Rediffusion was Singapore's first commercial and first cable-transmitted radio station. It started broadcasting in Singapore in 1949. In the 1960s and 1970s, the station's dialect programmes enjoyed a strong following, and many coffee shops and households were fitted with the Rediffusion set.
History
The Rediffusion company in Singapore was a subsidiary of Broadcast Relay Services (Overseas) Ltd, a London company pioneering the use of cables to broadcast radio services. As part of the company's expansion into Asia, it entered Singapore in 1948, setting up broadcasting studios at the site of the former railway station at Tank Road (now Clemenceau Avenue). On 1 August 1949, Rediffusion (Singapore) Ltd was officially opened by Governor Sir Franklin Gimson. It was Singapore's first commercial radio station. It was also Singapore's first and only cable transmitted radio station. When it was launched in 1949, Rediffusion was a great hit and garnered 9,600 subscribers within a few months. Radio sets in those days were too expensive for many households and Rediffusion was an affordable alternative at a subscription rate of $5 per month.
Initially, the station broadcasted programmes from the United Kingdom, but Chinese-dialect programmes were subsequently added to meet local demands. Each day, two Rediffusion channels provided a combined 34 hours of radio programmes to the subscribers. The station's entertainment-based programmes, which provided a stark contrast with those produced by the government-run Radio Malaya, became very popular. During its heyday, Rediffusion radio sets became a common sight in coffee shops and many people gathered there to listen to American rock 'n' roll music and storytelling in Chinese dialects by Lee Dai Sor, Ng Chia Kheng, and Ong Toh. It was estimated that up to 100,000 listeners followed the programmes hosted by these master storytellers. By the 1960s, the number of Rediffusion subscribers had increased to about 50,000. Rediffusion continued to experience subscription growth in the 1970s, and by 1977, it had 90,428 subscribers. The size of the company also increased during this period of expansion. By 1979, it had 800 staff, including permanent employees and part-time broadcasters. Over the years, Rediffusion had nurtured many local talents such as actress Xiang Yun, who used to be a child artiste with the radio station during her childhood days; radio DJ Mark van Cuylenberg (better known as The Flying Dutchman); and drama doyen Kuo Pao Kun, who began his career with Rediffusion's Mandarin Drama Group.
Declining Popularity
When the Speak Mandarin Campaign was launched in 1979, Rediffusion was required to stop all dialect programmes by 1982. Facing the ban on dialect programmes and increased competition from free-to-air radio, subscription plunged from 110,348 in 1982 to 62,940 in 1988. By the 2000s, Rediffusion had become a shadow of its glorious past. It had about 8,000 subscribers and less than 30 employees in 2006
In 2003, the Rediffusion company in Singapore was bought over by two partners - Ronald Reagin, a retired American lawyer, and Wong Ban Kuan. As the radio station changed owners, plans were also made for the radio station to venture into digital audio broadcasting, which would replace the cables and the Rediffusion speaker box with a digital audio set for subscribers to tune in to Rediffusion.
Author
Joshua Chia Yeong Jia
References
McDaniel, D. O. (1994). Broadcasting in the Malay World: Radio, television, and video in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore (pp. 182-183). Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
(Call no.: RSING 380.10655957 SIN)
Oei, R. (2005). Riding the bandwidth (pp. 46-49). Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Academic.
(Call no.: RSING 384.54 OEI)
Rediffusion (Singapore). (198-). Rediffusion: Singapore. Singapore: Rediffusion.
(Call no.: RSING 384.54065595 RED)
Singapore International Chamber of Commerce. (1979). From early days (pp. 136-138). Singapore: Singapore International Chamber of Commerce.
(Call no.: RSING 380.10655957 SIN)
A career as a storyteller?: A likely story; Storytelling is not only for children, its for adults too. (2005, October 15). Today. Retrieved March 10, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
Cheong, J. (2006, February 12). Redi-rection. The Straits Times. Retrieved March 10, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
Govt. told "get off the air" [Microfilm: NL 3675]. (1949, August 3). Singapore Free Press, p. 1.
Lam, D. (1990, November 22). Passionate pursuit. The Straits Times. Retrieved March 10, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
Rediffusion Ltd. [Microfilm: NL 2497]. (1949, August 2). The Straits Times, p. 7.
Teo, P. L. (2005, December 12). The original ah jie. The Straits Times. Retrieved March 10, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
Timeline. (2006, May 24). Today. Retrieved March 10, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
Wang dao jiang gu xuan yang zhong xiao ren yi zhi dao. (1999, October 26). Lianhe Zaobao [Electronic Version].
The information in this article is valid as at 2007 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
History
The Rediffusion company in Singapore was a subsidiary of Broadcast Relay Services (Overseas) Ltd, a London company pioneering the use of cables to broadcast radio services. As part of the company's expansion into Asia, it entered Singapore in 1948, setting up broadcasting studios at the site of the former railway station at Tank Road (now Clemenceau Avenue). On 1 August 1949, Rediffusion (Singapore) Ltd was officially opened by Governor Sir Franklin Gimson. It was Singapore's first commercial radio station. It was also Singapore's first and only cable transmitted radio station. When it was launched in 1949, Rediffusion was a great hit and garnered 9,600 subscribers within a few months. Radio sets in those days were too expensive for many households and Rediffusion was an affordable alternative at a subscription rate of $5 per month.
Initially, the station broadcasted programmes from the United Kingdom, but Chinese-dialect programmes were subsequently added to meet local demands. Each day, two Rediffusion channels provided a combined 34 hours of radio programmes to the subscribers. The station's entertainment-based programmes, which provided a stark contrast with those produced by the government-run Radio Malaya, became very popular. During its heyday, Rediffusion radio sets became a common sight in coffee shops and many people gathered there to listen to American rock 'n' roll music and storytelling in Chinese dialects by Lee Dai Sor, Ng Chia Kheng, and Ong Toh. It was estimated that up to 100,000 listeners followed the programmes hosted by these master storytellers. By the 1960s, the number of Rediffusion subscribers had increased to about 50,000. Rediffusion continued to experience subscription growth in the 1970s, and by 1977, it had 90,428 subscribers. The size of the company also increased during this period of expansion. By 1979, it had 800 staff, including permanent employees and part-time broadcasters. Over the years, Rediffusion had nurtured many local talents such as actress Xiang Yun, who used to be a child artiste with the radio station during her childhood days; radio DJ Mark van Cuylenberg (better known as The Flying Dutchman); and drama doyen Kuo Pao Kun, who began his career with Rediffusion's Mandarin Drama Group.
Declining Popularity
When the Speak Mandarin Campaign was launched in 1979, Rediffusion was required to stop all dialect programmes by 1982. Facing the ban on dialect programmes and increased competition from free-to-air radio, subscription plunged from 110,348 in 1982 to 62,940 in 1988. By the 2000s, Rediffusion had become a shadow of its glorious past. It had about 8,000 subscribers and less than 30 employees in 2006
In 2003, the Rediffusion company in Singapore was bought over by two partners - Ronald Reagin, a retired American lawyer, and Wong Ban Kuan. As the radio station changed owners, plans were also made for the radio station to venture into digital audio broadcasting, which would replace the cables and the Rediffusion speaker box with a digital audio set for subscribers to tune in to Rediffusion.
Author
Joshua Chia Yeong Jia
References
McDaniel, D. O. (1994). Broadcasting in the Malay World: Radio, television, and video in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore (pp. 182-183). Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
(Call no.: RSING 380.10655957 SIN)
Oei, R. (2005). Riding the bandwidth (pp. 46-49). Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Academic.
(Call no.: RSING 384.54 OEI)
Rediffusion (Singapore). (198-). Rediffusion: Singapore. Singapore: Rediffusion.
(Call no.: RSING 384.54065595 RED)
Singapore International Chamber of Commerce. (1979). From early days (pp. 136-138). Singapore: Singapore International Chamber of Commerce.
(Call no.: RSING 380.10655957 SIN)
A career as a storyteller?: A likely story; Storytelling is not only for children, its for adults too. (2005, October 15). Today. Retrieved March 10, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
Cheong, J. (2006, February 12). Redi-rection. The Straits Times. Retrieved March 10, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
Govt. told "get off the air" [Microfilm: NL 3675]. (1949, August 3). Singapore Free Press, p. 1.
Lam, D. (1990, November 22). Passionate pursuit. The Straits Times. Retrieved March 10, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
Rediffusion Ltd. [Microfilm: NL 2497]. (1949, August 2). The Straits Times, p. 7.
Teo, P. L. (2005, December 12). The original ah jie. The Straits Times. Retrieved March 10, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
Timeline. (2006, May 24). Today. Retrieved March 10, 2011, from NewspaperSG.
Wang dao jiang gu xuan yang zhong xiao ren yi zhi dao. (1999, October 26). Lianhe Zaobao [Electronic Version].
The information in this article is valid as at 2007 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
