TV on-air presentation update #4

What happened two weeks ago and last week in the world of Malaysian TV presentation?

On 19.1.2014 I saw TV3's Buletin 1:30 using Buletin Utama "seketika nanti" bumper. On 24.1.2014 I also saw Buletin Utama using Detik Niaga bumper; previously it was not shown at all and air on the Detik Niaga update at 10:00 am only. I also think that Detik Niaga had used the Bizworld branding for a while.

I saw RTM's sports website last weekend. It can be accessed via sukan.rtm.gov.my. The website offered a livestream of BWF Malaysia Cup match which supplement TV1's telecast of BWF Malaysia Cup. The link to RTM sports website doesn't appear at all at RTM's mystream website.

On 21.1.2014, TV9 on its YouTube channel uploaded a teaser for a sports programme called One Fighting Championship which will air soon. I think this will be the first time a free-to-air TV channel airing a mixed martial arts sport genre. One Fighting Championship has been aired on Tonton Sports section of Tonton video portal. Such programmes have been aired on pay TV such as KIX HD and Astro Supersport.

On the same day I also found out that Hypp TV has blocked TV1 for some part of the evening because Hypp TV does not have its broadcast right to air the Piala FA. This is not the first time I saw this and I have saw this blocking a few times but more specifically on football. I'm not sure whether Hypp TV blocks TV1's airings of Liga Malaysia and Liga Super football matches. Here's a snapshot of Hypp TV blocking TV1 on that day.

Parlimen Malaysia on Hypp TV ch 413 (see picture below taken on 21.1.2014) and RTM Parlimen live streaming is on break as of my check on 13.1.2014, in parallel with the Parliament session break which will go on until March.

On 25.1.2014 I spotted 8TV using their new classification warning with a new font and new background image which is related to 8TV's 10th anniversary celebration. Here's my capture.



Tonton made its Malaysian first e-sport (FSP Game) broadcast called CrossFire Stars Season II. The event will be recorded and uploaded later on Tonton Sports section, not streamed live. It is held on 25-26.1.2014 at Wakalab at Media Prima Digital, Balai Berita Jalan Riong, Kuala Lumpur. It is organised by Crossfire SEA.

On 27.1.2014, Tonton launched Tonton Music which is also on the same night where Anugerah Juara Lagu ke-28 was held.

Bananana local shows in January 2014

Media Prima's children's block Bananana has added some new local programmes in January 2014, with some returning ones and one-offs.

New ones are:

• Ryujin Juwara - localised version of Ryujin Mabuyer from Okinawa produced by Double Vision in association with Yomiuri TV and Mabui Stone Corporation, airing on TV3 every Friday at 7:30 pm since 17.1.2014)
• Vektor 58 - started earlier last December on TV9, airs every Saturday at 5:30 pm

Returning ones are:

• Boboiboy Season 3 with new episodes since 5.1.2014 on TV3 every Sunday at 7:00 pm
• Ummi Ceritalah Pada Kami which debuts on TV9 starting 18.1.2014 at 6:00 pm, also airing every Thursday at 8:30 am 

The one-off specials are:

• Milo-Hot FM Super 8 - children's football organised by Milo and Hot FM which was held last year and shown as a one-off hour-long highlights programme on TV9 on 12.1.2014 at 5:30-6:30 pm. Narrated by Hot FM DJ Deen (had been presenting Idola Kecil 6 on Fridays on the now-stopped Bananana Squad and Hot FM) and produced by Double Vision
• Tenggiling Perak - the first local animated short which is contested at Bananana The Next Big Thing to be aired on TV, airing first on TV9 on 26.1.2014 at 6:15-6:30 pm and on 4.2.2014 at 7:00-7:15 pm and later on TV3 on 29.1.2014 at 5:45-6:00 pm and on 2.2.2014 at 7:30-7:45 pm

Day trip to southernmost part Eurasian continent

On 14.1.2014, my father along with my father's brother went to Johor to visit the southernmost tip of the Eurasian continent located at Tanjung Piai in Johor. I woke up, prepared and go out early just before 4:30 am. First we send my mother and my mother's friend to LCCT because my mother wants to go to a holiday in Padang in Indonesia until 19.1.2014 where the flight starts at 7:50 am so they need to be there two hours early.

