8TV

8TV
八度空间

Type	Private broadcast Terrestrial television
Country	Malaysia
Availability	National
Slogan	We're different (Chinese: 我们是不同的)
Owner	Media Prima Berhad
Launch date	8 January 2004
Former names	MetroVision Channel 8
Official website	www.8tv.com.my

Not to be confused with MediaCorp Channel 8 (Singapore).

8TV (Chinese: 八度空间; Chinese: Bā dù kōng jiān; literal: 8th dimension) is a private Malaysian Chinese television station previously known as Metrovision. Metrovision had ceased transmission in 1999, but resumed broadcasting on January 1, 2004 as 8TV after being bought by Media Prima Berhad.

8TV is the sister channel of TV3, ntv7 and TV9. It currently shares facilities with TV3 at its headquarters, Sri Pentas, Bandar Utama.

8TV currently broadcasts under UHF (Ultra High) Frequency. In the Klang Valley, the UHF channel is 25. 8TV is also available over Astro on Channel 708. Broadcast Hours is on Monday to Sunday from 7:00am till 2:00am the next day.

MetroVision era

8TV was formerly MetroVision, the second private TV station after TV3. It was managed by City Television Sdn. Bhd., and their broadcast area was limited to Klang Valley. It began transmission on July 2, 1995, but it has faced many challenges that rocked its business foundation, most notably the rise of Astro in 1996 and the launch of ntv7 in 1998. MetroVision finally ceased transmission in November 1, 1999. Media Prima Berhad bought City Television Sdn. Bhd., restructured it and relaunched as 8TV.

Features

8TV targets the younger block of viewers with a "one station, two channels" concept whereby the first session of the broadcasts are the Chinese channel, while the second session of the broadcasts is mostly English-language programmes. A third part of the broadcast features interactive SMS games, with some music videos in English, Malay and Chinese.

It has a popular slogan, "We're different," and has partially attempted to show this by offering a large variety of popular series and movies that focuses on youth, urban and Chinese as the targeted audiences.

Parent company

8TV, together with three other channels, TV3, ntv7 and TV9, local English daily the New Straits Times and Malay daily Berita Harian form the largest media group in Malaysia, collectively known as Media Prima. It is currently headed by Ahmad Izham Omar. Its Director of Network Operations is Paul Moss, a recording executive who is also a judge on One in a Million and the now-cancelled Malaysian Idol.

Events

• 8TV Mall Tour (2006) - in selected major shopping malls in Malaysia.
• 8TV Youth Tour (2007) - in selected higher learning institutions in Malaysia.

Mascot

In early 2003, 8TV introduced its mascot, a toddler named "Pow Pow" who graces some of 8TV's promo ads as well as the main page of its official website. He was originally called simply the "8TV baby" until a name search contest was held to look for a suitable proper name, and eventually the name "Pow Pow" was selected. Pow Pow is always seen wearing a crimson collared shirt with the 8TV logo on its front, decorated by an orange cape with the 8TV logo again on it, as well as a diaper. Sometimes he is seen sporting an electric guitar. He bears an uncanny resemblance of the character Jack-Jack from Disney/Pixar's the Incredibles.

Pow Pow was potentially not the first mascot used by 8TV. During 8TV's early months, it featured a nerd named "Gary the IT Guy" and his fellow fictional 8TV workforce for its promotional activities, who functioned similarly in the form of a mascot for the then-new station.

Programmes

The following table shows the programmes broadcasted on 8TV during primetime hours. Dramas are in blue; variety programmes are in flax; movies and/or specials are in black; reality shows are in orange; serial soap dramas are in corn; comedies are in green.

8TV's Primetime programmes as of July, 2009.

Notable programmes by 8TV include:

• Ho Chak! (好吃) (Hokkien for 'very delicious', a local programme that promotes mostly various local foods that can be found in Malaysia)
• 8TV Mandarin News (八度空间华语新闻) (8TV is currently the only private free-to-air channel that broadcasts news solely in Mandarin, including during primetime hours)
• 8 E-News (八八六十事) (a programme on latest updates and gossips in the entertainment industry, particularly the Chinese entertainment scene)
• Go Travel (a programme on travel destinations around the world in Mandarin)
• Project Superstar (绝对Superstar) (a Chinese reality singing talent search competition, which is franchised from the original version in Singapore)
• I Wanna Be A Model (我要做 Model) (a Chinese reality model search competition, supposedly modelled after Tyra Banks' America's Next Top Model)
• Summer Live Concert (夏日8°演唱会) (an annual live concert involving artistes from the Chinese entertainment industry, notably from Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, since 2003)

See also

• List of Malaysian television stations

External links

• Official Site

v • d • e Chinese language television in Southeast Asia The following channels offer at least some programming in Chinese  Indonesia Metro TV · Da Ai TV Indonesia  Malaysia Free-to-air (All national) TV2 · TV3 · ntv7 · 8TV Subscription television Astro AEC · Hua Hee Dai · Shuang Xing · Wah Lai Toi · Xiao Tai Yang · Astro On Demand · Jia Yu Channel  Singapore Channel 8 · Channel U · Channel NewsAsia · TVMobile