Sejarah penyiaran televisyen di Singapura

Televisyen mula tiba di Singapura pada 15 Febuari 1963. Television Singapura dibuka secara rasmi sebagai sebuah penyiaran TV monokrom (satu warna) di Victoria Memorial Hall dengan kehadiran lima ratus tetamu-tetamu terhormat yang hadir untuk menyaksikan detik bersejarah ini.

 Penyiaran pertama berlangsung selama 1 jam 45 minit dan telah ditonton oleh 2,400 buah keluarga yang memiliti set televisyen dan juga oleh penduduk yang lain di 52 balai-balai masyarakat di merata Singapura. Pada masa itu, hanya 12 buah rumah sahaja yang memiliki set televisyen.  

 Rancangan pertama yang disiarkan di Singapura adalah sebuah dokumentari 15 minit hasil Television Singapura yang betajuk TV Looks At Singapore. Program ini mengenalkan kepada penonton mengenai dunia penyiaran televisyen dan peranan yang boleh dimainkan oleh televisyen untuk rakyat Singapura. 

 Program ini kemudiannya diikuti dengan rancangan kartun,Heckle and Jeckle, dan Dicky Duck. Berita lima minit dalam bahasa Inggeris, News In English menyusul kemudian dan siaran berakhir dengan rancangan Hancock's Half Hour.

Pada 2 April 1963, regular broadcasts began with four hours of programming on one channel - Channel 5.

 Colour TV test transmissions started in May 1974 with daily half-hour slots at 11.05am and 2.05pm until 31 July 1974. One television set distributor announced a selling price of S$1,600!

 The lukewarm response 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. Two thousand TV sets were bought the day before the match.

 Golden Mile Complex had 20 sets installed. Fitzpatrick Supermarket in Orchard Road had two, Nanyang University (now Nanyang Technological University) had three sets in its canteen, and seven hotels had over 30 sets among them receiving the match 'live'. A million people watched West Germany beat Holland 2-1 in living colour. 

 The first phase of the colour service began smoothly on 1 Aug 1974, and on 11 Nov 1974, the second phase was launched. The newsreel was televised in colour and programmes increased from two hours to four hours on weekdays and from four to six hours on weekends.

 By 1987, 526,677 households or one in 1.2 households here had colour TV sets.

Sumber

On Television In Singapore - A book published by Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC)