Channel 8

Singapore’s dominant free-TV channel, Channel 8, enters 2011 with its acquisition sights still set on long-form Taiwanese drama for its prime-time 7pm slot.

Ho Soo Fung, vice president, programming and operations for Channel 8 and sister Chinese terrestrial channel Channel U, also has no plans to dramatically alter programming ratios of 75% local and 25% regional/international. The 75% of local shows are either produced in-house or commissioned.

The biggest programming/scheduling change over the past three years has been the introduction of a ‘fusion’ genre, ranging from emo-tainment to socio-tainment and edu-tainment in the prime-time variety belt.

The aim was to offer viewers knowledge/insights while being entertained.

Another major change was the introduction of a long-form Taiwanese drama slot at 7pm, Mondays to Sundays. Currently in the slot is long-running drama Love, now in its 500+ episode.

Launched at the end of 1963, the channel is positioned as a Chinese-language family entertainment channel with distinct Singapore flavour, offering a wide range of mass-appeal, home-grown programming.

The tag line is “warm, friendly and homely”. Prime time runs from 6pm through to midnight daily.

Channel 8’s day-time schedule kicks off with programming targeting senior citizens, home-makers and young children, such as info-educational show Good Morning Singapore (Mondays to Fridays 7am-10am), which is now on its 200+ episode.

Taiwanese drama series The Unforgettable Memory (at 100+ episodes) runs from10am to noon (Mondays to Fridays).

Variety shows such as 3-Plus-1, Fashion Ambush, Life Transformers and Celebs Onboard, and kids drama series Young Investigators runs Mondays to Wednesdays from 2pm to 2.30pm.

Channel 8’s core prime-time 6.30pm-10pm belt caters to family audiences (age 4+). 7pm to 10pm is the most popular belt.

The 7pm-10pm slots are currently dominated by drama series (15 hours/71%). Most of these are contemporary/social drama series (11 hours/52%), such as Taiwan’s Love. The rest are variety programmes (5.5 hours/26%) and info/educational (0.5 hours/2%), including local variety Home Makeover and info/edu programme With You, A 1000 Miles.

Channel 8’s late prime-time 10pm-midnight belt kicks off with half-hour news, followed by info/edu content, such as Hard Rock China and Secrets of Soup and contemporary Taiwan drama Taiwan Tornado (now on its 300+ episode).

Overall, the weekly (4-10 January 2011) schedule is filled with drama (97 hours/58%), including 50 hours/52% of contemporary/social drama, 17 hours/18% period drama, 5 hours/5% comedy drama, 2 hours/2% science-fiction drama, children’s drama 1.5 hours/2% and 1 hour/1% police/investigative drama.

Info/edu content occupies 23.5 hours/14% of the same weekly schedule, followed by variety with 22 hours/13%, news 9.5 hours/6% (three blocks; 1pm-1.30pm and 10pm-10.30pm weekdays, and daily 6.30pm-7pm), kids 5.5 hours/3% (Saturdays 8am-11am and Sundays 8am-10.30am), movies 4 hours/2% (Sundays 2.30pm-4.30pm and 12.30am-2.35am), current affairs 3 hours/2% and Chinese opera 2 hours/1% (Fridays 10am-noon).

Tentpole shows this year include C.L.I.F (20x60 mins, starts May), a local police drama that follows the lives and loves of police officers, and local drama Devotion (30x60 mins, June), about motherhood.

2010’s top three shows included drama Together (35x60 mins, premiered November 2009 Monday-Friday at 9pm), MediaCorp’s anniversary production for 2009. The series was set in 1967 (when Singapore started to print its own currency and made national service compulsory, among other things) and followed six families entwined in a chain of love, hatred, bitterness, jealousy and forgiveness. The other two top raters were With You (20x60 mins, aired May-June 2010), a supernatural drama series, and annual variety show Star Awards 2010.

ContentAsia Issue 111: 17-30 January 2011