The story
1921–1946: The birth of local broadcasting
History of local broadcasting in Malaysia began in 1921 when an electrical engineer from the Johor Government, A.L. Birch, brought the first radio set into British Malaya. He then established the Johor Wireless Association in 1923 and commenced broadcasting through 300 meter waves. Similar associations were also established in Penang (Penang Wireless Association) in 1925 and in Kuala Lumpur (Malayan Wireless Association) in 1928.
In 1930, Sir Earl from the Singapore Port Authority commenced its short wave broadcast every fortnight either on Sundays or Wednesdays. The same effort was emulated by the Malayan Wireless Association, broadcasting from Bukit Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, via 325 meter waves. Penang Wireless Association led by Khoo Sian Ewe launched Station ZHJ – Malaya's first radio station on 24 August 1934, which operates out of George Town, Penang. British Malaya Broadcasting Corporation (BMBC) was formed on 21 July 1935 and awarded a broadcasting license by the British crown on 1 June 1936 as a radio network. On 1 March 1937, Sir Shenton Thomas opened the BMBC Studio and its transmitter at Caldecott Hill in Singapore. The corporation was taken over by the Straits Settlements Government in 1940, subsequently nationalised and reorganised as the Malaya Broadcasting Corporation and was placed under the British Department of Information.
During the World War II in 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied British Malaya and used the existing radio channels in Penang, Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Seremban and Singapore to transmit Japanese propaganda. Malaya Broadcasting Corporation was renamed Syonan Hoso Kyoku ('Light of the South' Broadcasting Corporation), the local counterpart to the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (Nippon Hoso Kyokai, NHK for short). Meanwhile, the Radio Station in Penang was renamed Penang Hoso Kyoku (Penang Broadcasting Corporation). After the war, the British came back into power and reclaimed the radio station, with the station managed by the interim government – British Military Administration (BMA).
1946–1969: Early history
On 1 April 1946, Radio Malaya or Department of Broadcasting of Malaya was established at Caldecott Hill in Singapore (after Singapore out from Malaysia in 1965, the office is used by Radio Television Singapore (RTS) and its successors Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), Television Corporation of Singapore (TCS), Radio Corporation of Singapore (RCS), Singapore International Media (SIM) and Mediacorp until the end of 2017). Apart from its headquarters in Singapore, it also had broadcast stations in cities and towns across Malaya such as Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Seremban and Malacca. Radio Malaya consists of five language services – Malay, Aslian, English, Chinese and Tamil language, the latter three became known as the Blue, Green and Red Networks in 1959. Blue, Green and Red Networks were also used to refer to regional stations and programmings and radio broadcastings were done using amplitude modulation (AM) or short and medium wave transmissions during those times.
In the British Crown Colonies of North Borneo (now Sabah) and Sarawak, Radio Sarawak was launched on 7 June 1954, while Radio Sabah was launched on 9 November 1955 after test broadcast since 1952. These two radio stations offers language services in Malay, Chinese and English, in addition to the native languages of Iban for Sarawak and Kadazan for Sabah.
With the independence of Malaya on 31 August 1957, Radio Malaya was split into two separate stations: the original studios in Singapore were taken over by a new station called Radio Singapura and Radio Malaya moved to Kuala Lumpur going on air from the new location – the 5th to 6th floor of the Federal House on 1 January 1959. It would be later renamed Radio Malaysia on 16 September 1963, with the transmissions beginning with its trademark words Inilah Radio Malaysia (This is Radio Malaysia) on the day the Malaysia of today, a federation which consists of the States of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore (until 1965) was born. On the same day, Radio Sabah, Radio Sarawak and Radio Singapura became part of the Radio Malaysia network as state stations for Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore listeners respectively. Radio Malaysia's flagship international shortwave radio service, Voice of Malaysia (Malay: Suara Malaysia, VOM) was launched on 15 February the same year to promote the country, with three languages in the beginning: English, Mandarin and Indonesian.
Television services under the name Televisyen Malaysia or Malaysia Television (Malaysia TV) started on 28 December 1963 in time for the national New Year celebrations in Kuala Lumpur and regional telecasts in the Klang Valley in Selangor state, with its first studios being located in Jalan Ampang. The then 10-month-old Television Singapura (launched on 15 February 1963) became part of Televisyen Malaysia in January 1964 as its state station for Singapore viewers, a role served until 1965, when Singapore became independent. During its time as part of Malaysia, Singapore like its three other partners–Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya had its own radio network, but it was the only state to have its own television network. The state's radio and television broadcast right were included as an annex in the Malaysia Agreement, which it garnered autonomy in this area, among others.
Upon joining Radio Malaysia, Radio Sabah consisted of two language networks: the main Malay language network which later became Sabah FM and the Blue Network for Kadazan, Murut, Dusun, Bajau, English and Mandarin language which later became Sabah V FM. Radio Sarawak on the other hand, consisted of four language networks: the main Malay language network, the Blue network for Bidayuh language, the Green network for Iban and Kayan/Kenyah languages and the Red network for English, Mandarin, Bisaya and Murut language programming.
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News broadcasting began on 30 December 1963 with the first television news broadcast by Televisyen Malaysia (TV Malaysia). In the beginning, TV Malaysia functioned as the official information channel of the Malaysian government and became a pioneer in news broadcasting in the country.
At that time, the news broadcast included local and international issues as well as the political, economic, and social developments of Malaysia. This news is available in 4 languages such as Malay, English, Mandarin and Tamil. It remains one of the main sources of news in Malaysia to this day.
The then-Information and Broadcasting Minister, Hamzah Abu Samah announced in May 1969 that the radio and television services would be merged to create a new public broadcasting department in August. In August 1969, he confirmed that the merger will be took place in October or will be finalised by the year-end. As part of the preparation for its merger with Radio Malaysia, Televisyen Malaysia moved from its former headquarters in Jalan Ampang to Angkasapuri.
1969–2001: Merger and expansion of radio and television operations
Radio and Television operations merged on 11 October 1969 as the new Angkasapuri headquarters was inaugurated. Thus Radio Malaysia and Televisyen Malaysia's identities merged to become Radio Televisyen Malaysia, abbreviated as RTM. A second TV station, which was first mooted by then-Information and Broadcasting Minister, Senu Abdul Rahman, opened on 17 November in the same year as its rebranding.
On 19 April 1971, Radio Malaysia's Malay language unit became the first radio station to broadcast 24 hours a day nationwide, thus becoming National Network (Malay: Rangkaian Nasional) in the process. On 5 November 1973, RTM launched a radio station named Radio Ibu Kota (Capital City Radio) specifically for the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. On 20 June 1975, Radio Malaysia's first Stereo FM format radio station went on the air, mainly broadcast pop music and initially focus on the Klang Valley area. On this same year, it subsumed operations of Sabah TV, an independent television broadcaster ran by Sabah's local state government through its Rangkaian Ketiga ("Third Network") connecting to Sarawak as well.
By 31 August 1978, Voice of Malaysia had expanded its broadcast to include 5 other language services namely:
Thai (1 January 1972)
Arabic (1 November 1972)
Tagalog (22 October 1973)
Malay
Burmese
The expansion of the Voice of Malaysia was meant to foster the relationships between Malaysia & ASEAN countries of Thailand & the-then Burma, as well as fostering the Islamic fraternity between Malaysia & Arab countries. The Tagalog service was launched to cover the Southern Philippines, during the Moro conflict to support the rebels at that time. The Thai, Arabic & Burmese language services was terminated in 2009, while the Malay, English, Chinese & Indonesian language services was terminated on 31 August 2011. Tagalog service, broadcasts on MW & later FM later followed suit, terminated service on 30 April 2022, all due to low listenership & the rise of FM radio stations as well as the internet that waned it's importance.
On 17 April 1995, an international Islamic service called Voice of Islam was added to the Voice of Malaysia network and broadcasts in English as "The Voice of Islam" & in Malay as "Suara Islam". Both services then ceased to exist by 31 August 2011. All language services were transmitted from Kajang, Selangor, except for Tagalog service which was transmitted from Tuaran, Sabah.
Radio Malaysia went off the air for a few days during the recent floods.
In March 1972, RTM's television channels (known as TV Malaysia) premiered Drama Minggu Ini (This Week's Drama) – a weekly local 30-minute drama anthology and began airing monthly local hour-long dramas. In December 1972, RTM planned the start of the colour TV transition targeted to 1975, starting with foreign programmes, local programmes in colour by 1978 when colour television is extended to Sabah and Sarawak and to have TV2 in colour by 1980.
On 1 January 1974, RTM integrated with Filem Negara Malaysia to provide "more effective service to the people".
To smoothen the transition to colour television, RTM began producing documentaries in colour in mid-1978. RTM began transmission tests of colour television in early September 1978. The two outdoor broadcasting vans, imported from the United Kingdom, arrived in mid-September 1978. RTM would also air monthly live programmes in colour in 1979, aimed at a youth audience.
RTM began planning on "decentralising" television production to regional centres in Penang, Kota Bharu, Johor Bahru, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu in 1979, aiming to better highlight the problems of the people in those regions. Each centre would have a recording facility, auditorium and newsroom.
Following the construction of earth satellite stations in Beserah, Kuantan, Pahang and Kinarut, Papar, Sabah for communications and television broadcast via the Indian Ocean Intelsat III satellite, the first TV1 broadcasts in the Bornean states of Sabah and Sarawak were held on 30 August 1975 (just in time for the 18th anniversary of Hari Merdeka). RTM began broadcasting in colour since 28 December 1978 in Peninsular Malaysia - as part of its 15th anniversary - and 31 August 1980 in East Malaysia. TV1 was the first channel to broadcast in colour, with TV2 following suit with the switch occurring on 7 May 1979. TV2 made its debut in East Malaysia on 31 August 1983 and Rangkaian Ketiga ceased transmissions mid-1985 afterwards. Between 1972 and 1999, Televisyen Malaysia shared time with TV Pendidikan – the national education channel in the daytime. TV1 introduced daytime transmissions on 1 March 1994, TV Pendidikan switched channels from TV1 to TV2 as the latter introduced its own daytime transmissions in 2000.
In February 1980, the broadcaster allows any Malaysians to appear in its ads under the new code for advertisements. Effective March 15, adverts depicted alcoholic beverages and any liquor products was banned from airing on RTM. Voice of Malaysia extended its reach to Indochina countries, Japan and Europe in May. In June, RTM prohibited non-Malaysians or Caucasians and their voices from appeared in its ads.
In 1981, under the Fourth Malaysia Plan, RTM was allocated RM 120 million to improve its services. As part of its plans to increase production of more colour programming, RTM planned to decentralize scripted content production from its main studios by using Filem Negara Malaysia's soundstages which would be converted by 1981 for use by the network.
In early 1982, RTM's Berita RTM Malay language newscast had its main edition moved to 9pm weekdays. In 1982, a viewer preference survey reported that viewers in Johor prefer to watch RTM's Malay programmes than its news programmes, which "still lacks professionalism". Meanwhile, Malay viewers in Singapore were satisfied with entertainment programmes provided by RTM compared to Singapore's SBC 5 Malay-language offerings. Advertising on RTM as of 1982 was up to five minutes an hour on television and seven minutes on radio. At that time RTM only air commercials between programmes. In mid-1982, RTM began allowing private companies to sponsor feature films showings. RTM began introducing a new format for its television news broadcasts on 18 October 1982, introducing a two-newscaster format for all languages, aiming at improving news presentation.
RTM had problems acquiring old Malay films from Cathay Organisation and Malay Film Productions in 1983 due to "prohibitive price tags".
While RTM had used to one advertiser sponsoring programmes, it planned to introduce "multiple-sponsorship" sometime in 1984, where one or more advertisers sponsor a programme. In February 1984, RTM's television channels began to air a digital time display which appear at the bottom-left of the screen. RTM's news division was reorganised in 1984. It also had plans to give journalism training for its staff, sending them to the United States.
In August, it also partnered with Filem Negara Malaysia and the Information Department to produce "short and easy-to-understand" documentaries on Government policies.
RTM was still airing operas for the minority of its viewers in 1985. Drama Swasta, a slot for drama productions produced by private companies for RTM airing Monday nights, premiered in 1985. The slot is aimed to revive the then-ailing local film industry.
