SINGAPORE BROADCASTING CORPORATION (Third TV channel)

Mr Sia Khoon Seong asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Culture (a) whether the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation has any plan to establish a third TV channel, and, if so, when will it begin operation and what will be its hours of transmission; (b) how will this new channel contribute towards the cultural and moral enlightenment of our people and what will be the programme content and policy of this channel; and (c) what will be the costs in capital investment and recurrent expenditure.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Culture (Mr S. Dhanabalan): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Singapore Broad- casting Corporation has been considering starting a third TV channel. It has sought Government approval to operate this new service, and approval has been given. SBC is now in the process of completing the planning to establish this third TV channel. It is hoped that the new channel can be launched by early next year. The hours of operation for the third channel will be between 7.00 pm and 10.00 pm. The actual hours of telecast will be determined later. The new channel's primary objective is to broadcast cultural, educational and informational programmes at prime time.

At present during the prime time hours, ie between 7 and 10 pm, SBC's two TV Channels 5 and 8 show a whole range of programmes in all four official languages. One of the major complaints received by SBC is that most of the interesting and well produced cultural, educational and informational programmes are telecast either too early or too late. Generally, cultural, educational and informational programmes do not attract advertising revenue because the viewership is small compared with entertainment programmes of mass appeal. Entertainment programmes, such as drama and musical variety shows with a large viewership, bring in advertising revenue to sustain SBC's operations. Any drastic increase in cultural, educational and informational categories during prime time will affect SBC's revenue adversely.

However, there is a significant and growing demand for high quality cultural programmes and programmes of high educational value. SBC must cater for this small section of the population which is interested in more serious programmes and try to increase the viewership of these programmes.

A third TV channel devoted to cultural, educational and informational programmes and telecast during prime time is the best solution to this problem. Advertising revenue earned in Channels 5 and 8 will subsidize the third TV channel, as it is unlikely that this third TV channel could recover costs on its own. It is hoped that the programmes on the third TV channel will help to stimulate and increase interest in the arts and appreciation of the finer things in life, as well as act as an information source to widen the intellectual vistas of our people.

The programmes on the third TV channel will include adaptations of established classics of world literature, current affairs programmes, documentaries, concerts, ballets, dances, operas as well as programmes which will teach and promote understanding and appreciation of various forms of art such as painting, sculpture, calligraphy and others. Except for the occasional locally produced current affairs and educational programmes, the third channel will depend entirely on programmes acquired from abroad. As the new TV channel will use existing infrastructure, technical facilities and manpower of SBC, capital and operating costs will be kept to the minimum. It is estimated that the capital expenditure will be in the region of $4 1/2 million and the recurrent annual operating cost will be about $3 million.