RTB Perdana

Last updated

RTB Perdana
RTB Perdana.png
CountryFlag of Brunei.svg  Brunei
Broadcast areaNational; also available in Malaysia (northern part of state of Sarawak and the island territory of Labuan)
Headquarters Secretariat Building, Jalan Elizabeth II, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei-Muara District, Brunei BS8610
Programming
Language(s) Malay
English
Indonesian
Picture format 1080i (16:9/HDTV)
Ownership
Owner Radio Television Brunei
Sister channels RTB Aneka
RTB Sukmaindera
History
Launched1 March 1975;49 years ago (1975-03-01)
Former namesRTB1 (2006-2017), RTB5 (2011-2017) and Television Brunei/RTB5 & RTB8 (1975-2006)
Links
Website www.rtb.gov.bn
Availability
Terrestrial
Flag of Malaysia.svg myFreeview Channel 855 (HD)

RTB Perdana (formerly known as RTB1 and Television Brunei, stylised as RTB perdana) [1] is the oldest free-to-air terrestrial television channel in Brunei. The channel officially began broadcasting on 1 March 1975.

Contents

RTB Perdana broadcasts for 05:40 until 23:20 BST followed by a prayer in Makkah filling the rest of its broadcasting time. It mainly shows documentaries, educational programs and news during its broadcasting time.

History

Brunei was first scheduled to have long-term plans for a television service as far back as 1964, when a representant of the Marconi Company had visited Brunei early that year, carried a geographic survey and sent a report to the government. [2] The 1965 report made by Canadian firm Pappas and Associates claimed that there were no technical issues, and the final decision was up to the Sultan, who had seen television in trips abroad. Ground work for the new service would cost $3 million, $10 million for the final total. The main issue was the lack of technical staff to sustain the service. The Sultan believed to have mentioned the issue in what was at the time his latest trip to the UK. [3]

These plans were later delayed to 1969, towards the end of the first lapse of time given during the first study regarding the feasibility of a television service. If introduced, the service would be used for "religious, cultural, educational and entertainment purposes". A commercial service was out of the cards. [4] The plan was aborted on 31 March 1968, in order to cut the Bruneian expenditure. Among the reasons given were the lack of producing local programming. [5]

When RTM started broadcasting a special service for East Malaysia, by conducting test transmissions in the state of Sabah, in February 1971, Bruneians claimed to have picked up the Malaysian signals, but some viewers questioned if it was a hoax. [6] Once the test transmissions were over, shops started selling television sets under the counter under the risk of having problems with the authorities. A "TV fever" had begun. [7] When Brunei was about to witness a five-year economic boom, there was the possibility of launching a television service. [8] By 1973, 3,000 television sets existed in Brunei. [9]

Yusof Ahmad, a former Malay programmes editor at RTS, was granted a job at RTB for the then-upcoming colour television service. [10]

The first phase of the pilot service launched on 10 July 1975, costing B$30 million. BBC and RTS executives assisted in its launch. RTB's television service was initially receivable only in Bandar Seri Begawan. A second transmitter to cover the rest of the protectorate was to be included in a second phase. [11]

On 11 April 2017, RTB1 along with sister station RTB5 officially merged and renamed RTB Perdana as part of RTB's rebranding project as well as broadcaster's shift from analogue into digital broadcasting. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brunei</span> Country in south-east Asia

Brunei, officially State ofBrunei, and formally Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with its territory bifurcated by the Sarawak district of Limbang. Brunei is the only sovereign state entirely on Borneo; the remainder of the island is divided between its multi-landmass neighbours of Malaysia and Indonesia. As of 2023, the country had a population of 455,858, of whom approximately 150,000 resided in the capital and largest city of Bandar Seri Begawan. Its official language is Malay and Islam is the state religion of the country, although other religions are nominally tolerated. The government of Brunei is an absolute monarchy ruled by the Sultan of Brunei, and it implements a fusion of English common law and jurisprudence inspired by Islam, including sharia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio Television of Serbia</span> National public broadcasting service of Serbia

Radio Television of Serbia is the state-owned public radio and television broadcaster of Serbia. Radio Television of Serbia has four organizational units – radio, television, music production, and record label (PGP-RTS). It is financed primarily through monthly subscription fees and advertising revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mediacorp</span> Singaporean commercial media company

Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is a Singaporean state-owned public media conglomerate, based in 1 Stars Avenue, One-north. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. As of 2022, Mediacorp employs over 3,000 staff in total with a larger part of them are in both public and private sector broadcasting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Limbang</span> Town and district capital in Sarawak, Malaysia

Limbang is a border town and the capital of Limbang District in the Limbang Division of northern Sarawak, East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. This district area is 3,978.10 square kilometres, and population was 56,900. It is located on the banks of the Limbang River, between the two halves of Brunei.

