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CONTENTS
Abbreviations
3
Abstract
4
Statement of Authorship
5
Acknowledgements
6
Introduction
7
Chapter One
Brunei History and Politics
Politics of Media in Brunei
12
23
Chapter Two
Defining Public Service Broadcasters
29
Chapter Three
RTB History and Background
Competition: Astro
43
50
Chapter Four
RTB Media Carnival
What should or could be done: A Comparison of Strategies
52
55
Conclusion
69
Reference List
72
2
ABBREVIATIONS
ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
ASEAN
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
BBC
British Broadcasting Corporation
BSP
Brunei Shell Petroleum
CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
CPB
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
CRTC
Canadian Radio-television Commission
DMS
Digital Multimedia System
DTH
Direct-To-Home
EGP
Electronics Game Portal
ENPS
Electronic News Production System
EPG
Electronic Program Guide
EPIG
Electronic Public Information Guide
IPTV
Internet Protocol Television
MEASAT
Malaysia East Asia Satellite
PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
PRB
Partai Rakyat Brunei
RTB
Radio Television Brunei
RTM
Radio Television Malaysia
SBC
Singapore Broadcasting Corporation
SBS
Special Broadcasting Service
SE ASIA
South East Asia
3
ABSTRACT
This thesis examines Radio Television Brunei Media Carnival, a promotional strategy
developed to help promote Radio Television Brunei (RTB) to audiences in Brunei
Darussalam. It summarises a short history of RTB, from its origins as sole
broadcaster in Brunei to the loss of audiences caused by competition with a satellite
television station broadcasting from Malaysia, and attempts by RTB to counter
through the creation of new channels with programming similar to externally
produced content. It then examines the strategies of RTB Carnival, which is a further
attempt to win back its audience by re-branding its tarnished reputation. This thesis
argues that this strategy has failed. The main purpose of the research is to propose
what should be done next, via a comparison of Carnival with other forms of
promotion used by broadcast networks in the West. The outcome of the thesis is a
comparison of different strategies that could be adopted by RTB, which will adhere to
Brunei’s philosophy of Malay Islamic Monarchy.
4
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other
degree or diploma in any tertiary institution, and that, to the best of my knowledge
and belief contains no material previously published or written by another person,
except where due reference is made in the text of this thesis.
_________________________
Siti Nur Khairunnisa Haji Abdul Halim
29 October 2010.
5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Philip Dearman, for his guidance and
never ending support all throughout my Honours journey. There were many times
when all I wanted to do was give up but if it wasn’t for Philip’s motivation, this thesis
would not have been a success. Thank you, Philip. I can’t thank you enough for the
feedback and honesty you’ve given me.
Secondly, I would like to thank Adrian Miles whose motivation from the beginning of
the year has been number one. I would also like to thank him for making Honours
possible for me from the start. He has also given me great suggestions when I was in
a dilemma about what I was going to write about, which now has turned into a
masterpiece.
Thirdly, I would like to thank my parents for their prayers and always believing in me
even without me knowing it myself. You both never tire to support and motivate me to
be who I am today. You have never tried to stop me from doing what I love and I
thank you both for that. I can’t repay you enough other than with the love that I feel
for the two of you from the bottom of my heart.
I would also like to thank Nazirul Hanapi for going through this with me. You are also
a part of this. I have been absent at times of need but your understanding is much
appreciated. You always tell me that I can do this and now I finally believe.
Lastly, I would like to thank the Ministry of Education of Brunei Darussalam for giving
me this precious opportunity.
All praises to Allah.
6
INTRODUCTION
I remember when Astro first came to Brunei, in the early 2000s.1 I was then a young
teenager, and totally captured by the new programming it brought to Brunei’s media
audiences. It was made clear to me by friends and family members that it had a lot
more channels and a lot more quality programming than we were used to as viewers
of the state-owned Radio Television Brunei (RTB). The difficulty for my parents was
that we had to buy special disc antennas and set-top boxes from Miri, a Malaysian
state adjacent to Brunei. But because Astro was Malaysian owned, and because it
carried some very different kinds of programming, the Bruneian government tried to
put a stop to it by cutting the number of channels and giving out warnings that
whoever possess these equipment will be met with a hefty penalty. That was when
people started smuggling in the antennas and set-top boxes. Soon enough all my
neighbours had Astro satellite receivers on their roofs and fewer and fewer of my
friends went out to play before nightfall.
RTB has been the sole public service broadcaster in Brunei Darussalam for the past
35 years. It was realised by the 28th Sultan after World War II that a broadcast
network could help build a strong tie between the government and the Bruneian
people. So with the help of the British who were working with the government during
that time, radio and television came and immediately became a popular medium of
and for information. Broadcasting operations were run by British personnel and most
of the programs were also of British content. It was when the rebellion occurred in
1
I have started with a key personal memory, which has shaped my interest in broadcasting in Brunei. I
would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge one of the key difficulties I have encountered in
researching and writing this thesis. It relates to the nature of available source materials. There are
very few published research papers on Bruneian media. As a consequence, some of the sources used
here are web-based (e.g. Wikipedia), and therefore I must acknowledge are potentially unreliable. I
have tried to minimise errors by supplementing these sources in two ways: I have talked to family and
friends about their understanding of RTB in order to confirm the merit of those sources, and I also met
with RTB’s public relations officer in order to acquire a better understanding of RTB’s history, and
about RTB media Carnival.
7
1962 that the Sultan emphasized on producing Malay content programs. It was also
then that strict media laws were imposed in Brunei. Until the present time, media in
Brunei is neither transparent nor free to express any criticism about the government.
News would usually talk about trivial matters and no report on the Sultan and his
family’s personal life is allowed until told otherwise.
RTB has a reputation as the mouthpiece for the government. However, it is now
experiencing substantial competition from commercial broadcasters especially Astro.
This has caused a loss in audience share as Astro provides better program content.
To counter this problem, RTB has moved to a digital broadcast method and the
creation of new channels with programming similar to externally produced content.
This means that RTB is moving together with technological innovation and adopting
interactive broadcasting. With the hope to rebrand its tarnished reputation, it uses the
RTB Media Carnival to promote itself to its audiences.
I first experienced the RTB Media Carnival in early 2010 while manning a booth at a
fair for the company I was working temporarily at. I did not know what the Carnival
actually was until I read about it in the papers. It was there to promote its five new
channels while also to celebrate the hype of its Awards Night at the end of the three
day celebration. What I experienced was a flock of people coming in and out of the
convention centre, enjoying food samples, robot vacuum demonstrations and taking
part in games. The most important objective of the Carnival was not apparent. That
was when I realised that the Media Carnival is a fun family-oriented event that only
wishes to show that the RTB, a paternalistic entity, can be fun. This caused the main
objective of the Carnival to be less than transparent. As an ex-business marketing
student and a public relations graduate, I tried to think out what other strategies could
8
be used to promote the new channels. Common sense told me there are other things
that could be done. That was when the idea for this thesis was born.
This thesis examines the RTB Media Carnival as a promotional strategy that is
developed to help promote RTB to audiences in Brunei. Before we delve into the
topic, I start this thesis with an introduction to Brunei Darussalam, a country which is
also known as the Abode of Peace. I think it is essential for the reader to understand
a little bit of background about Brunei as a country which, under the British
Protectorate, moved towards civilisation and then rapidly modernised itself right after
its independence. In this chapter it will be explained that it was with the help of British
Residents that broadcasting was introduced. It was also then, in 1962, that
broadcasting was restricted to trivial matters when discussing about the government
after a rebellion occurred. The Brunei government believed that it was propaganda
messages from outside of Brunei that caused the Partai Rakyat Brunei (PRB) to
show their power against the government.
In Chapter Two, I will start introducing the public service broadcasting model that
RTB is a part of. In this chapter different models of public service broadcasting will be
discussed, taking into account examples from countries of United Kingdom, United
States of America, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. The aim of this
chapter is to give an insight of the type of public service broadcasting models that
exist and are being practiced around the world. There are mixed models, which are a
mixture of private and public broadcasters; public broadcasters which are solely run
by the government; and private broadcasters which are totally independent from the
government. The histories of these different models will also be discussed so it can
be understood better how they have successfully managed in trying to educate,
entertain and inform the audience in their respective countries.
9
Chapter Three will then discuss about RTB as the public service broadcasting
organisation in Brunei. A history of the RTB will be discussed from how it was a
totally British-run organisation in the beginning to the present state of RTB which
aims to regain audience share. In this chapter, it will be shown how RTB has now
moved from an analogue mode of broadcasting to a digital mode of broadcasting by
being more interactive with its audience.
Finally, in Chapter Four, a comparison of strategies will be discussed, taking into
account the strategies that are proven to be successful by broadcast networks in the
West particularly the BBC, SBS, ABC and PBS. Other strategies such as podcasting
and website usability will also be discussed. The aim of this final chapter is so that a
good and insightful conclusion can be derived and be taken note of for the greater
good of the RTB organisation and to resolve what the future looks like for RTB.
10
Original Copyright Owned by Wikimedia Commons (Wikimedia Commons Brunei Map 2009)
11
CHAPTER ONE
BRUNEI HISTORY AND POLITICS
This chapter discusses Brunei’s history and politics in an effort to explain its position
as an Islamic country that is ruled by a Monarch with an absolute power over his
people yet practices a kind of paternalist democracy through close assessment of the
welfare of his people. It will attempt to establish how the British legacy has helped
shape Brunei into its current state, and how the country’s philosophy of Malay Islamic
Monarchy is blended into the everyday lives of the Bruneian people and embedded
into the Brunei Media. The aim of this chapter is the hope to simplify the politics and
background that might be mentioned in coming chapters and to give an insight to the
lives of Bruneians alike. The Brunei history and politics is etched heavily from the
British legacy although unique from the Malay Islamic Monarchy philosophy
standpoint as shown in this section. Brunei is obligated to the United Kingdom as
much of what happened in history is still practiced in the present time.
The year 2010 marked Brunei Darussalam's 26th anniversary since regaining
sovereignty from Britain. The ‘Abode of Peace’ has developed a strong economy
during this time, based principally on its oil reserves, agriculture and banking, and is
working to secure continued growth and stability for the future. Brunei regained full
independence at the end of 1983 when the United Kingdom surrendered
responsibility for its defence and foreign policy (Group 2009).
Brunei Darussalam is a Malay Islamic Monarchy situated at the north coast of Borneo
Islands with only 5,765 square kilometres in size. It is divided into four districts,
namely the Brunei-Muara district, Belait District, Temburong District and Tutong
District (BruneiTourism 2005). It is a sultanate run by His Majesty Sultan Haji
12
Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izaddin Waddaulah, the twenty-ninth Sultan of Brunei. In the
16th century, Brunei’s empire extended from Manila in the north to South Borneo.
Spain and a resurgent kingdom of Sulu reduced Brunei’s dominion in the north;
unknown events limited Brunei control to the southern boundary of present-day
Sarawak by the 19th century, when European and American adventurers carved
Sarawak and Sabah, now parts of Malaysia, from Brunei’s remainder (Brown 1984).
The Report: Brunei Darussalam 2009 (Group 2009, p. 8) records Brunei
Darussalam's population at 398,000, with nearly 70 per cent of the population
residing in the Brunei-Muara district. The capital city, Bandar Seri Begawan, is
located here and is home to most non-oil business and government institutions. The
second largest population centre is the Belait District, west of the capital, where the
vast majority of oil and gas producing activity takes place in the towns of Kuala
Belait, Seria and Lumut (Group 2009).
