The Early Years Of The Television Industry In Singapore

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TVRP L3

EXERCISE 1: The Early Years Of The Television Industry In Singapore

Singapore got her first taste of television transmission on February 15, 1963 when Television Singapura was launched. It was a one hour and 45 minute pilot monochrome service commenced by the Department of Broadcasting at the Victoria Memorial Hall. 500 bigwigs had gathered there to witness the significant occasion and 2,400 families who owned TV sets viewed the ‘live’ telecast of this transmission in the comfort of their homes, as well as crowds at 52 community centres across the island. Then, one in every 12 homes owned a TV set.

The first programme was called TV Looks At Singapore, a 15-minute documentary, which introduced viewers to the world of TV broadcasting and the role it would play in the lives of Singaporeans. Regular transmissions began two months later on a four-hour programme channel, Channel 5, on April 2, 1963 and a second broadcast channel began operation in November 1963. At that time, Singapore had become part of Malaysia and hence its broadcasting service was merged with the Malaysian broadcasting service.

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Colour TV test transmissions started in May 1974. The unresponsiveness to colour TV changed when the TV station announced that its first 'live' colour telecast via satellite would be the World Cup Soccer Finals between West Germany and Holland on 7 Jul 1974 at 10.30pm. Golden Mile Complex had 20 sets installed and 7 hotels had over 30 sets among them receiving the match 'live'.  Two thousand TV sets were bought the day before the match.  A million people watched West Germany beat Holland 2-1 in living colour. 

The first phase of the colour service began smoothly on ...

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