Channel 5 (Singaporean TV channel)

On January 3, 1963, the Singaporean government announced the start of pilot programming effective February 15. The station was set to broadcast on VHF channel 5 in the 625-line television standard and would provide a license fee of $24 per year ($2 per month), touted at the time as being "one of the cheapest in this part of the world". The output from the start of the pilot service was going to last less than two hours, before extending to four hours by April. A second channel was slated to start between August and September of the same year. By the time of the March extension, the service was going to carry filmed programming in English and Hokkien, before gradually extending to include Mandarin, Malay, Tamil and other Chinese dialects. The regular service would provide, effective April, a four-hour schedule in the official languages of Singapore. A temporary studio was built on Caldecott Hill in the precints of Radio Singapore and a television transmitter at Bukit Batok was erected. The staff consisted of experienced workers coming from the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan.[1] Ahead of the start of the pilot service, it was recommended for manufacturers of television sets to ensure that their presets would match Channel 5 and Channel 8.[2]

The channel first launched as a pilot service, TV Singapura, on 15 February 1963. Minister for Culture S. Rajaratnam introduced its inaugural night of programming, which included the documentary TV Looks at Singapore, imported cartoons and comedy programmes, the Malay variety show Rampaian Malaysia (Malaysian Medley), and news. Rajaratnam stated that "tonight might well mark the start of a social and cultural revolution in our lives." The pilot service would broadcast 100 minutes of programmes per-night.[3] At the time, it was estimated that only one in 58 persons in Singapore owned a television set.[4]

While many viewers found television as a source of entertainment, the real purpose of the new service was a mere tool against supporters of communism who were against Singapore's merger with Malaysia.[5] The first newsreader on launch night was Steven Lee, while the first newsreel (Berita Singapura) was read by Harry Crabb, who later appeared in the regular bulletins. The news division was assisted by Australian David Prior, who trained train locals in the field of television journalism. At the time, it was projected that Prior would stay with TV Singapura for two years. Continuity announcers were also a central part of the staff, primarily appearing at start-up and at closedown delivering the schedule.[6] Among the initial set of announcers were Mildred Appaduray (English), Kamala Dorai (Tamil), Hsu Fong Lim (Mandarin) and Zaiton Haji Mohamed (Malay).[7]

On 2 April 1963, the channel was formally inaugurated by President Yusof Ishak as TV Singapura Channel 5. It expanded its broadcast day to four hours per-night, broadcasting from 7:15 p.m. to 11:15 p.m. SGT in the four official languages.[8] By the time of the launch of the regular service, TV sets were now available in 7000 households, per a Straits Times survey.[9] A bespoke "second" channel opened on AM radio (1370 KHz) in June providing a second audio track for selected programming.[10][11]

On 31 August 1963, a second channel, Channel 8, began test broadcasts, which would carry Chinese and Tamil-language programming, leaving Channel 5 focused on English and Malay programming.[12]

In January 1964, Channel 5 and 8 became regional affiliates of TV Malaysia. Television advertising started on 15 January the same year.[13] Following Singapore's separation from Malaysia, Channel 5 and Channel 8 became part of the new state broadcaster Radio Television Singapore, and was subsequently rebranded as RTS Channel 5. The first post-independence Grand Prix was held in Singapore was carried by the channel.[14] Both channels moved to Television Centre on Caldecott Hill on 26 August 1966. As late as that period, the RTS channels were still known in some way as TV Singapura.[15]

On March 30, 1973, RTS paired down the languages of the channels. Channel 5 started broadcasting exclusively in English and Malay. The Chinese and Tamil content moved to Channel 8.[16]

In 1974, Channel 5 began experimental colour broadcasts, including live coverage of the 1974 FIFA World Cup final.[17] Channel 5 broadcast its first domestic programme in colour, the National Day Parade, on 9 August.[18] In late 1979, the channel conducted engineering tests after closedown, airing selected programming in colour before their supposed first runs later, confusing some viewers.[19]

On 1 February 1980, RTS was restructured as the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation, being separated from the Ministry of Culture into a statutory corporation.[20][21]

Stereo broadcasts debuted on Channel 5 and its sister channels on 1 August 1990.

On 1 January 1994, Malay-language programmes were moved to Channel 12, and Channel 5 was relaunched as a full-time English-language service.[22][23]

The channel prepared a special line-up for the first day of the relaunched service, which involved a new logo and a new schedule. For the first time, on an exceptional basis, Channel 5 broadcast 24 hours on New Year's Day 1994, with the relaunch taking place at midnight.[24]

On 29 August 1994, the channel launched AM Singapore, Singapore's first English-language breakfast programme.

The broadcast of X-Men on 4 May 2003 gave the channel a record 1.2 million viewers tuning in for its network television premiere.[25]

On 1 November 2014, Channel 5 announced a planned expansion of local original programming, including more current affairs programming focusing on Singapore (including the weeknight talkshow The 5 Show), a "local serial drama", and a new talent search competition.[26]

On 1 May 2019, Channel 5 replaced its daytime simulcasts of Channel NewsAsia with the children's programming block Okto on 5; this service replaced the Okto channel, which was discontinued.[27]