Methinks RTM may be serious about quality this time.
Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) announced today that it is freezing all applications for air time pending new rules for allotment of slots to production houses. Apparently new 'rules' were being drafted to ensure a fairer and more transparent allotment of slots for programmes on the government's TV station. The current air time is based on the 'old' allotment. What the old allotment is, remains unexplained and what is meant by fair and transparent allotment is also not clear.
Perhaps the reference is to the decades old RTM policy of taking anything and everything Malay that could pass off as entertainment. To encourage and assist Malay producers and their fledgling outfits, RTM did turn into a 'rubbish bin' of sorts where almost all Malay language programmes were accepted without question, demi bangsa dan negara. Some opportunistic substandard producers took advantage of this liberal mood and started churning out trash which even the hardcore Malay viewers got fed up with after some time and switched their loyalties to the private TV stations.
RTM which pays RM40,000 for an hour's air time for all programmes bought from the production houses says that it is now ready to compete with the private TV stations to air quality programmes. The station would also buy its own programmes or films from abroad now and assess the products first, unlike previously when it bought through middlemen or agents. (This middleman phenomena in everything done by bumis is probably one of the main reasons that they have not achieved their intended corporate targets after so many years. Its so much easier and less work to make money as a middleman you see. Why sweat it out and think yourself into illness when by virtue of being a bumi you can easily be the orang tengah? Easy money, proxy directorships and of course the mandatory Datuk title. The smarter of this lazy lot took full advantage of the special bumi allocation of corporate shares and started driving Mercs to balik kampung.) But I digress.
RTM it seems is also striving to make big changes without sidelining the Chinese and Indian audiences by increasing interesting programmes for them like talkshows, dramas and movies in those languages. Now this I have to see to believe. As I have repeatedly mentioned in this blog, what the government pronounces and what finally comes out, are sometimes so different, after all the 'adjustments' are made to accomodate everything and everyone from the NEP to UMNO supreme council diktats.
Given the vein of the message and the obvious determination to give the private stations a run for their money, even if not a bloody nose, should RTM stick to their plans to revamp genuinely, accomodating all the races and not trying to be a Malay propaganda machine, it should succeed remarkably. Don't be surprised if soon you find yourselves increasingly switching to RTM for your infotainmen.
Perhaps the reference is to the decades old RTM policy of taking anything and everything Malay that could pass off as entertainment. To encourage and assist Malay producers and their fledgling outfits, RTM did turn into a 'rubbish bin' of sorts where almost all Malay language programmes were accepted without question, demi bangsa dan negara. Some opportunistic substandard producers took advantage of this liberal mood and started churning out trash which even the hardcore Malay viewers got fed up with after some time and switched their loyalties to the private TV stations.
RTM which pays RM40,000 for an hour's air time for all programmes bought from the production houses says that it is now ready to compete with the private TV stations to air quality programmes. The station would also buy its own programmes or films from abroad now and assess the products first, unlike previously when it bought through middlemen or agents. (This middleman phenomena in everything done by bumis is probably one of the main reasons that they have not achieved their intended corporate targets after so many years. Its so much easier and less work to make money as a middleman you see. Why sweat it out and think yourself into illness when by virtue of being a bumi you can easily be the orang tengah? Easy money, proxy directorships and of course the mandatory Datuk title. The smarter of this lazy lot took full advantage of the special bumi allocation of corporate shares and started driving Mercs to balik kampung.) But I digress.
RTM it seems is also striving to make big changes without sidelining the Chinese and Indian audiences by increasing interesting programmes for them like talkshows, dramas and movies in those languages. Now this I have to see to believe. As I have repeatedly mentioned in this blog, what the government pronounces and what finally comes out, are sometimes so different, after all the 'adjustments' are made to accomodate everything and everyone from the NEP to UMNO supreme council diktats.
Given the vein of the message and the obvious determination to give the private stations a run for their money, even if not a bloody nose, should RTM stick to their plans to revamp genuinely, accomodating all the races and not trying to be a Malay propaganda machine, it should succeed remarkably. Don't be surprised if soon you find yourselves increasingly switching to RTM for your infotainmen.
posted by The Malaysian. at 7/08/2006 05:59:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home