In 1904, there was an appointment of a British Resident to advise the Sultan in all
matters except Islamic law and the Malay customs. The Resident became a High
Commissioner under the 1959 Agreement which was amended in 1971 to provide for
full internal self-government (Weatherbee 1983). This colonial officer absorbed the
combined powers and responsibilities of the Sultan “as well as the various traditional
offices held by his relatives” (Leake, cited in Schottmann 2006, p. 119). The Sultan
was thus obliged to take the resident’s advice on all matters except those pertaining
to the Islamic faith. The 1979 Treaty of Cooperation and Friendship between Britain
and Brunei detailing independence arrangements included an understanding that
once British responsibility for British protected persons in Brunei is terminated, those
who have permanent residence in the state will continue to have residence and will
13
be granted International certificates of Identity for travel purposes (Weatherbee
1983).
In order to prevent the extinction of his ancient line, the 25th ruler of Brunei, the late
Sultan Hashim, requested British assistance in the internal administration of Brunei.
As a result, The Anglo-Brunei Treaty of 1905-06 was signed. Sultan Hashim
consented to receive a British officer to be styled Resident, whose advice was to be
taken and acted upon in respect of all questions in Brunei, in order that a similar
system may be established to that existing in other Malay States which were under
British Protection (Horton 1986). During that time, Brunei had no public expenditure,
no armed forces, police, public institutions, roads, public buildings and gaol. But the
British Residents helped change all that.
In 1962, an experiment in representative government saw A. M. Azahari’s Partai
Rakyat Brunei (PRB) emerge as the dominant popular political force in the state
(Weatherbee 1983, p. 727). The PRB’s leadership differed sharply with the Sultan
over Brunei’s future. It called for immediate, unilateral independence and for internal
constitutional arrangements. The PRB rebelled and briefly seized Brunei Shell
Petroleum facilities at Seria. Weatherbee explains that under the terms of the 1959
Agreement, the British quickly intervened and stopped the revolt. The Sultan sternly
put an end to open politics, banned the PRB, and declared a ‘State of Emergency’
that has remained in force through biennial renewals.
As the British tried to hasten negotiations with the Sultanate over termination of the
protectorate to the tempo of Malaysian sponsored U.N. resolutions calling for
Bruneian independence and self-determination, the sticking issue was security.
Brunei’s unwillingness to sever the British tie stemmed in part from its perception of
14
the deterrent nature of the physical presence of British military strength chiefly
represented by the British-officered, thousand-man-strong Ghurkha (Nepalese)
battalion based in Seria to defend the oil installations. The Ghurkhas came in 1962
and have remained (Weatherbee 1983).
Under the 1959 Constitution, the politics of Brunei takes the form of the Majesty the
Sultan taking on the role of head of state, head of government, head of state finances
and head of the armed forces. The royal family also plays an important role in
running the Sultanate, both in the political and economic spheres. Royal custom and
tradition are key parts of the way Brunei Darussalam works. His Majesty’s brother,
His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, is currently the foreign minister. Other
key ministers include the minister of industry and primary resources, the minister of
home affairs, the minister of energy and the senior minister at the Prime Minister’s
Office. Since amendments to the Constitution in 1986, the cabinet has also included
a number of deputy ministers. The Sultan retains complete power over the Council of
Ministers in terms of both appointments and dismissals. He is committed to keeping
up the pace of economic development while also working to maintain the strong
traditions and customs of the nation (Group 2009).
Executive power is exercised by the government. Brunei has a Legislative Council
with 20 appointed members that only have consultative tasks. As noted above,
Brunei has been under hypothetical Martial Law since the rebellion occurred. Under
the Executive branch, the Sultan is assisted and advised by five councils, which he
appoints. A Council of Ministers assists in the administration of the government.
Under the same 1959 Constitution, there was an elected Legislative Council.
However, there has only ever been one election held in 1962. Soon after the election,
the assembly was dissolved following the declaration of a state of emergency, which
15
saw the PRB. In 1970 the Council was changed to an appointed body by decree of
the Sultan (Wikipedia 2010). So in theory Brunei has a democratic constitution, but it
has maintained as a quasi monarchical state.
Brunei’s wealth is the product of the activities of Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP), in
which the government of Brunei holds 50 per cent share of the equity. Brunei's nonpetroleum industries include agriculture, forestry, fishing, aquaculture, and banking.
Since the first well started pumping at the Seria field in 1929, BSP has produced
nearly 1.7 million barrels of oil (Weatherbee 1983). According to the 2008
Department of Statistics figures Brunei’s well-developed hydrocarbon reserves form
the backbone of the economy, accounting for 70 per cent of GDP and 78 per cent of
exports. Careful management of these resources enables Bruneians to enjoy a
standard of living that is among the highest in the world in terms of per capita GDP
(Group 2009, p. 8).
Islam is the official religion in Brunei Darussalam. However, other religions such as
Buddhism and Christianity are peacefully practiced as well. Given its ethnic makeup,
Brunei Darussalam's culture is largely Malay, while Malay culture itself in turn has
been shaped by various external elements and foreign civilisations. However, the
most profound change came about when Islam was introduced to the Sultanate in
the 14th century (Group 2009, p. 8). The religion deeply influenced the culture of the
country and continues to play an important role today. The country's Islamic roots
shape the social fabric of modern Bruneian life. The concept of Melayu Islam Beraja,
or the Malay Islamic Monarchy, form the foundation of the social and political
structure, and is practiced by his Majesty the Sultan and the Bruneian people. Malay
culture in Brunei Darussalam integrates Islamic customs into daily life (Group 2009,
16
p. 8). For example, if the Sultan makes a speech, he will always start with reading an
excerpt from the Quran.
Bahasa Melayu has been the official language of Brunei since 1959. The language is
almost identical to Bahasa Malaysia used on the Malay Peninsula, though the
pronunciation is close to the Malay used in the two Malaysian states neighbouring
Brunei, Sabah and Sarawak. The only substantial difference between Bahasa
Melayu and Bahasa Malaysia is that the former has borrowed, and standardized,
some lexical items from Brunei Malay (Martin and Poedjodoedarmo, cited in Martin
1998, p. 11). The other principal Malay variety in Brunei is Brunei Malay, which is
referred to as the de facto national dialect of Brunei. It is the variety of Malay spoken
by the dominant group in Brunei. A form of Brunei Malay is used for day-to-day
interaction, both interethnic and intraethnic, in most areas of the country and
especially in population centres along the coast. The actual domains of Bahasa
Melayu are quite restricted, and Bruneians’ exposure to the language is limited
(Martin 1998).
On the other hand, the emergence of English in Brunei can be traced back to when
Brunei became a British Protectorate (Ozóg, cited in Martin 1998, p. 13). However,
although English is still an important prerequisite for career advancement, it is no
longer the sole preserve of the elite as it once was. The importance of English,
therefore, initially stemmed from its historical position in the country. From being the
language of the British administrators during the period of the British Residency, the
domains of the language have multiplied so that, in the last decade of the twentieth
century, English is the language of commerce and law, is one of the languages of the
bilingual education system, and is widely used in the Brunei media.
17
The government has stressed the importance of English as an international language
and a language for gaining wider access to scientific and technical knowledge, and to
the international business market. Brunei sees English as an essential second
language and has consequently promoted its use (Martin 1998). As the country has
taken its places in the international community following the resumption of full
independence, English has assumed an even greater role as a functional second
language. The education curriculum in Brunei is even taught in English from
kindergarten to university level.
Under the Judicial branch, Brunei has a dual legal system. The first is the system
inherited from the British, similar to the ones found in India, Malaysia and Singapore.
It is based on the English Common Law, but with codification to parts of it. The
Common Law Legal system covers most of the laws in Brunei. The structure of the
Common Law Courts in Brunei starts with the Magistracy. The second is the Syariah
Courts. It deals mainly in Muslim divorce and matters ancillary to Muslim divorce in
its civil jurisdiction and in the offenses of close proximity and illicit sex amongst
Muslims. The Syariah Court structure is similar to the Common Law Court structure
except that it has no intermediate court and that the Court of Appeal is the final court
of appeal (Wikipedia 2010).
Malay Islamic Monarchy was officially declared Brunei’s national philosophy in 1990
(Schottmann 2006, p. 119). It is simply known by the principles according to which
Brunei is to be governed. The key aims are to preserve the status quo and to provide
an ideological underpinning for the system (Schottmann 2006, p. 113). Schottmann’s
study of the Malay Islamic Monarchy draws on Hobsbawm’s concept of protonationalism which argues that the state’s development of a national philosophy
conforms to the pattern in the 19th century European nationalism: the encouragement
18
of a national identity centred on the hallmarks of the state rather than a Bangsa
Brunei (Bruneian People) (2006, p. 112). Indeed, in Brunei, national identity is
centred on the state itself and the Malay-language media seem to employ the terms
Bangsa Brunei and Warga Brunei (the ‘Bruneian People’ and the ‘Citizens of Brunei’)
interchangeably.
Achee (1995), states that the achievement of full independence has led to a new
national awareness. It is apparent in the commandment of the Declaration of
Independence by His Majesty the Sultan on January 1, 1984. In the commandment,
the Sultan affirmed that Brunei Darussalam has never been colonized. The Sultan
sees Malay Islamic Monarchy as a means to create a “unifying ideology which would
bolster his power, blunt the appeal of those calling for a stricter observance of Islam,
and develop a sense of purpose in the young” (Saunders, cited in Talib 2002, p.
141). His Majesty also outlined the philosophy of Malay Islamic Monarchy. His
Majesty stressed:
… Negara Brunei Darussalam, and with the permission and abundant bounty
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Taala, will forever be a Malay Islamic Monarchy
country that is free, sovereign and democratic rooted to the principles of Islam,
based on freedom, trust and fairness (Achee 1995, p. 12).
Talib (2002) mentions that, in the Declaration of Independence, the Sultan
proclaimed Brunei as a sovereign, independent and democratic Malay Islamic
Monarchy, observing the teachings of Islam according to the Shafeite sect. The
emphasis here was on the three distinct components of MIB; Malay cultural values,
Islam as a way of life, and the traditional political system of Malay monarchy. In his
address to the Muslim Youth Conference hosted in March 1984, the Sultan
underlined the importance of Islam:
I am thankful to Allah… for destining Negara Brunei Darussalam to be an
Islamic country since the 14th century as the result of which it was able to
absorb Islamic influences up to the present time, through the efforts of
previous Sultans of the country. It is my intention as well as that of my
Government to continue preserving the Islamic teachings in accordance with
the Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah as a way of life and foundation in the
administration of the Government… in line with the position of Islam as the
official religion of the country (Siddique, cited in Talib 2002, p. 142).
19
The concept of Malay Islamic Monarchy was formulated by officials close to the
regime, who attempted to define Bruneian identity in terms of the people’s
attachment to Malay culture, the Islamic religion and loyalty to the Monarchy
(Braighlinn, cited in Talib 2002, p. 144). It is seen as an instrument of legitimacy for
the Sultan’s rule by marrying the conservatism of Islamic values with that of Malay
culture and the traditional unifying role of the monarchy.
Achee (1995) states that the introduction to the purposes of this ideology is thought
to give an identity to Brunei. It also stressed the importance of its cultural past and
the need to comply with the government and the teachings of Islam that has been
present in Brunei for centuries. The Malay Islamic Monarchy is best summarised as
follows:
… it calls for the society to be loyal to its ruler, practice Islam and make it as a
way of life in adherence to all the characteristics and traits of true Malays of
Brunei Darussalam, including making the Malay language as the prime
language in the country (Brunei Darussalam Newsletter, cited in Achee 1995,
p. 12).
