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On 31 December 2004, MediaCorp and SPH MediaWorks agreed to merge effective the following day. [1] [2] The merger is no longer in effect on 29 September 2017, when SPH divested from Mediacorp. [3]
On 5 June 2000, then Ministry of Information and the Arts announced the start of gradual media competition, with MediaCorp allowed to own a newspaper and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) allowed to own two TV and two radio channels. [4] [5]
On 8 June 2000, SPH, the country's main newspaper publishing company, set up a television arm called SPH MediaWorks to provide competition for MediaCorp, which dominated the media industry in Singapore. [6] Instead, the rival channels were locked in a ratings battle, leading some politicians to comment that the local market was not big enough to have two broadcasting companies. By 2004, SPH MediaWorks had raked up some $44.5 million in losses. [2]
In addition, MediaCorp was awarded a licence on 9 June 2000 by the Ministry of Information and the Arts to operate a newspaper (since known as Today). [7]
On 17 September 2004, SPH announced that MediaWorks would merge with MediaCorp's TV division. A new holding company MediaCorp TV would be created with MediaCorp owning 80 percent and SPH holding the remaining 20 percent. In addition, MediaCorp Press would continue to be owned by MediaCorp; holding a 60 percent stake with 40 percent to be sold to SPH. Channel i would be reviewed for commercial viability while Streats will be merged with Today. [8] The merger was approved by then Media Development Authority (MDA) on 6 December 2004. [9]
Many MediaWorks staff were transferred over while others were retrenched. 429 staff were affected by the merger, of which 200 staff are to be in MediaCorp, with 132 in SPH and 97 retrenched. [10] Of the 200 staff to be posted in MediaCorp, 189 accepted the offers given. [11]
SPH MediaWorks Channel i, the English language channel, ceased broadcasting on 1 January 2005 with its channel space was briefly reused by Okto nearly four years later until 1 May 2019. SPH MediaWorks Channel U was renamed MediaCorp Channel U and became a complementary channel to MediaCorp's Chinese language channel Channel 8. [12] A number of artistes and news anchors/presenters were transferred, many of whom were former employees of MediaCorp and its predecessors the Television Corporation of Singapore (TCS) and Television Twelve/Singapore Television Twelve (TV12/STV12). [10]
Besides television, several newspaper operations were also merged and are managed by MediaCorp's newspaper division MediaCorp Press Ltd. In return, SPH became a 40% shareholder, mainly in Today, MediaCorp's main newspaper.
On 25 August 2017, SPH announced its divestment of shares from Mediacorp, being 20 percent in Mediacorp TV and 40 percent in Mediacorp Press respectively to focus on its core media businesses. [13] [14] Mediacorp acquired these stakes for S$18 million, resulting in both companies being full subsidiaries of Mediacorp. [15] This comes after Mediacorp announced a cessation of Today's publication as a hardcopy with a move towards digitalisation from end-September 2017, coming as more readers consume news online. The digitalisation of Today resulted in 40 roles being redundant. For five years since that date, Mediacorp will not publish any soft copy or digital format of Today similar to a hardcopy newspaper. [16] [17] [18] The acquisition of SPH's stakes was completed on 29 September 2017, thus returning to 2000 when media competition had not started yet. [3]
Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is a state-owned public media conglomerate in Singapore. 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.
Streats was an English broadsheet daily newspaper in Singapore, launched on 4 September 2000. It officially ceased publishing on 31 December 2004 and merged into TODAY.
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The following lists events that happened during 2004 in Singapore.
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in Singapore.
The following lists events that happened during 2000 in Singapore.
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The mass media in Singapore refers to mass communication methods through broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet available in the city-state. Singapore's media environment is a duopoly - it is dominated by two major players, Mediacorp and SPH Media.
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Zhang Haijie is a China-born Singaporean news anchor contracted under Mediacorp.
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.
Darren Lim is a Singaporean actor and television host, who was a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1997 to 2016.
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Channel i was a Singaporean English language free-to-air terrestrial television channel owned by SPH MediaWorks, a broadcasting subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings.