
Channel i News won the "Best News Programme" award at the Asian Television Awards on 4 December 2003.[47]
A new local sitcom, Durian King was announced in May 2004, starring Kym Ng and Adrian Pang.[48]
Shutdown
On 17 September 2004, SPH announced an agreement to divest its television stations and free newspaper businesses to MediaCorp, in exchange for a stake in its television and publishing businesses. At the time, the commercial viability of Channel i was under review.[49][50] Days later, a letter sent to The Straits Times suggested that Channel i should continue operating, as MediaWorks' shows had "more substance" than MediaCorp's.[51] However, due to the small size of the English-language television market and other factors, Channel i was deemed unviable, and was shut down on 1 January 2005. Channel U would continue to operate as a sister channel to Channel 8.[52][53]
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The following lists events that happened during 2001 in Singapore.
The following lists events that happened during 2000 in Singapore.
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SPH MediaWorks Ltd was a free-to-air terrestrial television broadcaster in Singapore that operated two television channels: Channel U and Channel i. It merged with the city-state's long-established broadcasting company, Mediacorp, in 2004.
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