8TV () is a Malaysian Chinese-language

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...

television (formerly both English and Chinese-language free-to-air television) network focused on the Chinese community of Malaysia. Its programming consists of mostly dramas, sitcoms, and reality shows made in Chinese, either produced in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

or imported from other countries, such as

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, China,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, the occasional

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

drama, Japanese anime and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

n and Hollywood movie blockbusters for Malaysian viewers.

History

As MetroVision

Television station ''8TV'' began official broadcasts on 1 July 1995, then known as ''MetroVision''. It was managed by City Television Sdn Bhd, part of the Melewar Group, which was controlled by a member of the Negeri Sembilan royal family. Other shareholders included

Utusan Malaysia ''Utusan Malaysia'' ( Jawi: اوتوسن مليسيا; English: ''The Malaysian Tribune'' or simply ''Utusan'') is a Malaysian Malay-language daily newspaper. Formerly owned by the Utusan Group, the newspaper is currently owned by Media Mulia. ...

, Medan Mas and Diversified Systems. The first broadcast license granted to MetroVision was only for the Klang Valley (appx. 3 million viewers). MetroVision transmitted on UHF channel 27 from Gunung Ulu Kali (near Genting Highlands). It was first available only in Klang Valley,

Seremban Seremban (Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Soghomban'', ''Somban''; Jawi: ) is a city in the Seremban District and the capital of the state of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. The city's administration is run by the Seremban City Council. Se ...

, parts of

Pahang Pahang (; Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a sultanate and ...

and Malacca, but later expanded to

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km2, and it consists of the mainland ...

and

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares maritime ...

, also being receivable from Singapore. Metrovision had a Malay news programme named Warta Prima. By the end of 1996, MetroVision was sold to a new operator. Due to the Asian financial crisis and overcrowding from other channels (

Astro Astro may refer to: Entertainment and media * Astro (South Korean band), a South Korean boy band * Astro (UB40) (1957–2021), member of the British reggae band UB40 * Astro (Chilean band), a Chilean indie rock band * Astro (Japanese band), ...

, Mega TV & NTV7), MetroVision shut down on 1 November 1999. The operator promised to re-start the station in March 2000 after a supposed "signal upgrade" but that did not materialise.

Renamed 8TV and early history

On 8 January 2004, MetroVision was relaunched as and rebranded into 8TV under the entity of Metropolitan TV Sdn Bhd after the company was brought by

Media Prima Media Prima Berhad, doing business as Media Prima and stylised as media prima, is a Malaysian media company based in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. It is Malaysia's largest media and entertainment conglomerate with business interests in television, pr ...

in 2003 with few Chinese, Malay and English contents in the beginning. Throughout its history, all the contents were gradually replaced by Chinese content as more of them were added to the channel's broadcasting slot. Mandarin is used in all of its news broadcasts nowadays and there was also a short-lived Malay news broadcast that was available in the channel's early years. As a Chinese-oriented TV channel, 8TV broadcasts more Chinese programmes and movies and hold its own Chinese New Year campaign in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebrations every year. As part of the campaign, the TV company distributes its Chinese New Year singles discography in competition with rival

since 2009. (

began to distribute Chinese New Year singles since 2008.) Beginning from 2015, 8TV release and distribute its Chinese New Year singles yearly with its own themes, theme songs and mascots based on the 12 animal zodiac as well as its related merchandise (e.g.

soft toy A stuffed toy is a toy doll with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, stuffed animals, and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be cal ...

s). Over the years, it also collaborate with other Media Prima partners for the singles such as 8FM (formerly One FM) and NTV7. In addition, the discography team also tour across the country to promote their discography and its merchandise. The singles' Compact Discs can also be bought at

Popular Bookstore Popular Holdings Limited, more commonly known as just Popular or colloquially as the Popular Bookstore, is a Singaporean multinational bookstore chain. Aside from Singapore, it also has subsidiaries in countries such as Canada, China (including ...

CD Rama kiosks nationwide during the festive season. (Astro already have its own 12 animal zodiac campaign since 2010.)

Programme rescheduling

A programme reschedule was implemented on 1 April 2016, with almost all Chinese programmes shown on Saturdays to Tuesdays, while English programmes retain their time slots as usual on Wednesdays to Fridays, but by June 2017, 8TV broadcast only one English programme, which broadcasts every Friday. The rescheduling also includes a 3-hour morning

home shopping Home shopping is the electronic retailing and home shopping channels industry, which includes such billion dollar television-based and e-commerce companies as Shop LC, HSN, Gemporia, TJC, QVC, eBay, ShopHQ, Buy.com and Amazon.com, as well as ...

block titled CJ Wow Shop (now Wow Shop) which had also been introduced across other Media Prima channels, some more affected by the changes (especially sister channels NTV7 and TV9). However, this block has attract huge criticism on social media as it replaced a large part of daytime schedule, which these slots had been previously running mostly reruns, religious programming and kids programming. The programme was initially broadcast in Malay on the channel like its sister channel before being broadcast in Mandarin beginning 8 January 2017 onwards. On 5 March 2018, 8TV became an independent first Chinese-language television channel and all 8TV's English programming was moved to NTV7 while NTV7's Mandarin programming was moved to 8TV as early as March 2018, due to the former changing its audience focus. On 8 June 2020, the day after Mandarin 7 aired its last edition on NTV7, 8TV's Primetime Mandarin News was extended to 1 hour. On 11 February 2021, 8TV has started its

HDTV High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

broadcasting in conjunction of Chinese New Year and available exclusively through myFreeview DTT service on channel 108. On 4 May 2021, this channel started 24 hours a day due to

8FM 8FM (formerly One FM) is a Malaysian Chinese-language radio station. Initially starting with broadcasts in the Klang Valley, it is now broadcast nationwide. 8FM is owned by Media Prima Berhad. History In 2006, its frequencies were from th ...

launch simulcast radio every midnight.

References

External links