Country | Malaysia |
---|---|
Broadcast area |
Malaysia Singapore Brunei Thailand ( South Thailand, particularly Songkhla, Narathiwat, Yala and Satun) Indonesia ( West Kalimantan, Riau Islands, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan and Riau) Philippines ( Balabac, Palawan and Tawi-Tawi) |
Headquarters | LG12, Lower Ground Floor, Mall 2, CityOne Megamall, No. 1, Jalan Song, 93350 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia |
Programming | |
Language(s) |
Malay (
standard and
Sarawakian) English ( standard) Iban Mandarin ( standard) |
Picture format | 1080i ( 16:9/ HDTV) |
Ownership | |
Owner | • Sarawak Media Group (SMG) • Government of Sarawak • Ministry of Communications and Digital |
Key people | Dato Norhyati Ismail (President) [1] Haji Kushairi Abang (Chief Executive Officer) [2] Sarbini Hamdan (Executive Director) [3] |
History | |
Launched | 30 October 2014 10 October 2020 (TVS) | (TV Sarawak)
Closed | 9 October 2020 | (TV Sarawak)
Former names | TV Sarawak (2014 - 2020) |
Links | |
Website |
tvsarawak |
Availability | |
Terrestrial | |
MYTV | Channel 122 (HD) |
Streaming media | |
MYTV | MYTV Mana Mana / Video On Demand |
TVS (an initialism of its former name, TV Sarawak) is a Malaysian linear digital television channel that provides news and programming from the region of Sarawak to the state itself plus other parts of Malaysia. TVS can be watched nationwide via Astro, Unifi TV, and MYTV on channel 122.
Plans for an independent regional Sarawakian broadcaster were discussed since 2017 under the state government of then-Chief Minister (later State Premier) Abang Johari Tun Openg who had complained of indifference in coverage of state affairs from mainstream Kuala Lumpur-based broadcasters. [4] Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), which had previously ran Televisyen Malaysia Rangkaian Ketiga specifically for Sabah and Sarawak from 1975 to 1984, [5] planned to relaunch a television station for Sarawak as part of the government's digitalization plan for Malaysian television. [6] The plan, however, did not come to fruition as the plan did not come to the realization by which it was replaced by OKEY, and the state television plan was later undertaken by a private company only to be launched as a streaming channel. [4] [7]
The free-to-air license was eventually given the green light in an announcement by Sim Kui Hian, Sarawak's Minister for Local Government and Housing. [8] The station would be given an early broadcast on October 10, 2020, in conjunction with the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak's Birthday before launching officially the next day on the night of October 11, 2020. [8] [9] [10]
On October 15, 2020, TVS became the main partner of the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) and will finance its produced work. [11]
In 2023, TVS planned to cooperate with regional TV stations as part of its plan to expand the creative industry in Sarawak. [12]
Ahead of New Year's Day 2024, TVS launched a new logo based on the colors of the Sarawak flag [13] and at the same time, it proposed to open a branch office in three locations in Sarawak as well as in Kuala Lumpur by the first quarter of 2024. [14] [15]