Malay Islamic Monarchy may be viewed as a relationship between the present with
the glories of Brunei’s past beliefs that created the ambience and the people of
Brunei to build a young nation, rooted in the legacy of its old governments. It is clear
that the rule of the Monarch and an inaugurated government manipulated the factors
of history, religion, culture, and other colonies in the Malay Islamic Monarchy to unite
the people and thus perpetuate the status-quo. Thompson and Bocock saw this as
such when they declared:
The sense of being part of unitary entity such as a national community may
well be rooted in the real elements of shared characteristics and common
history but these are frequently matters of dispute and contestation, linked to
different interests and power struggles. Territory, language, race, etc., are all
sources of dispute and have to be ideologically constructed or interpreted, in
order to produce a sense of belonging to a national community (Thompson &
Bocock, cited in Achee 1995, p. 13).
20
According to a former Minister of Education, Pehin Haji Abdul Aziz Umar, the
objective of the government was to inculcate in Bruneians the ‘importance of Malay
Islamic Monarchy and for them to practice the virtues of it’ (cited in Talib 1992, p.
142). He outlines that the word Beraja (Monarch) signifies a Malay type of monarchy,
a system of government that is unique to the Malay world, which has been practiced
for six hundred years: its power is absolute. It also refers to a monarch who rules
justly and consults with his ministers or advisers and always has the interests and
welfare of his population at heart. ‘Malay’ suggests the consolidation of the Malay
culture as a dominant feature in the state’s cultural life. The Malay language is given
prominence and the jawi (Arabic letters) script has been revived. Islam, according to
him, has been elevated to the status of official religion and is a reference for all
activities in the state.
Vatikiotis suggests that in a consideration of the relationship between the state and
religion, an important factor would be “the extend to which the state is legitimised by
a religious referent” (cited in Talib, 1991, p. 140) and whether religion has an
ideological role in the creation of the political order. This close nexus readily implies
that religion can be an influential factor in the nature of the political identity of a
country. Another issue that needs to be addressed is the importance the state
accords to religion and how it realigns the administrative political unit with the
religious. In Brunei’s case, Talib mentions, the weight or role given to Islam which is
whether it should merely be seen as “a guide and inspirational ideal of authority”
(2002, p. 140) or as the basis of legitimacy and the organizing principle of authority.
The infrastructural emergence and progresses would not be possible if not for the
help from the British. One of the most important progresses that will be addressed in
the next chapter is the emergence of broadcasting in Brunei with the help of British
21
personnel that has become the number one mouthpiece of the Brunei government
after World War II. It outlines the history of broadcasting in Brunei and delves into
Brunei’s model of public service broadcasting and how, as a Malay population,
English is being given emphasise to in the Brunei media.
22
POLITICS OF MEDIA IN BRUNEI
Newspapers or the press, for a start, was never prominent in Brunei Darussalam but
there is significance in broadcasting. It started with radio broadcasting, which then
was dominated by television broadcasting when colour television was introduced.
The introduction of the media in Brunei did not come by without reason, it all started
with the realisation for a medium that could be used to share and send messages
from the Government to its people.
Brunei’s media are neither diverse nor free. News often consists of trivial matters and
no criticism of the government. The private press is either owned or controlled by the
royal family, or exercises self-censorship on political and religious matters. Media
rights body, Reporters Without Borders, says news outlets carry ‘virtually no criticism
of the government’. A press law provides prison terms of up to three years for
reporting ‘false news’ (BBC 2010, para. 15). Brunei's press, although not considered
free by Western standards, is what the government describes as a ‘socially
responsible Press,’ which balances the rights of the individual and those of society.
The authoritarian government, led since 1967 by the Sultan, rejects a press that is
too liberal and free to print caustic criticism of its political leaders. This decision was
caused by the rebellion that occurred in 1962. When the rebellion took place, the
Government feared that it was influenced by “propaganda broadcasts from other
countries” (McDaniel 1994, p. 196). Although newspapers and foreign media are
censored, the government has loosened control somewhat in the early twenty-first
century. However, religious leaders in Brunei have expressed their concern over less
censorship because they believe the society will fall into moral decay
(PressReference 2010, para. 3).
23
Achee (1995) states that Brunei is the last to join the mass communication world as
compared to other the ASEAN countries. This can be proven by the publication of a
local newspaper by the British Resident in 1948 which could be considered the first
newspaper in Brunei. Malaysia got their first newspaper in 1827, the Philippines in
1637 and Thailand in 1844. Six years after Brunei's first newspaper, the Berita Brunei
was published but it did not last. In 1958, its publication was stopped. In 1966, the
Daily Star was published but publication stopped after only four years. The only
commercial newspaper that exists until now is the Borneo Bulletin, which was
published in 1956 and is also distributed to the Malaysian states of Sabah and
Sarawak. The Brunei government, under the Information Department of the Prime
Minister’s Office, published a weekly Malay newspaper called Pelita Brunei and an
English newspaper called the Brunei Darussalam Newsletter twice in a week. Both
were distributed for free and became the indirect voice of the government. The lack
of local newspapers during that time was substituted by ones imported by air from
Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. While these newspapers could be consumed in
the mornings by readers in these countries, Bruneians were only able to consume
them in the evenings. It could be said that for those who speak English as a first
language, the Borneo Bulletin would be their choice while those who wants to get
general information regarding the government would go for Pelita Brunei (Achee
1995, p. 21).
Historically, radio broadcasting has been the prominent medium of information. Radio
was introduced in Brunei at the end of the 1950s by the 28th Sultan of Brunei, Sultan
Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien, or famously known as the “Architect of Modern Brunei”. The
idea to establish a radio service was proposed in the 1953 Five Year National
Development Plan as a strategy to move towards modernization. Radio was treated
as a communication medium between the government and its people as the official
24
mouthpiece of the government, to keep the public informed on vital issues and news
of the day (Lent 1982), complementing the weekly Pelita Brunei. It should be noted
that a large portion of the population was illiterate and hence saw no use in the print
medium. Radio therefore became a very important medium for information (McDaniel
1994), including political messages, daily news, and many more. The plan to
establish a radio station was completed on 2 May 1957 when the Sultan’s speech
during Eid was broadcast to the whole of Brunei (Voice of Brunei, cited in Achee
1995).
According to Lent (1978), RTB started colour-television transmissions in March 1975
by using the most modern equipment in the area and doing it quite rapidly – the
whole operation was designed and built in less than seven months. There were 5,000
registered owners of black-and-white- receivers who picked up less-than-adequate
reception from neighbouring Sabah, a Malaysian state. The equipment for the
transmitter was British; also, only British-made colour-TV receivers have ever been
approved for import into Brunei2. Most personnel and programming came from
outside the country. British (BBC), Hong Kong and Singaporean broadcasters and
technicians were recruited; news from Visnews, United Press International and
Reuters were sought, and entertainment shows, mainly from the U.S., England and
Australia, were purchased. In 1977, the then head of programs, John Watkin, said
that because television was started in such a rush, there was ‘no way to produce
local programs and train local people’. He said the service was ‘100 per cent foreign
at the beginning’ (Lent 1982, p. 105) with programs brought in especially from Britain.
However, after the 1962 rebellion, the Sultan emphasised on producing Malay
2
This was part of Brunei’s obligation to the British at the time. Nowadays, although televisions are
mostly imported from Japan and China, Brunei’s obligation to the British stays by sending most
scholarship students to study in UK and Scotland.
25
language programs so it would be easy to transmit political messages to the
Bruneian citizens.
Presently, in its effort to stimulate economic growth, the Brunei Government is
actively promoting the development of various target sectors through the 2007-2012
Five-Year National Development Plans. These plans outline the distribution of
government funding and budget allocated for development in various sectors of the
country. The Plan marks a strategic shift in the planning and implementation of
development projects, as it is the first national development plan to have been
formulated in line with the objectives of Brunei Darussalam’s long-term development
plan, better known as Wawasan Brunei 2035, or Vision Brunei 2035. Under the
Transport and Communication Allocation, radio and television have been given an
allocated budget of US$174,980,565.80 (BEDB 2010). This budget is used to help
RTB build its digital program, pay for the training that are going to be taken by RTB
personnel, as well as funding for the production of programs that are outsourced to
local production houses (Brunei Darussalam Long-Term Development Plan, p. 114).
Under Chapter 180 of the Laws of Brunei (Laws 2000), the Broadcasting Act
regulates the dealing in, the operation of and ownership in broadcasting services and
broadcasting apparatus, and for connected purposes. The Act states that the
function, duties and powers of the Minister whom controls broadcasting shall
exercise what has been conferred to him. The Minister is to exercise licensing and
regulatory functions in respect of broadcasting services and broadcasting apparatus
and to act internationally as the national authority or representative of Brunei
Darussalam in respect of broadcasting matters. The Minister is to also encourage the
development of broadcasting and related services; to assign specific frequencies in
electromagnetic spectrum and satellite orbits to broadcasting licensees whose
26
broadcasting services are to be transmitted on a frequency in such spectrum and
satellite orbits and to regulate the broadcast by broadcasting licensees of public
service broadcasting obligations.
The duties of the Minister is firstly to regulate the broadcasting industry so as to
achieve an adequate and comprehensive range of broadcasting services which serve
the interests of the general public; to ensure that the broadcasting services provided
by licenses are maintained at a high standard in all respects, particularly contents,
quality, proper balance and wide range of their subject matters, having regard both to
the broadcasting services as a whole and also to the days of the week on which such
broadcasting services are aired and to ensure that nothing is included in any
broadcasting service which is against the public interest or national harmony or which
offends against good taste and decency. The Minister has the power to do all such
things as are in his opinion necessary for or conducive to the proper discharge of his
functions and duties under the Act.
The Act also states that after consultation with any licensee, the Minister may give
written directions to him as he thinks fit as to the exercise by that licensee of his
functions under the Act. Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), if it
appears to the Minister to be requisite or expedient to do so, during a state of
emergency, in the public interest or in the interests of public security, national
defence of relations with the Government of another country, the Minister has the
order to discharge or facilitate the discharge of an obligation binding on the
Government in view of it being a member of an international organisation or a party
to a treaty; to attain or facilitate the attainment of any other object the attainment of
which is in the opinion of the Minister requisite or expedient in view of the
Government being a member of such organisation or a party to the treaty or to
27
enable the Government to become a member of such an organisation or a party to a
treaty.
On the other hand, the Government may pay compensation to any damage caused
to a licensee by reason of his compliance with the directions of the Minister under
paragraph (b) of subsection (3) or make grants to a licensee for defraying or
contributing towards any losses which he has sustained by reason of his compliance
with the directions of the Minister under any other provision of this section.
With all that in mind, perhaps it could be derived that although RTB is in the process
of developing itself, with a background of programs that receive more criticism that
praise, the Brunei media is actually in control of its people in maintaining peace and
understanding between each other, especially between the ‘upper hand’ and the
citizens of Brunei. The strict control of the media brings harmony and a kind of quiet
that reflects Brunei as a country. We could say that the rebellion actually helped
shape Brunei into a country of peace that is now enjoyed by those residing in Brunei.
However, the British also plays a big role in shaping the broadcast model in Brunei
and should not be disregarded. When it first started, RTB was modelled after what is
long practiced in Britain before emphasising the Malay Islamic Monarchy. Radio
Television Brunei (RTB) constitutes the heart of this thesis and will be discussed at
length at later chapters but before we can carry on, let us go to the next chapter
where the public service broadcasting model from around the world will be
discussed.
28
CHAPTER TWO
DEFINING PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTERS
This chapter attempts to define what a public service broadcaster is and pinpoints its
roles as an organisation that is designed to educate, inform and entertain their
viewers and listeners. With that in mind, different public service broadcasting models
from around the world are taken into account, drawing on information about public
service broadcasting in the UK, United States, Canada, Australia, Singapore and
Malaysia. This chapter is the starting point for assessing and understanding the
particular kind of model Radio Television Brunei (RTB) falls into, or the combination
of models it adopts.