In a viewership study carried by Survey Research Malaysia in September and October 1985, RTM's entertainment programmes made to the top 10 shows thanks to the position of being aired at 8:30 pm where viewers were mostly at home. Notably, the Malay movies slot was in the first place of the top 10 list with 3.754 million viewers. The number of viewers of RTM's television channels were 4.197 million in September and 4.563 million in October respectively. Plans for FM mono transmissions in Sabah and Sabah were considered in late 1985. Due to the launch of TV3, RTM lost RM 5 million and RM 11 million in advertising revenue for 1984 and 1985 respectively. Plans to privatise RTM's advertising division in 1986 were in the works, where the Information Ministry would appoint an agency to handle RTM's advertising system.
In August 1986, RTM decided to buy RM4.5 million worth of satellite receiving equipment, drafted in the amendment of the then-Broadcast Act. At that time, RTM was using the Telecom Departments' satellite receiving equipments where it had to pay RM1.7 million annually to the Telecom Department. The satellite facilities finally enabled better nationwide broadcasts of its programming. By the time, the amount of local programming aired on RTM's TV1 and TV2 in 1986 was at 65%.
RTM reformatted its news programming by mid-1987 resulting in a new look for its newscasts with the debut of national and international news bulletins. In addition, RTM launched Berita Wilayah - a brand new regional newscast with updates from RTM's regional studios everyday of the week. On 14 June 1987, RTM slightly reduced the broadcasting hours of its television channels, particularly removing the midnight movie slot, saving the broadcaster about RM 2 million a year. Over 200 million people tuned in to RTM's broadcasts in ASEAN countries in 1987. RTM's Voice of Malaysia shortwave broadcasts were upgraded in 1987. In late 1987, RTM began airing local drama and comedy productions produced on videotape instead of film to reduce the high costs of film productions and the then-current limited film market.
Realizing that SBC 8 in Singapore had been successfully beaming Tamil language drama programs to Malaysia, in response the network began producing locally produced Tamil dramas on RTM2 in 1988 as an effort to increase its Tamil programming, despite the lack of advertisers and sponsors for such. RTM spent RM 12 million in upgrading FM stereo radio broadcasts in 1988. It also had plans have other languages broadcast in FM in the near future. On 11 September 1988, RTM aired the 1988 Sport Aid, consisting of a 24-hour telethon starting at 7 am, a marathon event (Sport Aid Malaysian run and Race Against Time run) and the First World Carnival charity concert at 12 am. RTM contributed 15 minutes of the charity concert coverage and 7 minutes of marathon footage for the worldwide Race Against Time broadcast through a satellite link to London. RTM aired the 1988 Summer Olympics through its two television channels, with TV2 taking the morning and afternoon coverage from 7 am to 5:30 pm and TV1 airing the main events at 7 pm. Evening summaries which consist of delayed broadcasts were aired at 8:30 pm. The earth-satellite complex in Angkasapuri opened on 17 December 1988, costing RM 3 million. It marked the start of RTM's entry into "direct satellite broadcasting".
The advertising revenue for RTM in 1987 was at RM 57 million, becoming RM 60 million in 1988 and increasing to RM 140 million in 1989 after outsourcing their advertising sales to GT Consultants.
In April 1989, the government approved a project to improve television and radio broadcasts, set to be handled by Transponder Services Sdn Bhd. The project, which cost RM 50 million and planned to start in phases from next year, involved setting up parabolic antennas to feed radio and television broadcasts, including RTM's two television channels. The project would be completed in phases starting in mid-1990.
Radio 4, 5 and 6 began broadcasting 18 hours a day instead of 10 hours in 1990. In January 1990, RTM was working on an agreement to supply news footage to CNN and One World Channel. It was later finalized. It would renew the contract with the former in July 1994 for another three years, allowing RTM to remove material not for local broadcast. Three months later, in April, it began collaborated with TV3 for the broadcast of Mandarin news. However, it did not imposed any payments for the service. As of 1990, RTM's television channels were being seen through the Palapa satellite, reaching viewers in Asean countries, Papua New Guinea and Australia. In 1990, RTM was having problems recruiting staff who are proficient in Mandarin for Radio 5 and TV2 due to a lack of suitable candidates, and had resorted to use part-timers.
From Wikipedia’s article on Radio Televisyen Malaysia, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4