Mediacorp logo since 8 December 2015
|
|
Private Limited | |
Industry |
Entertainment Mass media Interactive media Media consultancy Outdoor advertising |
Founded | February 15, 1963 |
Headquarters | 1 Stars Avenue |
Area served
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Singapore Southern Malaysia Riau Islands |
Key people
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Teo Ming Kian (Chairman) Shaun Seow (CEO) |
Owner | Temasek Holdings |
Parent | Temasek Holdings |
Subsidiaries | Mediacorp TV Singapore Pte Ltd Mediacorp Press Ltd Mediacorp VizPro International Pte Ltd Mediacorp Raintree Pictures Pte Ltd Singapore Media Academy Media Research Consultants Pte Ltd OOH Media Pte Ltd 1-Net Singapore Pte Ltd |
Website | www.mediacorp.sg |
Mediacorp Pte Ltd, better known as Mediacorp, is a group of commercial media companies in Singapore, with business interests in television and radio broadcasting, interactive media, and, to a lesser extent, print publishing and filmmaking.
Currently, Mediacorp runs 7 television channels and 12 radio channels, making it the largest media broadcaster and provider in Singapore, and the only terrestrial TV broadcaster in the city-state. It is wholly owned by Temasek Holdings, a government-owned investment arm.
The company group began with the advent of radio broadcasting in Singapore when the broadcasting licence was awarded to the British Malaya Broadcasting Corporation (BMBC) in 21 July 1935. The company officially opened its studios and transmitters at Caldecott Hill two years later in 1 March 1937. The corporation was taken over by the Straits Settlement government in 1940 as a part of the British Department of Information known as Malaya Broadcasting Corporation.
Not long after Singapore reached self-government status in 1959, there were plans to obtain television transmission rights. This manifested into the entity Television Singapura in 4 April 1961. Television Singapura began transmission tests from 21 January to 15 February 1963, where it was launched as Singapore's first television station and officially began broadcasting. Regular broadcasts there since 3 April (later known as Channel 5) were mainly in English and Malay. On 23 November of the same year, a second channel was launched as Channel 8, airing programmes mainly in Mandarin and Tamil.
Meanwhile in Kuala Lumpur, Talivishen Malaysia (new Malay orthography: Televisyen Malaysia) began broadcasting on 28 December in time for the New Year on the next year. Television Singapura was subsequently rebranded (also to coincide with the formation of Malaysia in September of that year) as sister channel "Television Malaysia (Singapura)". The first advertisement was aired on 1 January 1964 to reduce the station's reliance on subsidies.