Broadcasting, both radio and television, can be defined across a range of
overlapping models of ownership and control, from state-controlled to public service
broadcasters, to commercial ownership at global to local levels, to non-profit and
community ownership. According to Buckley et al. (2008), each is governed by
different dynamics and embodies a different set of interests, but the configuration in
any given country is the result generally of a unique, sometimes lengthy and
complex, historical evolution. No two regimes are identical and the concept of an
“ideal” model of broadcasting fails when confronted with the diversity of different
national contexts.
Marc Raboy asserts that the broadcasting world has changed utterly (cited in Buckley
et al. 2008, p.35). He argues that it is marked by three sets of parallel developments.
First it is the explosion in channel capacity and disappearance of audiovisual and
telecommunication borders made possible by new technologies and digital
convergence. Second is the disintegration of the state-controlled broadcasting model
29
with the collapse of the socialist bloc and the move towards democratization in
various parts of the world and third is the upsurge in market-based broadcasting and
the introduction of mixed broadcasting systems in the countries with former public
service monopolies.
Patricia Holland (2003), in her paper the Conceptual Glue: Public service
broadcasting as practice, system and ideology, states that there are three related
aspects to public service broadcasting which are firstly, that it is a daily practice;
secondly, that it is a broadly organised social and economic system, and thirdly, that
it treats public service broadcasting as an ideology. According to Holland, the
ideology of “public service” has played an active role in underpinning both program
making practice and the structure of the system. Within this complex cultural
economic system, the public service concept could act as a generative ideal across
the whole system, valued by a broad swathe of television professionals, and backed
up by legislation and regulatory practices across the spectrum.
Dr Karl Jakubowicz (2007, pp. 7-9) states that there are three answers to the
question of what is legitimate for public service broadcasting in today’s new media
and technological world. Firstly, nothing is legitimate. Jakubowicz states that this is
the answer given by a neo-liberal view of public service broadcasters. According to
them, the proper mechanism for the satisfaction of individual and social needs is the
‘free market’ where required goods or services can be purchased. The law of supply
and demand will ensure that these services are being provided. They state that the
involvement of the public sector in meeting these needs is unnecessary therefore
nothing is ever legitimate for public service broadcasters.
30
Secondly, only a narrow range of the services traditionally associated with public
service broadcasting are legitimate for it. Since the market should predominate, there
is an opportunity for the public sector to supplement what the market has to offer.
However, it is stated that there is no need to compete with the private sector. What is
needed is ‘pure public service broadcasting’ as a niche broadcaster, offering only
broadcast content and services which private broadcasters find commercially
unrewarding.
And thirdly is that “everything is legitimate if it serves the execution of the remit in
ways that are effective and relevant to the public (p. 8).” This means that whatever
the market has to offer, the public still has a duty to guarantee that the provision of
public service broadcasting is still free from the effect of the profit motive.
According to Armstrong (2005), programs that yield educational and other social
benefits are to be encouraged in public service broadcasting models, including
programs that might make the population more tolerant, and also more aware of their
regional and national identity. And in a related vein, there is often intervention to
ensure that sufficient locally produced content is available, and that the domestic
“ecology” of programs production is protected.
As expressed by Gavyn Davies, who served as chairman of the BBC from 2001 to
2004:
Some form of market failure must lie at the heart of any concept of public
service broadcasting. Beyond simply using the catch-phrase that public
service broadcasting must “inform, educate and entertain”, we must add
“inform, educate and entertain in a ways which the private sector, left
unregulated, would not do”. Otherwise, why not leave matters entirely to the
private sector? (cited in Armstrong 2005, p. 6).
31
There is no standard definition for public broadcasting in the UK, although a number
of official bodies have attempted to identify key characteristics. In 1985, the UK
Broadcasting Research Unit (1981-1991) defined the role of public service
broadcasting as involving eight characteristics (Errington & Miragliotta 2007, pp. 162163). First is universality of availability. Programs should be available for everyone in
order to serve the public interest and not simply maximise audiences. Second is
universality of appeal. According to Errington and Mirragliotta (2007) a public service
broadcaster should not simply give the public what they want. This means that it
should provide high quality programs that cater to the different tastes of a society.
Third is the provision for minorities. This is so that audiences of different
backgrounds are able to have an equal share of the programs that they are able to
understand and connect with. This provides a forum for certain groups and
subcultures – a place where they can feel at home. Fourth is the enhancement of
knowledge in society. Programs should be able to educate the public and create
awareness so that the individuals within it are able to participate in a democratic
society. Fifth is the maintenance of distance from all vested interests. Errington and
Miragliotta state that funding should be independent of both advertising and
government. In other words, while public service broadcasters are financed by the
government, there should be restrictions on the ability of the government to allocate
such funds as it chooses. Sixth is the provision of programming that encourages
‘good programming’ rather than chase audience ratings. A public service
broadcaster’s aim should not be simply to attract large audiences. It should seek to
create high standard programming that commercial stations are not willing to create
due to the lack of profit. Seventh is support for innovative and creative programs. A
public service broadcaster should encourage and nurture program-makers and be
prepared to take creative risks. It should fund and support these program-makers in
order to motivate them to be creative, even if they fail to attract a large audience.
32
Eighth is the principle of nurturing the public sphere. Program choices should be
based on the idea that audience are made up of citizens and that they have rights
and obligations to their country. In other words, a public service broadcaster helps to
socialise the individual into the ways and customs of the society in which they
belong.
A useful starting point, then, is to distinguish between how a responsibility has been
delegated to broadcasting authorities by the state, and the manner in which the
broadcasting authorities have interpreted that responsibility and tried to discharge it.
The very first broadcasting committee, set up by the Post Office in 1923 under the
chairmanship of Major-General Sir Frederick Sykes, was asked to consider
broadcasting in all its aspects and the future uses to which it might be put. In the
minuted proceedings of this committee and its report we find the earliest attempts to
formulate what the general purposes of broadcasting should be. A crucial move was
the definition of broadcasting as ‘a public utility’ whose future should be discussed as
such:
The wavebands available in any country must be regarded as a valuable form
of public property; and the right to use them for any purpose should be given
after full and careful consideration. Those which are assigned to any particular
interest should be subject to the safeguards necessary to protect the public
interest in the future (Sykes, cited in Scannell 1990).
Referring to the above statement, we find a cogent advocacy of public service as a
cultural, moral and educative force for the improvement of knowledge, taste and
manners, and this has become one of the main ways in which the concept is
understood. However, public service broadcasting models develop differently in
different parts of the world as will be discussed below.
The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) came into existence only after tough
commercial bargaining, first between competitive wireless interests and second
33
between the wireless interests as a whole and the Post Office. As a new concern the
BBC has to struggle hard against more powerful established interests, particularly the
press, which in many ways was then at the peak of its public power. It was easy at
first for press magnates to dismiss the claims of the BBC by branding it as an
‘ordinary commercial enterprise’, to point to the fact that ‘the people who are at the
back of it are not philanthropists, they are businessmen’ (Lord Riddell, cited in Briggs
1961, p. 3). However, according to Briggs, the BBC was never an ordinary
commercial enterprise. By Post Office ruling, its dividends were restricted to seven
and a half per cent. By the will of its chief and greatest administrator, Reith, it set out
from the start to act as a ‘public service’. In the first four years of its history, it made
no profits out of broadcasting beyond the return of seven and a half per cent on
capital nor did it concern itself primarily with the interests of either radio
manufacturers or the manufacturers of anything else. In the last months of its
existence its directors connived at their own extinction and did not seek to interfere
with constitutional rearrangements which transformed the BBC from a Company to a
Corporation on 1 January 1927 (Briggs 1961).
In order for the BBC to fulfil its mission to inform, educate and entertain, the Royal
Charter and Agreement sets out six public purposes. They are: sustaining citizenship
and civil society, promoting education and learning; stimulating creativity and cultural
excellence, representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities, bringing the
UK to the world and the world to the UK and, delivering to the public the benefit of
emerging communications technologies and services (BBC Charter). Under the
Charter, the BBC is governed by the BBC Trust, which sets its strategic direction,
and which has a clear duty to represent the interests of licence fee payers. The Trust
sets purpose remits, issues service licences and holds the Executive Board to
34
account for its performance in delivering BBC services (How the BBC is run - BBC
Trust 2010).
In the United States, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) was created by the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private corporation, in 1969 to operate
and manage a nationwide (now satellite) program distribution system interconnecting
all the local public television stations, and providing a distribution channel for national
programs to those public television stations. Although the PBS does not produce
programs for its members, it aggregates funding for the creation and acquisition of
programs by and for the stations and distributes them through its satellite program
distribution system (McLoughlin 2006b). The PBS funds the creation and acquisition
of programs for its member stations and distributes those programs through
American television’s first broadcast satellite system. The PBS has a mission to use
the power of media to change American lives by transforming itself from a sole
broadcasting organisation to a multi-platform leader that serves its audience through
television, mobile television, the internet, interactive whiteboards in classrooms and
more.
The CPB serves as an umbrella organisation for public television and radio
broadcasting in the US. The CPB is a non-profit private corporation and is guided by
a nine-member board of directors, the members of which are appointed by the
President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The CPB’s principal function is
to receive and distribute government contributions to fund national programs and to
support qualified public radio and television stations based on legislatively mandated
formulas. By law, the CPB is authorized to exercise minimum control of ‘program
content or other activities’ of local stations. The CPB is prohibited from owning or
operating any of the primary facilities used in broadcasting. In addition, it may not
35
produce, disseminate, or schedule programs. Overall, 15.6 per cent of all public
television and radio broadcasting funding comes from the federal appropriations that
CPB distributes (McLoughlin 2006a).
In Canada, the Broadcasting Act of 1968 represents a watershed in broadcasting
legislation and the beginning of the modern era in the history of Canadian
broadcasting policy. The framework for broadcasting policy and regulation today, the
Broadcasting Act, 1991, resembles in many ways the legislation of 1968. Among its
major innovations, the Broadcasting Act of 1968 declared that the objectives of
broadcasting policy could best be achieved through the regulation and supervision of
the broadcasting system by a single independent public authority, the Canadian
Radio-television Commission (CRTC) (Armstrong 2010). The CRTC is an
independent public organisation that regulates and supervises the Canadian
broadcasting and telecommunications systems. As an independent organisation, the
CRTC works to serve the needs and interests of citizens, industries, interest groups
and the government. It reports to Parliament through the Minister of Canadian
Heritage. In broadcasting, the CRTC ensures that all Canadians have access to a
wide variety of high-quality Canadian programming as well as access to employment
opportunities in the broadcasting system. Programming in the Canadian broadcasting
system is supposed to reflect Canadian creativity and talent, their bilingual nature,
multicultural diversity and the special place of aboriginal peoples in their society
(Government of Canada & Telecommunications).
The main public broadcaster in Canada is the national Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation (CBC), which operates two television networks, four radio networks and
two 24-hour news channels in both of English and French, Canada’s two official
languages. In accordance with the Broadcasting Act, the Board of Directors is
36
responsible for the management of the Corporation. The Board is made up of 12
members, including the Chair and the President and CEO, who are appointed by the
Government (CBC/Radio-Canada: About Us). The key responsibilities of the Board
are to approve the strategic direction, corporate and business plans for the
Corporation, and to assess the Corporation’s progress in achieving its strategic and
business objectives (CBC/Radio-Canada: Who We Are and What We Do).
