End Of Era: Nation Set To Say Goodbye To Analogue TV broadcast

The Government has announced the nationwide pilot transition of the analogue TV transmission to digital TV transmission in stages until 30 September 2019. The transition of Analogue TV marks the readiness of the Terrestrial TV broadcasting industry into the digital age.

Minister of Communications and Multimedia, YB Gobind Singh Deo officiated the announcement of the Nationwide Analogue TV Transmission Transition to myFreeview Digital TV Transmission, held at Kompleks Angkatan Pertahanan Awam Malaysia (APM) in Langkawi today.

Below are the dates for the transition of pilot analogue TV transmission by region:

The transition from Analogue transmission to Digital TV broadcasts across the country was due to the success from the implementation of pilot test in Langkawi by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia  Commission (MCMC) in collaboration with the broadcasters since 21 July 2019.

Throughout the pilot test, various education and awareness campaigned were conducted to increase public awareness of the benefit of switching from Analogue TV transmission to Digital TV transmission.

Four Internet Centres acted as not only the decoder distribution centre but also helped to disseminate relevant information on the transition from analogue to digital broadcast as well as educate public on the issue.

The Digital TV broadcast have now reached  72,075 people in Langkawi through the transmission of terrestrial and satellite TV methods.

YB Gobind, during his visits to one of the Internet Centres in Kampung Padang Lalang met with locals who shared their experience of using myFreeview service since the analogue TV broadcast shutdown on 21st July.

Among the problems highlighted by the locals were, blindspots where residents get poor reception, cross channels from Thailand and some not receiving decoders due to home addresses not updated and some claiming more than one decoder.

According to Gobind, all teething problems identified during the test bed programme will be resolved by MYTV before rolling out the transition at national level and an additional satellite dish will be provided for those with poor reception.

The model implemented in Langkawi will be adopted throughout the nation and the Government will only implement  the closure of Analogue TV transmission once the rakyat are fully prepared to accept the transition.

Asked on how would the readiness of Rakyat will be gauged, MYTV Broadcasting Sdn Bhd CEO Michael Chan said, it will be done based on data collected through calls received by the customer service centre.

Citing Langkawi as an example, he said initially when the analogue tv broadcast was shutdown, the operations centre used to get as many as 42 calls a day on the first day but reduced to only 3 calls after a week.

Those who are still watching analogue TV broadcasts are encouraged to take the following steps to continue enjoying free TV broadcasts:
a. Obtain decoder and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) aerial, install them to existing TV sets; or
b. Obtain an Integrated Digital TV (IDTV) equipped with a decoder  and connect them to a UHF aerial Analog.

Analogue TV services will be replaced by myFreeview Digital TV broadcasts, which is available now throughout Malaysia. It offers a variety of free TV channels with standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) audio visual quality.

In total, there are 15 TV channels and six (6) radio channels available on  myFreeview digital TV platform, provided by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), Media Prima, TV AlHijrah, and Bernama News Channel (BNC).

Several new TV channels will also be airing on the myFreeview platform in the near future.

On whether myFreeview will have features such as customised channels based on ethnic preferences, Chan said he was in talks with content providers on that issue, adding that global content providers had shown keen interest on myFreeview to broadcast their channels.

“Yes. this is possible. We may have customised channels catering to the various ethnics in Malaysia,” he said.

The Digital TV broadcasting service is part of the Government’s effort in bridging the digital divide among the people of urban, sub-urban and rural areas. It is in line with the Government’s Shared Prosperity concept which allows the rakyat to enjoy digital TV services for free, without monthly subscription fees.

In addition, it gives people the option to view a variety of TV channels, radio channels, and applications such as online shopping, latest news, interactive education and other programmes. With applications such as online shopping, the people are open for opportunities to increase their income stream by marketing their products and services using the Digital TV platform.

To date the government has distributed some two million myFreeview decoders to the recepients of Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH). However, for non-BSH recepients, the decoder can be bought from the market, which is a one-time payment only.

According to Chan, the broadcasting company in charge for myFreeview, the price of decoder varies according to the market forces and the government nor MYTV controls the decoder price.

“There are few others who are also selling the DDTV decoders in the market, besides MYTV. So subscribers have the option either to buy the decoders from us or other retailers.”

However, on the wake of rampant fake goods sold in the market, Chan advised the people to buy decoders that are certified by SIRIM and carries MCMC logo on it.

“In addition, the government has also spoken to online retail platforms such as Lazada and Shoppee to sell only original decoders to mitigate issue of fake goods,” elaborated Chan.

For more information, please visit www.myfreeview.tv or call 1-800-181-088.

 

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