Television in Singapore began on 15 February 1963. The public broadcaster, MediaCorp TV, has a monopoly on terrestrial television channels and is fully owned by government holding company Temasek Holdings. Local pay TV operators are StarHub TV and Singtel TV. The private ownership of satellite dishes was previously forbidden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TV1 (Malaysian TV network)</span> Television channel

RTM TV1 is a Malaysian free-to-air public television channel owned and operated by Radio Televisyen Malaysia, a broadcasting department of the Malaysian Government. Launched on 28 December 1963, TV1 is the first and oldest TV station in Malaysia. The channel features mostly news, talk shows and documentaries and some in-house, local and international kids, drama and sports programming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Channel 5 (Singaporean TV channel)</span> English television channel in Singapore

Channel 5 is an English-language free-to-air terrestrial television channel in Singapore, owned by state media conglomerate Mediacorp. The channel primarily airs general entertainment and news programming in the English language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Channel 8 (Singaporean TV channel)</span> Television channel

Channel 8 is a Singaporean Mandarin-language free-to-air terrestrial television channel in Singapore, owned by state media conglomerate Mediacorp. The channel broadcasts general entertainment and news programming in the Mandarin language, including original and imported programming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio Televisyen Malaysia</span> Public broadcaster of Malaysia

Radio Televisyen Malaysia, also known as the Department of Broadcasting, Malaysia is the national public broadcaster of Malaysia, headquartered at Angkasapuri, Kuala Lumpur. Established on 1 April 1946 as Radio Malaya, it is the first and the oldest broadcaster in the country.

The following lists events that happened during 1980 in Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">StarHub TV</span> Cable television operator in Singapore

Star Hub TV is a pay television service provided by StarHub in Singapore. It has been a subsidiary of StarHub Limited since StarHub acquired Singapore Cable Vision (SCV) in 2001, and was the sole pay-TV operator in the country until 2007 when mio TV, an IPTV service from its competitor, Singtel, was launched.

Public radio broadcasting began in Singapore in the April of 1925 after the Amateur Wireless Society of Malaya obtained a temporary license to broadcast. Radio Singapura was established as the first local mass market radio service in 1959. Subsequently, on February 15, 1963, before the withdrawal of the British Armed Forces and after the merger with Malaya, Singapore's first television service began as Televisyen Singapura under its owner, Radio Television Singapore (RTS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass media in Brunei</span> Mass media in Brunei

The mass media in Brunei are strictly controlled by the government under Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, which has effectively imposed martial law in the country since the Brunei Revolt of 1962. News coverage consists of police-beat reporting, lifestyle features, and community events, with little in the way of diverse viewpoints. Reporters Without Borders reports there is "virtually no criticism of the government". The liberal democracy watchdog Freedom House lists Brunei's media as "not free".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio Television Brunei</span> Bruneian public broadcaster

Radio Television Brunei is the national public broadcaster of Brunei, headquartered at the Secretariat Building, Bandar Seri Begawan. Radio Brunei made its first broadcast on 2 May 1957, with a television service starting on 1 March 1975. Modelled after Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), RTB came into its current state with its present name after the merger of its radio and television services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astro (company)</span> Malaysian direct broadcast satellite pay TV service

All-Asian Satellite Television and Radio Operator, doing business as Astro, is a Malaysian satellite television, streaming television and IPTV provider. Astro is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad and is operated by MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems Sdn. Bhd. It operates from the All Asia Broadcast Centre (AABC) in Kuala Lumpur and MEASAT in Cyberjaya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TV2 (Malaysian TV network)</span> Over-the-air TV channel

RTM TV2 is a Malaysian free-to-air public television channel owned and operated by the Radio Televisyen Malaysia, a broadcasting department of the Malaysian Government. Launched on 17 November 1969, TV2 is the second and second oldest TV station in Malaysia. The channel features mostly English, Mandarin and Tamil news and talk shows, the latter two languages were mainly produced for the dominant minority Chinese and Indian communities, whilst the English news functions for the nation's multiracial population whose dominant lingua franca or first language is the latter. It also offers some in-house, local and international entertainment programs, including reality shows, films and dramas as well as sports programming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RTB Sukmaindera</span> Television network in Brunei

RTB Sukmaindera is a 24-hour free-to-air television channel in Brunei owned by Radio Television Brunei (RTB), the country’s state broadcaster. The channel officially began broadcasting on 9 July 2003, a pilot service had existed since 1994.

Singapore International Television (SITV) was a Singaporean satellite television channel operated by the Singapore International Foundation. Broadcasting an hour a day with the aim of catering the Singaporean diaspora across Asia, the line-up was offered by SBC and its successor entities.

References

  1. 1 2 Fizah Hab (12 April 2017). "State broadcaster to revamp, digitise TV channels". Asia News Network. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  2. "Brunei, too, may have television soon". The Straits Times. 9 November 1964. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  3. "Brunei may have TV within two years". The Straits Times. 1 June 1965. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  4. "BRUNEI MAY HAVE TV IN TWO YEARS". The Straits Times. 10 May 1967. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  5. "Brunei shelves television project to cut spending". The Straits Times. 1 April 1968.
  6. "Sabah TV signals picked up in Brunei -claim". The Straits Times. 26 February 1971.
  7. "Shops selling TV sets under the counter". The Straits Times. 16 March 1971.
  8. "Hope for 'mini boom' in Brunei". The Straits Times. 17 March 1971.
  9. "Encyclopedia of Television: S-Z" (PDF). 2004. p. 2147. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  10. "RTS MAN GETS BRUNEI JOB". The Straits Times. 7 March 1975.
  11. "Colour TV in Brunei: First phase launched". The Straits Times. 10 July 1975. Retrieved 18 August 2023.