Part of the Mandate of the CBC states that the CBC, as the national public
broadcaster, should provide radio and television services incorporating a wide range
of programming that ‘informs, enlightens and entertains’ (Armstrong 2010). In the
1920s, broadcasting from the United States was flooding the Canadian market, and it
was widely perceived that unless Canada acted to establish the Canadian
broadcasting service, the Canadians would be smothered in American culture. In
addition to that, the programming provided by the CBC should be predominantly and
distinctively Canadian; reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional
audiences, while serving the special needs of those regions; actively contribute to the
flow and exchange of cultural expression; be in English and in French, reflecting the
different needs and circumstance of each official language community, including the
particular needs and circumstances of English and French linguistic minorities; strive
to be of equivalent quality in English and in French; contribute to shared national
consciousness and identity; be made available throughout Canada by the most
appropriate and efficient means and as resources become available for the purpose;
and reflect the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada (Armstrong, R 2010).
In Australia, its public broadcasting has evolved and changed considerably over the
years. The government initially opted to offer two different types of commercial
licences: radio ‘A’ and ‘B’ licences. Radio ‘B’ licence-holders were expected to be
37
self-funding, while radio ‘A’ licensees operated in a highly protected market, with the
number of such licences restricted to two per state, and were financed mainly from
the revenue of listener licence fees (Semmler, cited in Errington & Miragliotta 2007,
p. 163). In 1932, the Australian government was driven to nationalise all radio ‘A’
licences, and to pass legislation which then established Australia’s first public
broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC).
According to the ABC’s mission statement, its function is to ‘provide within Australia
innovative and comprehensive broadcasting’, which amongst others will ‘contribute to
a sense of national identity and inform and entertain, and reflect the cultural diversity
of the Australian community’ (Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983). In the
Charter of the ABC, the functions of the Corporation are to provide within Australia
innovative and comprehensive broadcasting services of a high standard as part of
the Australian broadcasting system. It is stated in the Charter that the ABC must
broadcast programs that contribute to a sense of national identity and inform and
entertain, and reflect the cultural diversity of, the Australian community; to broadcast
programs of an educational nature; and, to transmit to countries outside Australia
broadcasting programs of news, current affairs, entertainment and cultural
enrichment that will encourage awareness of Australia and an international
understanding of Australian attitudes on world affairs, enable Australian citizens living
or travelling outside Australia to obtain information about Australian affairs and
Australian attitudes on world affairs and to encourage and promote the musical,
dramatic and other performing arts in Australia. In implementing the above, the ABC
shall take account of the broadcasting services provided by the commercial and
public sectors of the Australian broadcasting system; the standards determined by
the Australian Broadcasting Authority in respect of broadcasting services; have the
needs to provide a balance between broadcasting programs of wide appeal and
38
specialised broadcasting programs; the multicultural character of the Australian
community; and, the provision of broadcasting programs of an educational nature
(Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983).
Errington and Miragliotta (2007) state that in Australia, the provision of public
broadcasting services was designed to achieve three interrelated objectives. First, it
was envisaged that public broadcasting would help to correct market failure by
ensuring the supply of broadcasting services on an equitable and efficient basis
throughout the country. It was expected that commercial providers would concentrate
their efforts on the lucrative metropolitan mass audience, ignoring less profitable
sectional and minority viewers. Through the establishment of a public broadcaster,
obvious discrepancies in service provision could be minimized. Second, the
government was aware that broadcasting had significant political and social
applications. If used judiciously, the new medium could enhance the level of
education among the populace, facilitate cultural improvement of the masses, inform
Australian audiences, and form a literate citizenry. In essence, a public broadcasting
service could bring ideas, culture and information to the masses, regardless of their
geographical location or financial circumstances (Semmler, cited in Errington &
Miragliotta 2007, p. 161). Third, it was hoped that a public broadcaster could help
foster nation building. At the time of establishment of the public broadcasting sector,
Australia had been a federation for little more than 30 years. The majority of
Australians mostly identified with their home state, and did not have a strong
attachment to the “national” government, or a strong conception of what it meant to
be an “Australian”. A public broadcaster that promoted an Australian identity would
help unite Australians and build a cohesive nation (Craik & Davis 1995; Jacka 2003,
cited in Errington & Miragliotta 2007, p. 161).
39
What we can derive from the above is that public service broadcasters have a
common interest at the heart of their operations whether they are a public model, a
private model or both a public and private model. The BBC in the UK, PBS in the US,
CBC in Canada and ABC in Australia all have the same objective of creating a sense
of nationality to their audiences and therefore each of these broadcasters try to serve
their audiences’ interests by producing programs that would help their audience
resonate with their own nationality, culture and/or language.
After reviewing public service broadcasting in United Kingdom, the United States,
Canada and Australia, we now move to the Asian region to explore public service
broadcasting in Brunei’s neighbouring countries of Singapore and Malaysia.
In Singapore, from 1963 until 1979, Radio Television Singapore was governed by the
Broadcasting and Television Act of 1963. Under terms of the new law, the Singapore
Broadcasting Corporation Act, Radio Television Singapore was abolished on
February 1, 1980. The legislation replaced the organisation with a statutory board
known as the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), which would be separate
to but not completely divorced from the government. Under terms of the 1979 law,
the SBC has three functions: firstly, to provide television and sound broadcasting
services for disseminating information, education, and entertainment; secondly, to
exercise licensing and regulatory functions in respect of the sale and use of television
receivers and broadcasting receiving apparatus; and thirdly, to act internationally as
the national authority or representative of Singapore (McDaniel 1994). The SCB has
since been renamed numerous times, and is now known as MediaCorp. With a vision
‘to be Asia’s media company’ and a mission to ‘deliver valued content to the world’,
MediaCorp is Singapore’s leading media company, comprising a group of
commercial companies, with a range of platforms spanning television, radio,
40
newspapers, magazines, movies, digital and out-of-home media. Today, MediaCorp
has over 50 products and brands in four languages – English, Mandarin, Malay and
Tamil, reaching out to all adults in Singapore every week (MediaCorp Pte Ltd: About
MediaCorp). MediaCorp is 100 per cent owned by Temasek Holdings, the Singapore
government's wholly owned investment arm (Temasek Holdings Major Investments).
In Malaysia television broadcasting started on the 28 December, 1963, under the
Ministry of Information (Radio Television Malaysia History). Radio Television
Malaysia (RTM) is the public broadcaster whose two channels, TV1 and TV2
transmissions, could be received in Brunei too. RTM has a vision to be Malaysia’s
prime and dynamic organization with a world class broadcast standard in upholding
the 1MALAYSIA3 concept. RTM’s mission is to transmit radio and television
information and entertainment programs of a competitive standard that caters to the
varied needs of the audience using the latest techniques while fulfilling the nation’s
vision. Its objective, on the other hand, is to become a pioneer nation builder through
broadcasting service in upholding the “1MALAYSIA” concept. It also wishes to benefit
information technology and new media ideas for the public maximum viewers, and
using the Malay language as a tool to build the nation of Malaysia (Radio Television
Malaysia Vision and Mission). Taken from its Client’s Charter, RTM pledges to
ensure that the standard broadcasting is of the highest quality, in line with the
government’s policies and aspirations, to cater to the varied tastes of Malaysian
society through up to date information; programs that are informative and
educational; high quality entertainment programs; instillation of good values; and,
having an open and positive attitude.
3
1MALAYSIA is an on-going political programme that encourages everyone in Malaysia to emphasise
strong ethnic harmony, national unity and efficient governance.
41
It can be said that these two models are completely different from each other.
Mediacorp has a strong corporate objective which completely opposes the very
definition of what a public service broadcaster is. However, it is partially owned by the
government so perhaps it could be said that it does serve the best interest of the
Singaporean audience by producing Singaporean programs. On the other hand,
RTM is an ideal example of a public service broadcaster because not only does it
have the objective of embedding the sense of nationality to its audience, it also does
not have a profit motive.
These different models are concerned with embedding a nationalistic culture to their
audience regardless whether they are a commercial or a public model. What public
service broadcasters aim to achieve is to provide programming material that helps
‘make up’ audiences with knowledge of their countries’ language, history, guiding
philosophies, religion and so on. Whether they are a dualistic model of both public
and private partnership or are solely a public model, the main aim of a public service
broadcaster is to inform, educate and entertain its public.
What can be learnt from this chapter is that the models that have been discussed,
whether from the West or in Asia, wish to serve one purpose and that is to represent
the country they operate in. A country needs a medium to help it to be promoted to its
audience, locally or globally, and this could be done by the use of broadcasting
mediums. In the next chapter, the RTB model of public service broadcasting will be
discussed, and it will be shown how it is governed by the Brunei philosophy of Malay
Islamic Monarchy and how RTB tries to create a sense of Bruneian way of life to its
audience.
42
CHAPTER THREE
RTB HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
World War II proved to be a political and social watershed, as Japanese
occupation brought severe privation and social dislocation. Wartime also
awakened national consciousness and stimulated ambitions for
independence. Once peace had been restored, the 28th ruler of Brunei, Sultan
Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, sometimes termed the
“father of modern Brunei,” instituted measures to pull the country into the
modern era (McDaniel 1994, p. 194).
This chapter reviews some of the dynamic changes that are taking place in the
broadcasting environment within and outside of Brunei, which are causing RTB to
reassess its organisational structure and strategies. It has been said that it is
important that RTB look for a new direction (RTB 2000). One of the many ways that
RTB has pursued this new direction is the introduction of new channels and use of
new broadcasting technologies. At the present time, RTB is moving towards a more
digital approach by attempting to be more interactive in its operations.
RTB falls under the Prime Minister’s Office which is the central coordinating body for
all Government Ministries and Agencies as it relates to national policies and for the
implementation of those policies (PMO 2009). The head of the Prime Minister’s
Office is the Sultan himself, with his son, the Crown Prince as the Senior Minister.
With its motto of Sentiasa Bersama Biskita or Always Be With You, the mission of
RTB is to project and broaden civic and social awareness and understanding based
on national political sociocultural values on the basis of the Malay Islamic Monarchy
principles. What this means is that the programs that are shown on RTB, especially
those produced locally, must adhere to the teachings of Islam. For example, female
and male characters must never touch each other unless they are related through
marriage, are parents and children, siblings or cousins outside of their character or
43
role. Even if it is stated in the program that they are related by blood, but if in real life
they are not, then it is prohibited for their skins to touch each other.
Radio Services began on the eve of an auspicious 1st Syawal (Eid), where the late
Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien consented to officially launch
what is now the ever-popular medium in the country. In the evening of 2 May 1957 at
7.45pm, a female voice filled the airwaves and proudly announced “Inilah Radio
Brunei” or “This is Radio Brunei”. In the early days, radio transmission could only be
heard by people living within a 5 miles radius from the transmitter site. Broadcast was
limited from 7.30pm to 9.45pm. By 1974 there were three transmitting sites which
provided almost 100 per cent coverage of the country and beyond (RTB
Organization).
When Radio Brunei first started, there was a separate Government Information
Services, which immediately began selling inexpensive radio receivers on monthly
instalments4. In 1962, Radio Brunei and Government Information Services merged
into one department under one officer. Its purpose became to serve as “the official
mouthpiece of the government, to keep the public informed on vital issues and news
of the day.” Then, by the mid-1970s, about 22,000 radio sets served the 177,000
people of Brunei (Lent 1978).
Radio programs were a mixed affair at the beginning. Imported programs were used
liberally, including from the BBC, Radio Australia, Radio Malaya, and Radio Sarawak.
Among the non-musical local programs was a weekly religious half-hour production
containing a sermon and Quranic recitations, as well as numerous talk shows on
topics such as “Aspects of the law as it affects the ordinary person” and “Health and
4
The government still subsidizes transistor radio sets to help remote villagers keep abreast of
government news and information.
44
the community.” Spoken-word programs were produced first in English, and then
translated Malay versions were created for later transmission. A variety of local
shows was produced, such as sports broadcasts from Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, and
Seria, a town in the Belait District, as well as a bilingual quiz show called “Beat the
Gong” hosted by teachers from local secondary schools (McDaniel 1994).
According to McDaniel, within a year, Radio Brunei moved to improved permanent
facilities in a new structure on the site of the current broadcast house complex. For
the first time, a newsroom was established. At about the same time, coverage
expanded with the installation of an additional transmitter of 20kw, 28 miles south of
the Brunei capital of Bandar Seri Begawan, and another low-power transmitter was
installed in the Belait District, 68 miles south of the capital. Eighteen years after its
introduction, radio in Brunei was integrated along with television as Radio Television
Brunei (RTB). A new service catering for the younger generation filled with popular
music was introduced in 1995. In 1996 this service was named Rangkaian Pelangi
(Rainbow Channel); the Malay service was renamed Rangkaian Nasional, and the
English, Chinese, and Gorkhali as Rangkaian Pilihan (Selection Channel). A new
service called Rangkaian Harmoni was introduced in the same year to provide family
oriented programs. At its 40th anniversary, Radio Brunei introduced a new service
called Rangkaian Nur Islam, which broadcasts comprehensive Islamic religious
programs. The Netradio, radio on the internet, was introduced in 2001, and thus
opened a new era for Radio Brunei (Richter-Rusli 2004).
Broadcasting has for a long time been taken seriously in Brunei as a political tool. A
lesson in radio’s uses was given the government after it quelled the rebellion of 1962
(McDaniel 1994). According to later descriptions, because of “propaganda
broadcasts from other countries” Radio Brunei strengthened its Malay services by
reassigning Bruneians from other government posts to radio and by transmitting
45
frequent newscasts (Department of Broadcasting and Information, cited in McDaniel
1994, p. 196).
Television was then introduced in 1975 with Channel 5 test transmissions
commencing on March 1st from Bukit Subok. The service was officially opened by
the Monarch, His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, on 9 July, 1975. 1976 was
the year of the first television outside broadcast which was the coverage of His
Majesty's birthday parade from the then 'Town Padang' which is presently known as
the Taman Sir Omar Ali Saifuddien, a large assembly area (Wikipedia 2010c). The
Sultan made sure that people in the remote areas of Brunei also received television
transmissions by donating 200 receivers to longhouses. In fact, helicopters brought in
receivers and 1-KW petrol generators to the Iban tribe living in these otherwise
inaccessible regions (Lockhart, cited in Lent 1982, p. 105).
As soon as the first RTB Studio was built, RTB was viewed as one of the most
advanced organization within the region. This was because RTB started its services
with 100 per cent full coloured television. Overall commitment to colour television
was almost never experienced around the world during that time (Achee 1995).
According to Lent (1982), Brian Collins, chief news editor of Television Brunei during
that period, said the government pushed colour television to compete with Television
Malaysia which surrounded Brunei with transmitters. At that time, Television Brunei
wanted their message to penetrate Miri, Labuan and Kota Kinabalu.
TV Programs Department is the second largest department and works to provide and
create local TV programs. RTB provides services to domestic as well as regional
audiences. The programs produced by the TV Programs Department are Religious
programs, Educational programs, Local Drama, Entertainment programs, Quizzes,
46
Children and Teenage programs, Game Shows, and Government Campaigns
amongst many other. Television became the medium of preference. For every two
citizens there exists one television set. It is common in Brunei to live in a three- to
five-tier family. Average households have at least two television sets at home
(Richter-Rusli 2004).
A broadcasting organization is defined at least partly through the competence of its
engineering department. All the transmitting equipments must be strong enough to
transmit the programs to the viewers, and the communications system must be able
to send information from the studio to the transmitter sites. The programs screening
and the distribution system of the engineering department exist to sift through
appropriate programs before broadcasting. The roles of the engineering department
are to provide technical assistance and operations; to ensure a smooth transmission
and signal flow in an orderly manner; and to ensure the progress of the development
of facilities in accordance with current technology (RTB Organization).
Radio Television Brunei is the primary news source for Brunei Darussalam with two
nightly newscasts covering regional and international politics, sports, business, and
consumer news. RTB’s prime news is Berita Nasional in Malay, which is aired at
8.00pm, and News at Ten in English at 10.00pm. The duration of Berita Nasional was
increased gradually from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. Now the bulletin is 45 minutes in
length, covering both local and international news. News at Ten is a 30-minute news
bulletin. There are special regular reports from Singapore, Hong Kong, and Ottawa,
Canada, as well as special reports from RTB’s political desk covering key current
topics in and regional and international political developments, not forgetting weekly
consumer reports. According to audience surveys, news programs are the most
popular amongst television audience in Brunei (Richter-Rusli 2004).
47
Local, regional and international news broadcasting is the major role of RTB. News
updates are broadcast at different hours of the day to keep audiences up to date with
current events. A key player in regional broadcasting cooperation, RTB is a member
of Asiavision, which is the outcome of a news exchange agreement formed under the
umbrella of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union. RTB‘s News Centre coordinates the
ASEAN Television News Exchange, enabling state broadcasters in the Association of
South East Asian Nations to share news. Implementation and ongoing support for
RTB are provided by Techtel (SE Asia) Pte. Ltd. Techtel Pty. Ltd., its Australianbased parent, is a distributor of Electronic News Production System (ENPS) systems
in the Pacific region, where it has installed and supported more than 70 newsroom
computer systems (ENPS 2004). The News Centre of Radio Television Brunei is a
major provider of domestic news to Bruneians. News programs are relayed through
radio networks and both domestic and satellite television channels. The News Centre
plays an important role in supporting RTB’s mission, which is to inform, educate and
entertain, inspire and interact anytime, anywhere and in any way. The airing of news
in the country plays a vital role in giving accurate and up-to-date information to the
public and the people of Brunei Darussalam about the policies, activities and projects
made by the Government, implemented for the development of Brunei Darussalam.
The objectives of the News Department at RTB are to give fast, accurate and concise
information and news, to publish news material and current programs to improve the
quality of reports and visual shooting, and to produce more professional products.
Currently, Radio Television Brunei has five new channels: RTB 1 Menjana Inspirasi
or Generating Inspiration, RTB 2 Edutainment Channel, RTB 3 High Definition
Channel, RTB 4 Colours and Sounds of Brunei Darussalam and RTB 5 Islamic
Channel (RTB City 2010). These channels can now be received digitally as it meets
RTB’s latest digital approach. As a result of RTB's transition to digital systems,
48
broadcast can be received digitally via a set-top box that allows viewers to use the
Electronic Program Guide (EPG) which allows them to check program line-ups. This
new approach works to provide viewers with the idea that RTB is now interactive,
especially with the Electronic Public Information Guide (EPIG) which provides latest
news and local information, as well as the Electronic Game Portal (EGP) which
allows viewers to play interactive games. This move towards interactivity also gives
RTB the chance to promote its website called the RTBCITY which provides live
streaming services for its viewers and listeners (Mahmud 2010).
At present, RTB’s biggest threat is a commercial broadcaster called Astro. In order
for Bruneians to be able to receive Astro channels, they need to install special
antennae and set-top boxes. Although the Brunei government has tried to put a stop
to this, the increasing number of people getting the equipment only forces a private
company to establish a joint venture and create Kristal-Astro in Brunei. The next
chapter will discuss this in more detail and will explain how and why Astro has been
successful in competing with RTB for audience share in Brunei.
49
COMPETITION: ASTRO
Astro All Asia Networks (ASTRO) is Malaysia’s leading cross-media group with
significant presence in DTH (Direct-To-Home) TV services, commercial radio and TV
programming. Astro, the subscription TV service began operations in 1996 with 22
channels and currently broadcasts over 118 pay-TV channels in four major
languages across Malaysia and Brunei to more than 2.875 million households (Astro
2010).
Astro Chairman Dato’ Haji Badri bin Haji Masri states, in the 2006 Astro Annual
Report, that the Astro pay-TV subscriber base grew to 1.94 million subscribers from
Malaysia, Brunei and India as at the close of their financial year on 31 January 2006.
Astro continues their strategy of increasing penetration of their multimedia service,
both at home and overseas, whilst further improving and investing in the content
Astro has to offer (Astro 2007). Presently, Astro has penetrated the Indonesian
market calling itself Astro Nusantara.
Astro is a Malaysian company listen on the UK stock exchange. It is owned and
operated by MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Astro All Asia Networks plc, a holding company incorporated as a foreign company in
the United Kingdom (Wikipedia 2010a).
The Astro service uses the package pricing model commonly used by other pay-TV
providers in which channels are grouped into packages made available to
subscribers at a monthly fee. The basic packages or mini packages are categorised
into four groups known as Variety consisting of entertainment channels such as MTV
and E!, Learning consisting of educational and documentary-related channels such
as the Discovery Channel, Fun consisting of children's channels such as Nickelodeon
50
and News. Premium packages, known as Super packages, include the Movie and
Dynasty (Chinese language packages) offered at a higher rate than the other
packages (Wikipedia 2010a).
The Astro service is currently also available in Brunei under the brand Kristal-Astro.
Launched on 24 January 2000, the Brunei operation is a joint venture company
established between a Brunei company, DST, through its subsidiary, Kristal Pte Ltd
and MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems. All channels have been customised to
ensure that all programs adhere to Brunei's religious, cultural and social values.
Subscribers also have access to pay-per-view services, as well as a wide range of
interactive services such as home banking, home shopping and distance learning.
Subscribers receive the satellite service using the state-of-the-art Digital Multimedia
System (DMS) - the same system introduced by Astro in Malaysia. The operations of
Kristal-ASTRO are backed by DST Group's expertise in the areas of marketing,
sales, information technology and technical support (Wikipedia 2010b).
Because of the challenges posed by Astro, which is effectively taking audiences
away from RTB’s programs, RTB has decided to attempt to regain its audience share
by improving its operations. One of the strategies used is the RTB Media Carnival, a
roadshow of information about RTB that is implemented at different periods of the
year. The next chapter will introduce RTB Media Carnival, explaining the reason why
it was invented and how it has been used to promote RTB’s new channels and its
move towards interactivity. It is also a launching pad to a comparison of strategies to
suggest what should or could be done by the RTB in order to regain its audience
share.
51
CHAPTER FOUR
RTB MEDIA CARNIVAL
This chapter will discuss the RTB Media Carnival, as a promotional strategy used by
the organisation to help rebrand its reputation. As a public service broadcaster faced
with challenges from commercial broadcasters like Astro, RTB has tried to counter by
moving towards interactivity and producing five new channels. This chapter
compares available promotional strategies with the objective of finding a solution to
what else can be done to help rebrand RTB and promote its move towards digital
broadcasting and its five new channels.
Broadcasting is changing. Rarely a day goes by without more news of an
innovative way to access audiovisual content over the internet, mobile phone
networks of other new media. Television will soon move to a digital only
television environment (Gwynne, cited in Jakubowicz 2007, p. 4).
The RTB Media Carnival is one of the yearly RTB activities that bear a number of
objectives, one being to showcase the achievements of those working behind
television, radio, news and engineering at RTB (Mahmud 2010). It was first created in
2001 and is an entertainment program produced in recognition and appreciation of
the tireless efforts, contributions, hard work, creativity and talent of the RTB
workforce, artists and its program contributors (Hani 2009). It is also seen as RTB’s
own version of an Award’s Night. However, the 2010 RTB Media Carnival was
launched to showcase the development of RTB’s transition from analogue to digital
broadcasting and introduce its latest service, Interactive Television (Sofri 2010). The
RTB Media Carnival is focussed on showcasing the development of the transition
from analogue to digital broadcasting which gives the public an opportunity to enjoy
the latest development that has been achieved by RTB in digital television broadcast
through five channels (Mahmud 2010).
52
The Acting Director of RTB Haji Idris Haji Md Ali explained in a recent speech that the
RTB Media Carnival is a way to show RTB’s commitment to its audience in realising
their motto “Sentiasa Bersama Biskita”. In an effort to bring the motto to life, in line
with RTB’s Vision and Mission, a variety of programs have been prepared and
broadcast on radio, television and online, in order to meet the needs of audiences
(Mahmud 2009).
According to Haji Md Ali, there are a lot of advantages that the public can benefit
from in the existence of this digital transmission, mainly the high quality of the
pictures and at the same time, it also contributes to a more interactive broadcast.
Viewers are able to access information and guidance through Electronic Program
Guide, which is a list of all programs, and also Electronic Public Information Guide
that allows viewers to follow the latest guides and information such as weather
forecast, prayer times and also foreign exchange rates. There is also an Electronic
Games Portal available though the interactive service that allows viewers to enjoy 10
electronic games as an alternative to watching television programs (Mahmud 2009).
The early 2010 Media Carnival provides an RTB pavilion with a display that shows
the history and achievements of Radio Television Brunei. The RTB Fair invites
visitors to watch documentaries from Korea and Japan and a series of other
attractions such as motivational talk shows, an opportunity to meet with celebrities
invited from the neighbouring country of Malaysia and an awards show to appreciate
those who has made contributions to the whole operation of RTB (Mahmud 2010;
Sofri 2010).
The next section will now make a comparison of strategies that the RTB could look
into in order to regain its audience share. The RTB Media Carnival may have been
53
the best strategy at that time to get back those audience that were once lost to
commercial broadcasters, especially Astro. However, it is not the best as RTB is still
in the search of better strategies. It is hoped that with the next chapter this dilemma
could be solved and that RTB’s future can be resolved.
54
WHAT SHOULD OR COULD BE DONE: A COMPARISON OF STRATEGIES
The balance of this chapter attempts to compare strategies that RTB could follow and
apply in order to make the public service broadcasting organisation more attractive to
the Bruneian public and audience. It will also discuss the possible steps to borrow, as
taken example from other public service broadcasters in the West such as the SBS
and the BBC.
Karol Jakubowicz (2007) discusses the long-term future of public service
broadcasting in the context of a rapidly changing media landscape and outlining the
benefits that public service broadcasting can provide for the economy, culture and
democracy. He offers an intriguing perspective, arguing that public service
broadcasting must in the future both retain its basic characteristics and change very
significantly. For broadcasters, the key message will be that they can and should aim
to develop a new relationship with their audiences as audience expectations and
technology are fundamentally changing.
It is with the development of new media platforms that this conflict has deepened.
Broadcasters in general no longer have an environment with a small number of
providers – the internet and digital television or radio represent near-limitless forums
for broadcasting ‘content’, whether news, entertainment, sport, or anything else, and
competition for audiences is much more intense. In other words, the broadcasting
world is no longer just television and radio as they once were; broadcasting now has
penetrated the modern medium of the internet and digital age. It is with this
statement that RTB should understand how the broadcasting world has changed
from traditionally just using the radio and television, to now conquering every loops
and holes that could be exploited in order to successfully submit information to the
general public anytime, anywhere and in any way – which is essentially RTB’s motto,
55
“Sentiasa Bersama Biskita” or Always Be With You. Television and radio are now
more interactive as will be seen in this chapter, and that should be understood to
contribute to the success of a public service broadcaster whilst competing with
commercial television.
The Acting Director of RTB Haji Idris Haji Md. Ali was cited in an article saying that
“broadcasting is not just about the production of better picture, it’s actually more
about program content. The broadcasters, clients and public are becoming more and
more demanding and RTB has to rise to meet the challenges” (Affendy 2010, par. 1).
According to Haji Idris, digital television has changed the media industry, reshaping
the broadcasting and media landscape in a way that forces operators to embrace
and engage with the future of broadcasting business, to realise the ever-increasing
opportunities of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and expanded opportunities of
Interactive Television (Affendy 2010). This was said at the closing ceremony of the
Basic and Advanced Training on Cardinal Authoring Studio, facilitated by Janne
Johansson, Software Engineer at Icareus Ltd, Finland. Jakubowicz asserts that
broadcasters should aim to develop a new relationship with their audiences. This is
to say that while the Bruneian audience is understood to demand more from
broadcasting, as proven by how threatened RTB has been by Astro, RTB should pay
close attention to their needs and preferences by trying to meet with their demands.
In this case, RTB is going towards what Astro has been providing to the majority of
Bruneians in their homes and that is by adapting interactive television.
RTB is dealing with the desires and aspirations of an audience which has broad
tastes. It now has the ability to acknowledge those tastes via five new TV channels.
RTB continues its service with a variety of information and entertainment that is very
56
useful to every level of society (Mahmud 2010). At the Open Day of RTB’s 35th Year
Anniversary on July 9, 2010, the Acting Director has these to say in his speech:
RTB will develop in line with the current technological change while still
holding on to the values and aspirations of Brunei. In accordance to its vision
and mission “Nation’s Voice National Choice”, we need to spread this vision
until it is well-known in the whole of Asia and even around the world by being
more interactive wherever we are. This will be accomplished successfully now
that RTB is well-prepared with a range of skills and equipment (cited by
(Mahmud 2010).
Buckley et al. (1998, p) proposed that the multichannel environment represents a
structural change to which all broadcasters, public and private, must adapt. He
suggested that developing new services, making innovative partnerships, and
focusing on serving local needs and interests are paramount for success in this
environment. It is important to review the alternatives of public television
programming in today’s multichannel environment.
To start off the comparison of strategies that could be suggested to maximise RTB’s
audience share, it would be best to take Australia’s Special Broadcasting Service
(SBS) example, as they are seen as a successful public service broadcaster with a
unique approach of reaching out to its audience.
SBS was introduced to provide a service that catered for all Australians regardless of
their country of origin. SBS is lauded as 'unique' because it 'broadcasts in more
languages than any other network in the world' (SBS, cited in Errington and
Miragliotta 2007, p. 165). The function of SBS is to fill a very specific gap in the
market, catering to Australia’s diverse ethnic population. As a result of this, SBS has
never been subject to pressure to develop a large and loyal audience in order to
justify its existence (Jacka, cited in Errington and Miragliotta 2007, p. 166). The
multiple language programs available through SBS Television, Radio and Online
ensure that all Australians, including the estimated three million people who speak a
57
language other than English in their homes, are able to share in the experiences of
others, and participate in public life.
This is reflected in SBS’s programming choices and audience reach. It broadcasts in
more than 60 languages, and around half of its programs are in a language other
than English (Errington & Miragliotta 2007). SBS is driven by a Charter that demands
they "provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform,
educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect Australia's multicultural
society" (SBS 2010). And further, that charter explains that it “ensures a commitment
to our audience and to making a difference; beyond that, our passion and our drive,
our curiosity and creativity force us to think past the mundane into ground-breaking
ideas, and quality programs (SBS 2010).
SBS has been a successful public service broadcaster by reaching out towards all of
its audience that come from multicultural backgrounds. Due to this, the SBS uniquely
broadcasts not only English-speaking programs but also programs that are not
spoken in English. This is how the SBS maintains their audience and popularity
amongst their audience while also maintaining their status as a public service
broadcaster without demanding any form of payment for broadcasting films and news
from around the globe. Commercial broadcasters, on the other hand, such as Astro
would impose a fee if its audience desire to watch programs that are not normally in
demand because of their commercial business model.
Furthermore, (Ang et al. 2008) state that unlike commercial broadcasters, who need
to maximise audiences to maximise their profits, public service broadcasters are not
guided by the profit motive but a social remit. For public broadcasters audiences are
58
social and cultural citizens, not simply pleasure-seeking consumers. Programming
preview manager and acquisitions consultant Mark Atkin puts it succinctly:
We don’t program for couch potatoes. We want a response out of our viewers,
we want to stimulate them (Ang et al. 2008).
After looking at how the SBS gains its audience share, we can now view another
strategy that has been practiced by the BBC. In performing the purpose of
“Sustaining citizenship and civil society”, license fee payers consider this to be one of
the most important public purposes overall and BBC performance is considered to be
strong. The BBC faces a number of major challenges in meeting the citizenship
purpose and maintaining its position as the most trusted and most used local and
UK-wide news provider (About the BBC: Public Purposes). To handle these
challenges, the BBC Trust lays out a number of objectives. The first is that, in the
face of changing audience demands and new technologies, the BBC must futureproof the delivery of the above priorities; the BBC must maintain the quality and
distinctiveness of its news and current affairs output in a tough competitive
environment; and that the BBC must maintain the overall reach of its news,
information and current affairs, and address declining reach among certain audience
groups, including the young, who are moving away from linear news output. Licence
fee payers in the devolved nations of the UK consider that the BBC could do more to
help them understand how their nations are governed. Audiences also feel that there
is room for improvement in how the realities of devolution are reflected in the BBC’s
network news coverage.
The BBC Trust asserts that the BBC should provide news and current affairs that
interests and informs people of all backgrounds, ages and levels of knowledge,
enabling them to engage with the major issues of today. In doing this, the BBC will
meet different audience needs by providing news and current affairs output for a
59
broad-based audience on services such as BBC One, BBC Two and Radio 2;
introducing children and teenagers to citizenship issues through its news output and
also through programming that reflects social engagement and life skills; presenting
news and analysis in an accessible format, style and language for under-served
audiences such as ethnic minority communities; explaining the presenting complex
issues in a way that meets the differing needs of diverse communities and place it in
context to help all audiences develop greater understanding of UK and international
events; offering outreach initiatives that take BBC news content into secondary
schools; providing dedicated news, politics and current affairs output for the nations
which reflects their different political institutions and cultural make-up; and lastly,
offering in-depth global news and current affairs programs that appeal to those
interested in global news and cultural affairs.
The BBC will provide content in a form and by delivery mechanisms which make it as
accessible as possible for audiences, such as online, mobile devices or at certain
times of the day within linear schedules. Broadcast news coverage will be
supplemented inline with in-depth coverage and analysis across a range of specialist
areas such as education, health, science and nature, and technology. In a world
where the internet has become the medium to get information about everything, the
BBC is smart enough to exploit and take good advantage of this medium to reach out
to its audiences who are willing to learn about their organisation and things that
revolve around the BBC through the domain bbc.co.uk. The BBC Trust states that
the BBC should help people become ‘media-literate’ – giving them the confidence to
make full use of all media including information technologies. The BBC will help its
audiences engage critically with media – to find what they are looking for from
trustworthy sources, to understand what it is about, to form an opinion about it and,
where necessary, to respond to and interact with it (About the BBC: Public
60
Purposes). Online activity will enable audiences to engage with each other and the
BBC. On-screen and on-air talent, as trusted voices, can encourage people to
engage in such ways, while initiatives such as Webwise (a beginner’s guide to using
the internet) help demystify the internet. More broadly, online media literacy will be
woven into mainstream content and services on the BBC website. Furthermore, the
BBC will continue to encourage internet adoption by making its program-related and
stand-alone website accessible, attractive and easy to use, and sources of trusted,
impartial, accurate and independent information. It will support new and unsure users
or those with additional needs in building their confidence and skills, and encourage
audiences to move from passive consumption to active participation and constructive
engagement.
Perhaps RTB could look into BBC’s value chain model which we can define as ‘a
high-level model of how businesses receive raw materials as input, add value to the
raw materials through various processes, and sell finished products to customers.’ In
this case, on the other hand, the value chain model analyses the media industries as
a series of interrelated but discrete activities, like most other industries. It can be
broken down in many ways but (Paterson 1998) explains it as follows:
Contributors and rights holders  content creation/program-making 
broadcasting/distribution  gateway  audience
Contributors are the people behind the creative aspect of the organisation who aids
in program making. The key to any television programs is the ideas and those who
realize them through their creative endeavour. On the other hand, rights holders are
those who decide what can and cannot be produced due to laws and restrictions
based on what the organisation try to represent to its audience. Program-makers
would then approach production companies with their ideas and invest a certain
amount of funds to create a program that will go to the next component in the value
61
chain which is distribution. This is when the programs are transmitted to the audience
and usually through the fourth component, which is the gateway. A gateway is the
direct relationship between broadcaster and audience through a medium such as
antennae or satellite dishes. RTB can definitely benefit from this as they have gone
interactive. They now have a better and improved way of transmitting their programs
to the audience. Lastly, the programs can now reach its audience with ease. Vertical
integration is another component that Paterson mentions in this discussion.
Companies which have activities in different parts of the value chain are vertically
integrated, for example BBC and Granada Television having production activities
while also running television channels. This can perhaps be related to RTB’s five new
channels that they may have produced internally and not sourced out to production
houses.
In the United States, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) offers online shopping
on its website under the logo of SHOP PBS. While the revenue from the member
program/service assessments increased a mere nine per cent from 1995 to 1999 for
PBS, its income from the sales of educational products grew 156 per cent and its
royalties or licence fees-related revenues went up 188 per cent during the same
period. PBS has also significantly raised its promotional budget to fortify its already
trusted PBS brand (Schweitzer 1997; McConnell 1998, cited in Chan-Olmsted & Kim
2002, p.3). From this, it could perhaps be understood by the RTB that although they
are a not-for-profit organisation, they could still make small money by perhaps selling
souvenirs or videos of dramas and films like what the ABC has done. The BBC, it
seems, sells copies of their Royal Charter for £9.00.
As already mentioned in this thesis, RTB wishes to encounter the problem of
commercial broadcasting invasion in Brunei and it does this by going interactive. It
62
has also been mentioned that in doing so, RTB has created RTBCITY, a website that
provides live streaming of radio channels to listeners all around the world. The
website also provides visitors to check the program guide of the different RTB
channels and learn about the RTB Organisation. However, the problem with the
website is that it is not as accessible as it can be because it lacks usability. For
example, when someone types in the website URL, they will be met with a splash
page5 that shows the different channels RTB provides together with the number of
radio channels (see Figure 1)6.
Figure 1.
This poses a problem to those who visit this website because splash pages are not
seen as ideal as they delay, diminish, distract from or hide the scent of the real
information that users want to go to in the first place. According to Thuraw and
Musica (2009), this is the common problem of website usability. According to them,
when developing a website, there are important things that need to be tested. First is
effectiveness of the website. This comprises of how easy it is finding information in
5
A splash page is a web page that typically consists of either a Flash animation or a redirect to a new
page after the animation finishes, or a link to skip the Flash animation.
6
Copyright of figures used are originally owned by respective websites.
63
that website. Second is efficiency in terms of how quickly information can be gleaned
from the website. Third is learnability which is how quickly can visitors learn how to
use the website. Fourth is the memorability of the website on how quickly and easily
can repeat site visitors remember how to use the website effectively to accomplish
their goals of visiting. Fifth is error prevention and recovery whereby a website should
allow for easy recovery from errors and lastly, how satisfied is the visitor with the
website usability. This can be compared to ABC’s website (see Figure 2 and 3 below)
which immediately shows visitor where they can go, what they can do, what they can
look for and the options they can choose from. This is the kind of usability Thurow
and Musica mention and it is the user-friendliness of a website that eases a person
from getting frustrated whilst viewing a website.
Figure 2.
64
Figure 3.
According to Nielsen and Pernice (2010), in designing a website, the aim is to
influence the way people look at those pages. The way the page, menus and text are
presented affects the way visitors look for and select information. If a site is
unusable, the visitor may lose interest and leave. The ABC website is straight to the
point and immediately tells the visitor of the information that can be learnt. This is
what interactivity can be defined as because it is easy for the user to navigate to any
kind of information that has been provided, or search for those that are not already
obvious. On the other hand, RTBCITY would make it hard for a visitor to find
information. If for example the information about the RTB organisation is needed,
there is no obvious links that shows the visitor how they can get to that information.
There is also another option that RTB could implement since they are promoting
RTBCITY. It is said that RTBCITY caters for Bruneian radio listeners from around the
World and evidently the different radio station broadcasts can be heard through live
65
streaming which RTB calls Netradio. However, it would be useful to those listeners
who missed a certain slot during air time if programs are recorded and produced into
podcasts. Podcasts are basically mp3 files that can be downloaded and saved as
archives that users can go back to.
According to Madsen (2009), the BBC was the first of the public service broadcasters
to try podcasting in BBC Four which reaped a total of 100,000 download requests
each week in July of 2005 (Nelson, cited in Madsen 2009, p. 1201). It was then
realised that podcasting might signal not only the demand for new types of
programming but also new ways of listening. Podcasting works well for public service
broadcasters because it provides the ease of “old radio available on demand” (ibid. p.
1194) as it favours traditional forms of block-programming and it is also cheap to
produce and upload into the website. Madsen mentions that one of the benefits of
podcasting is that it acts as a form of time shifting or creating programs as
downloadable archives that can be listened to whenever the user chooses.
RTB might benefit greater audience share if they bring podcasting into their
broadcasting plans. RTB news, both in English and Malay, can be recorded into richformatted audio files, put up on RTBCITY, and listened to whenever a listener missed
a news or wishes to listen to what has already been said for research or confirmation,
for example. News is not the only program that can be turned into a podcast. Taking
an example from the BBC which turned shows like documentaries into podcasts and
this would benefit the listener in terms of better understanding of what is being said
rather than treating it as a passing speech when listening to these shows live
(Madsen 2009, p. 1193).
66
As podcasts are so easy to produce, RTB could also implement what the BBC and
ABC have done which is encouraging the public to create their own projects and be
sent and shared in both the BBC and ABC websites (Madsen 2009, p. 1198). The
BBC has a number of initiatives to encourage school children to create their own
audio, video and text news stories, with the help and feedback from professionals.
This, too, could be taken into account as RTB has a lot of background experience
that could help school children realise their dreams of being acculturated to the
media and realise that a paternalistic public service broadcaster such as RTB can
indeed be helpful in shaping their futures. This then would definitely confirm RTB’s
motto, “Sentiasa Bersama Biskita” or Always Be With You, that proves that RTB is
not only there for the audience on television, radio and internet, but also physically.
Such intimacy with the public might help increase RTB’s audience share.
There are vast arrays of choices that could be studied to help make RTB attractive to
the Bruneian audience. This thesis can only fit in a few of the suggestions but
enough to make a point across to convey a message that RTB has a lot of choice
and there are many success examples when taking other broadcasters into account.
According to Chan-Olmsted and Kim (2002), it seems that the challenge for public
television today is not the competing programming offered by cable networks, though
they may somewhat impact the overall ratings performance of public television
programming, but the tasks of continuing its non-commercialism image, while at the
same time repositioning itself as a source of lively, interesting quality programming
(arts, music, science, nature) amidst all the fast-paced, seemingly exciting cable
programming. Public television would inherently respond to competition differently
from its commercial counterpart, which operates in a market mechanism fuelled by
competition. Therefore, the suggestions that are discussed in this chapter are just a
67
little portion of the many other extravagant approaches that could be used by the
RTB because no matter what, it has been proven that RTB will have to compete with
Astro anyhow regardless of what has been done by the RTB. Astro may actually
drive RTB to become more creative and dynamic in its quest to continue the level of
viewership as its current core audience’s age.
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CONCLUSION
So how do we answer what the future holds for RTB? This can be made clear by
revising the role of a public service broadcaster once again. A public service
broadcaster has the role to inform, educate and entertain its viewers while
maintaining its aim to act as a cultural, moral and educative force for the
improvement of knowledge, taste and manners. It also brings ideas, culture and
information to foster nation building.
These are the things that commercial broadcasters, such as Astro, are not willing to
do due to its lack of profit motive. Public service broadcasters, on the other hand, do
not emphasise on profit. This blends in with the statement that a public service
broadcaster would help to correct market failure by ensuring the supply of
broadcasting services on an equitable and efficient basis throughout the country.
This supports Errington and Miragliotta’s (2007) statement that a publicly owned
broadcasting is non-commercial activity and while the commercial sector produces
programs in order to make money, public broadcasters do not create programs for
reasons of profit. Hence, programs are produced and aired to serve a public interest
rather than a private profit motive (Tracey, cited in Errington & Miragliotta 2007, p.
162). They also said that it is important to bear in mind that these broadcasters were
not required to chase audiences but to provide services that the commercial stations
were unwilling to deliver.
Chan-Olmsted and Kim (2002, p. 2) claim that public television still enjoys a positive
brand image and that the popularity of comparable commercial networks did not
dilute the brand perception of public television, nor did it changes significantly the
perceived importance of public television and the audience’s viewing behaviour. This
69
means that despite the fact that RTB is trying hard to move towards the digital era in
order to show its audience that it can be as good as Astro, there is actually no need
to do so because the message that they share with the public is more valuable.
Viewers of RTB thus show their loyalty everyday when they switch it on to wait for
news and that is enough to show that RTB still have a fair amount of audience share.
On the other hand, RTB’s effort to digitalise its operations is not to be criticised. The
decision to become more interactive is only fitting to the modern ways of
broadcasting and this shows that RTB, despite it being conservative, is still open to
change and is ready to step up to the challenge of technological innovation. It is only
right to want to broadcast digitally because we are living in a digital era, and since the
Brunei audience always demand to be updated with technological innovations, RTB
as a paternalistic organisation, makes a wise decision to be just as updated as its
public just so it could meet with their demands.
So the answer to what the future holds for RTB could be met by saying that there is a
positive outlook. Now that RTB is equipped with modern technology, it would be
easier for it to capture its audience yet still hold true to its mission.
Perhaps all this technological advancement that RTB is adopting should be thanked
to the British who came into Brunei and introduced civilisation that helped modernise
it to the state it is today. The British helped Brunei realise that while maintaining its
identity as a Muslim country, it still can be as modern as countries in the West. The
British helped bring equipment and imported programs from the UK to show to the
citizens of Brunei. This is perhaps one of the reasons why Brunei has one of the
highest literacy rates in Asia. The exposure to Western civilisation helped Bruneians
realise that being modern does not mean that they have to leave their religious
70
beliefs behind but if they put those two together, something better is ought to be
created. Now, the youth in Brunei are wiser and more of them are sent to the UK on
scholarships to study whatever they wish. As a result, Brunei now has more media
and communication graduates who could help to enhance the Brunei media even
further. Students are also sent to do engineering, business, information technology
and a lot more which in return could be of benefit to the operations of RTB.
RTB should be applauded for wanting to be as interactive as Astro while also
maintaining the Malay Islamic Monarchy philosophy. In my opinion, it does not matter
if RTB is labelled as backwards and too paternalistic but it should be remembered
that they serve one purpose and it is to help create a realisation that Brunei is a
unique country with a rich history based on the teachings of Islam. Although some
may not agree that there is no freedom of speech in Brunei, and that the programs
on television and radio may be too formal, it should be realised that interactivity is
just one small step towards a better future for RTB.
Lastly, I would like to end this thesis with a quote by the first Director General of BBC,
John Reith, who wrote, “the preservation of a high moral tone is obviously of
paramount importance.” And “there is no harm in trivial things; in themselves they
may even be unquestionably beneficial, for they may assist the more serious work by
providing the measure of salt which seasons (Armstrong, 2005, p. 1).” This is exactly
where RTB fits in.
71
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