Bernama TV (known briefly as Bernama News Channel from 2016 to 2019) is a Malaysian

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 subscri ...

news television network. Launched in 2008, it is owned by

Bernama The Malaysian National News Agency (), is a news agency of the government of Malaysia. It is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Communications. Headquartered at the Wisma Bernama, off Jalan Tun Razak near National Library, Kuala Lumpur ...

, a government news agency. It airs news programmes that are related to local and international business, lifestyle, sports and entertainment as well as in-house programmes. Alongside its main focus as a

Malay-language Malay ( , ; , Jawi: ) is an Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The language is an official language of Brunei, Malaysia, and Singa ...

news television channel, Bernama TV also produces news and current affairs content in Malaysia's other official languages of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

, and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

across its platforms. It can be viewed nationwide on

MYTV MyTV (or My TV) may refer to these television brands: Africa * MYtv, a South African TV channel Asia *Television Broadcasts Limited's online service in Hong Kong *My TV (Bangladeshi TV channel) *MYTV Broadcasting, a Malaysian digital terrestrial ...

Channel 121,

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

Channel 502 and

Unifi TV Unifi TV (formerly known as hyppTV, stylized as Unifi tv prior to January 2018) is an IPTV service operated by Unifi. It was launched in 2010 as part of Unifi's bundled service offering of VoIP telephone, Internet and IPTV. History An ea ...

Channel 631.

History

Bernama had wanted to operate its own TV channel in 1996, but was rejected; instead the government recommended to produce video news items similar to

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

. However, in 2008, Bernama's proposal to have its own channel was tabled on cabinet. Bernama TV was launched in 1998 and began broadcasting on 28 February 2008. Like

Radio Televisyen Malaysia Radio Televisyen Malaysia (, Jawi: ; abbreviated as RTM, stylised as rtm), also known as the Department of Broadcasting, Malaysia (; Jawi: ) is the national public broadcaster of Malaysia, headquartered at Angkasapuri, Kuala Lumpur. Establi ...

's television channels, Bernama TV have some amount of

commercial advertising A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

. Its news bulletins were initially aired on

Astro Ria Astro Ria is a 24-hour Southeast Asian Malay language television channel exclusive to the Astro satellite television provider. It was one of the first 22 channels to be launched on Astro in 1996. Astro Ria offered mainly dramas & reality show ...

Astro Prima Astro Prima is a Malaysian pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based te ...

, Astro AEC,

Astro Wah Lai Toi Astro Wah Lai Toi () is a Cantonese Video on demand service (formerly a Cantonese TV channel) owned and operated by Astro in partnership with Hong Kong's TVB. The channel offers mainly TVB programming, alongside some local content. To satisfy ...

and

Astro Vaanavil Astro Vaanavil is a Malaysian pay television channel that broadcasts programming in Tamil, targeting the Indian community in Malaysia. It was launched on 1 June 1996. It was created by Astro. Starting 1 June 2020, Astro Vaanavil has been of ...

, but they have since been integrated to one Astro network. Its news content is primarily broadcast in Malay. However, there are also news bulletin in English,

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

, and

since 2018. Other shows that are broadcast on Bernama TV are flagship talk-shows like Malay-medium ''Ruang Bicara'' as well as English-medium ''The Nation'' and ''The Brief''. In the years that followed, Bernama TV established its name through its coverage of key events in Malaysia including the

Lahad Datu standoff The 2013 Lahad Datu standoff, also known as the Lahad Datu incursion or Operation Daulat (), was a military conflict in Lahad Datu, Malaysia. The conflict began on 11 February, when 235 militants arrived in Lahad Datu by boat, and ended on 24 M ...

, the

1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal The 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, often referred to as the 1MDB scandal or just 1MDB, is an ongoing corruption, bribery and money laundering conspiracy in which the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) ...

and the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple riot. In 2009, Bernama TV facing a financial diffulties when it accumulated loses over RM15 million and would cease broadcasting soon, pending a restructuring plans. This prompted Bernama to looking for potential buyers who interested to buy the channel. In 2011, Bernama TV's news management were placed under the Information Ministry. In 2015, the Ministry of Finance granted an allocation to Bernama TV to allowed it resume operations and refurbish its technical equipment. On 25 May 2016, Bernama TV went into a major rebrand by rebranding itself as Bernama News Channel (BNC), only to quietly revert to its original logo and name in October 2019. The staff were offered a contract with Gem Bytes Sdn Bhd on 14th day of the same month and year. In 2018, Bernama News Channel partnered with

iflix WeTV iflix, or simply iflix, is a Malaysian free and subscription based over-the-top VOD streaming service focused on emerging markets. Its global headquarters are in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The site serves as a digital hosting and distributio ...

where Bernama's news telecast aired on the streaming platform. In 2019, BNC partnered with the

Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (Abbreviation: MCMC; or SKMM) is a regulatory body whose key role is the regulation of the communications and multimedia industry based on the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commi ...

to strengthening its communication activities. In January 2021, Bernama TV became the second television station after RTM, where it began to use sign language interpreter for its news broadcasts. On 8 October 2021 from 12:00am onwards, Bernama TV switch to broadcasting in HD format. In 2021, Bernama TV garnered a total of 73 million from viewership on its social media platform. As of May 2022, its viewership increased to 78 million.

Ownership structure

Bernama holds minority shareholder in Bernama TV with 33% stake, which operated by its former operating company, Bernama TV Synergy. Other shareholders were Silver Ridge Multimedia and Standard Code who holds 30% of stake in the channel respectively and

Hallmark Media Hallmark Media (formerly Crown Media Holdings) is an American media production company with corporate headquarters located in Studio City, California, and is a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards. Hallmark Media consists of Crown Media Productions and ...

division of

Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a Privately held company, privately held, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of greeting cards in the United ...

only holds 7%.

Programming

The programming of Bernama TV is focused primarily on news, business, and politics with weather updates, sports news, informative, religious and lifestyle programs as secondary contents. The network also shows documentaries and television specials. Bernama TV is one of the two Malaysian television news channel broadcast in 4 languages, namely Malay, English, Tamil and Mandarin. The other being

Berita RTM Berita RTM (, stylised as BERITA rtm), also known as Saluran Berita RTM (), or BES (Berita Ehwal Semasa, ) is a free-to-air Malaysian television news channel owned and operated by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM). With 'Yang Sahih di Berita RTM' ...

, a news channel owned and operated by

Incidents

Noramfaizul Mohd Nor Noramfaizul Mohd Nor was the first journalist from Malaysia to be fatally injured while on a dangerous assignment abroad. The attack occurred on 2 September 2011 in Mogadishu, Somalia, while Noramfaizul was reporting for ''Bernama TV'' on a hum ...

worked for Bernama TV as a TV camera operator when he was killed 2 September 2011 covering a humanitarian mission to

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

. He was the first Malaysian journalist to be killed while on assignment abroad.

Awards and accolades

References

External links

* {{Malaysia TV 2008 establishments in Malaysia 24-hour television news channels in Malaysia Television stations in Malaysia Television channels and stations established in 2008 Multilingual news services