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News Tonight

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News Tonight
Also known asNews Tonight
GenreNews and Current affairs
Country of originSingapore
Original languageEnglish
Production
Production locationMediacorp Campus 1 Stars Avenue Singapore 138507
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time30 minutes
Production companyMediacorp News
Original release
NetworkChannel 5
Release15 February 1963 (1963-02-15) –
present
Related

News Tonight, formerly News 5 Tonight, News 5 and before 1994 as just News, is a Singaporean English language news programme broadcast by Mediacorp Channel 5 since its inception. Currently it is broadcast at 9pm every evening and has been the only news bulletin on Channel 5 since the start of Channel NewsAsia.

History

[edit]

Channel 5 has been airing news bulletins since the period of pilot broadcasts conducted in February 1963. These consisted of a plain news bulletin read by a presenter and a series of Berita Singapura newsreels. The first newsreader on launch night was Steven Lee, while the first newsreel (Berita Singapura) was read by Harry Crabb, who later appeared in the regular bulletins. The news division was assisted by Australian entrepeneur David Prior, who trained locals in the field of television journalism. At the time, it was projected that Prior would stay with TV Singapura for two years.[1] The first bulletin in the pilot service was broadcast at 6:30pm on 15 February 1963 and was a five-minute English bulletin followed by a newsreel lasting a further five minutes, the latter having Chinese subtitles.[2] On 11 March 1963,[3] ahead of the formal launch on 2 April, the channel gained a four-hour schedule and the news moved to 9:15pm, lasting fifteen minutes, adding an equal-running Chinese bulletin at 8:15pm. The Berita Singapura newsreels were transmitted separately from the newsreel featured in the main bulletin.[4]

From 30 March 1973, the channel only carried news bulletins in English and Malay, with the English bulletin airing during primetime hours.[5] Selected newsreels were converted to colour on 11 November 1974, in the second phase of RTS's colour implementation plan for television. For black and white footage, said content aired appropriately.[6]

After RTS became SBC, all four language bulletins initially received a homogenous news intro displaying the name of the four language bulletins.[7]

SBC began adapting a new format for its television news broadcasts in August 1980.[8] The new format would feature two newscasters and more on-location reporting.[8]

On 1 February 1983, the day of the third anniversary of SBC, its television news broadcasts received a new studio set, described as "duck-egg blue" and "three-dimensional". A special semi-circular table was created for the set. The previous set was "pink" in colour. The new set was inspired from news and current affairs programmes in the United States.[9] Other changes include each newscaster reading different stories[9] and more graphics and illustrations.[9] On 1 February 1984, following the launch of Channel 12, which enabled the releasing of more available time slots for the extant channels, the News bulletin expanded to the current length of thirty minutes. Moreover, SBC's news bulletins started carrying commercial breaks for the first time[10] - up until then, the only advertisements allowed were in the clock preceding the bulletin, from 1 June 1980.[11]

In August 1988, SBC news broadcasts adopted a new "upbeat and viewer-friendly" look, the backdrop being that of the skyline of Singapore. It generated positive response from viewers.[12] In December 1988, SBC announced that it would cease carrying Late News on SBC 5 and 12, due to limited news developments since the main 9pm bulletin.[13]

On 31 August 1992, SBC 5 introduced a two-minute 7 p.m. news bulletin, From The Newsroom, airing on weekdays. This did not affect the main 9 p.m. bulletin.[14] Facing competition from Singapore Cable Vision's in-house NewsVision channel providing news from five foreign sources, SBC announced that the channel would add a second news bulletin in English from January 1994. As of October 1993, the 9pm bulletin attracted 140,000 adult viewers.[15]

On 1 January 1994, Channel 5 revamped and became an all-English channel. There were now two main bulletins targeting different demographics: News 5 at Seven, aimed at blue-collar workers and featuring human interest stories; and News 5 Tonight, which resembled the former 9 p.m. news bulletin., airing at the later time of 10:30p.m.[16] Channel 5's new newsroom was built at a cost of S$8 million.[17] The 10:30 bulletin was also carried by the ephemerous international service Singapore International Television.[18]

TCS determined in October 1998 that, with the launch of Channel NewsAsia in the following year,[19] it was decided that all of Channel 5's current affairs programmes were to move to CNA, leaving only the main news (News 5 Tonight) with only one edition at 9:30pm.[20] Since 1 March 1999, it has been the only daily news bulletin airing on the channel.

