Tuesday March 17, 2009
Going high-tech
Television viewers can look forward to digital broadcasting which offers better quality transmission and content.
IN ANOTHER seven years, viewers can expect to see more channels and exclusive programmes from Radio Television Malaysia (RTM). The national broadcasting networks is scheduled to start digital broadcasting by then, doing away with the traditional analog broadcasting system in use now.
Digital links have more efficient bandwidth usage than analog links, thanks to the use of data compression. This gives a content provider more room to provide services, such as higher-quality signal.
“Everyone is gearing up and preparing for the inevitable change. RTM is preparing towards digitalisation which will begin in 2012. It is also preparing for analog switch-off in 2015,” said Datuk Norhyati Ismail, RTM’s TV programming managing director.
“We are all very excited about going digital because it has many benefits. For one, it enables broadcasters to offer TV viewers better picture and sound quality. It also offers multiple programming choices, called multi-casting, and interactive capabilities,” she explained.
The multi-channel is expected to screen 80% local content and producers have to fill 8,000 hours of airtime yearly.
According to Norhyati, RTM will be optimising its manpower and facilities to produce round-the-clock news, in-depth news reporting, documentaries and in-house productions.
Some of the channels include TV1 (news), TV2 (drama and film), Arena (sports), Harmoni (a mixture of Chinese, Indian and other ethnic programmes.), Bestari (live programmes) and Muzik Aktif (music channel).
The planned digital broadcast will have 19 channels, with seven allocated to RTM. The rest of the channels will go to other media companies, including Media Prima, that now operates four channels.
The exercise should be regarded as a national digital broadcast project. Involving various media companies, it will broadcast various types of news, sports and entertainment shows tailored for the multi-ethnic communities here. Currently, there are 1,000 houses in the Klang Valley involved in a pilot digital broadcasting programme that was launched in 2006.
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