On 30 April 2001, News 5 Tonight was retooled with a new format, geared towards "young people and people on the streets" with stories relatable to the local audience and irrelevant news removed. This also included a live studio interview session each night. Toh Seh Ling, who was a presenter for "teen" news programme Newswatch in 1990, became its new host.[21]

With the announcement of Channel 5's Local Upsize on 1 November 2014, Channel 5 would move News 5 Tonight to 9pm effective 31 December 2014.[22] In October 2020, the newscast was simply renamed News Tonight.

Title history

[edit]
  • Berita Singapura (newsreels, 15 February 1963 - 1975)
  • News in English/News (15 February 1963 - 31 December 1993)
  • News 5 at Seven (1 January 1994 - 28 February 1999)
  • News 5 Tonight (1 January 1994 - 30 December 2014)
  • News 5 Today (3 July 1995 - 26 February 1999)
  • News 5 (31 December 2014 - 18 October 2020)
  • News Tonight (19 October 2020 - present)

Weather

[edit]

From 1 May 1980, "weather girls" were added to the English bulletins, and were shown after the main news. In addition to data for Singapore, which had been carried since the start, an international section with data for foreign cities (Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Manila, Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul) was added, as well as wind conditions in the South China Sea. This was already done on SBC's radio stations.[23][24] These bulletins were pre-recorded at 8pm.[23]

A new batch of part-time presenters was announced in 1981, being paid S$25 per report.[25] The practice of having a separate weather report ended in March 1982 because the "weather report within the news bulletin was adequate".[26] On 26 March 1984, the weather at the end of the news was limited exclusively to data for Singapore, with foreign data still being available on SBCText and radio stations.[27]

Currently, the bulletin has weather updates before commercial breaks.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Backroom boys of television". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 14 February 1963. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  2. ^ "PROGRAMME FOR TV PILOT PROJECT". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 1 March 1963. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Today's Radio, TV programmes". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 11 March 1963. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Television Singapura". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 20 March 1963. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  5. ^ "NEW TIMES FOR TV SCREENING FROM FRIDAY". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 27 March 1973. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  6. ^ "TV newsreels in colour from Nov 11". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 27 October 1974. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  7. ^ "New SBC plays it low key". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 3 February 1980. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Here's to good news". The Straits Times. 24 July 1980. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  9. ^ a b c "New look for TV news". The Straits Times. 2 February 1983. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  10. ^ "TV news to include commercial breaks". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 13 January 1984. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  11. ^ "SBC time clock may earn $1m". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 21 February 1980. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  12. ^ "SBC news takes on a more glamorous look". The Straits Times. 19 November 1988. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  13. ^ "SBC to stop Late News service from Jan 2". The Straits Times. 9 December 1988. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  14. ^ "7 pm news bulletin on SBC 5 from Aug 31". The Straits Times. 25 August 1992. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  15. ^ "SBC races against time". The Straits Times. 9 October 1993. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Pass the chips, it's TV time tonight". The Straits Times. 19 December 1993. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Lots of strange things on SBC". The Straits Times. 17 March 1994. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Jan 1 launch for SIF's satellite TV broadcasts". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 23 December 1993. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  19. ^ "No one waits till 10.30 for news". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 29 October 1998. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  20. ^ "Channel 5 will have 9.30 main news". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 29 October 1998. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
  21. ^ "New host, new look for News 5". Today. 30 April 2001. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  22. ^ "Local Upsize on MediaCorp's new Channel 5". Television Asia Plus. 2014-11-12. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
  23. ^ a b "Brunei will be new target of STPB'S tourism drive". New Nation. 21 April 1980. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  24. ^ "Weather girls on TV". The Straits Times. 29 April 1980. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  25. ^ "Fresh faces for SBC". The Straits Times. 20 May 1981. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  26. ^ "BEHIND THE CAMERA with Kannan Chandran". The Straits Times. 6 March 1982. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  27. ^ "Local weather only on news". The Straits Times. 25 March 1982. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
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