Then we went for a breakfast ate some nasi lemak at Dengkil R&R when it was just minutes before 6 am. After that me and my father fetched my father's brother near his house at Mentari Court near Bandar Sunway and then we're off to to our destination. We also passed USJ before going to fetch my father's brother where we can see the construction of MRT is underway.

We went to Tanjung Piai using the North-South Expressway. The weather was fine and the geography of the journey to Tanjung Piai has plain lands and some hills, not like the northern part which has mountain ranges, some limestone hills and some plain lands. My father and my father's brother take turn driving throughout the trip. We could also see the almost complete Bukit Gambir interchange which is located near Muar. I was sleepy at that time. My father and my father's brother take turn driving.

We exited the expressway at Sedenak interchange. After exiting the interchange, we went past pineapple estates and palm oil estates. Most of the land we went are flat and some are hilly. On the way to the destination we saw that most towns have Chinese primary schools and some have mukim (sub-district) offices. Even most houses we saw have tall TV antennas to receive TV signals from far away places such as Singapore and Indonesia like what I saw at Melaka.

We arrived at Tanjung Piai National Park just before 11 am where we were greeted by a lighthouse with a Easat satellite dish at the top and tall pinang trees that look so authentic. There's also a stall near the entrance of Tanjung Piai National Park where we bought some food from there. Then we took some pictures of ourselves at the front of a monument at the entrance of the park.

The whole part of Tanjung Piai National Park is surrounded by mangrove trees. The route to the southernmost part of Eurasian monument is connected by bridges. When we almost enter the monument, the route is surrounded by sea water waves, so we have to remove our shoes. We took pictures and reached the monument which is a globe. We can see nearby ports and ships in the sea and also feel the breezing wind.

After at the monument, I and my father's brother went to the jetty nearby where we can see nearby islands owned by Indonesia and also ships. We took some pictures there.

After at Tanjung Piai, we went to a nearby keropok stall and factory and ate some keropok sample and keropok lekor. The keropok lekor we ate is delicious and the keropok factory also made keropok in crackers size. The cracker size keropok taste good and I've never seen such cracker size keropok before.

We went to the next destination which is Johor Premium Outlet. We went past some towns before going to there. I was feeling sleepy again.

We went to Johor Premium Outlet via an interchange at LINKEDUA. I can see Gunung Pulai nearby. It is a two-storey open air duty-free shopping mall. My father said that Johor Premium Outlet is designed similar to a typical American neighbourhood shopping mall. We looked at some shops at Johor Premium Outlet. We ate lunch at an air-conditioned food court and bought some chocolate only.

We went back to Kuala Lumpur and then ate dinner at a mamak restaurat near my father's brother's house at Bandar Sunway. After that my father send my father's brother back home.

We enjoyed going to the southernmost part of Eurasian continent and also to the state of Johor after many years not going there.

Written by request of my father

Identifying songs used on Malaysian TV

Recently I downloaded Shazam app on my handphone. I remember that the Shazam app is used by one of my mother's brother to identify his favourite songs. I even get enthusiastic about using that app.

The first song that I identified using the Shazam app is the theme tune of a local programme that was aired on NTV7 in the late 2000s and airs on Emas on Hypp TV called Santai Selebriti. Shazam identified it as "Rivage by Jeff Burak". I felt happy at the time because Shazam can identify such tunes from the TV.

Another tune that I identified by myself after seeing it on the Real Time Top Tracks section of Shazam app is "Counting Stars by OneRepublic". The minus one track of Counting Stars was once used by TV9 for its New Year 2014 branding called Evolusi 2014. The track is used for its breakbumpers, "sekarang selepas ini" lineup and "Malam ini" lineup. The song is a bit similar to Ylvis' The Fox.

I will use the app more often to identify any songs that I don't know that appear on TV or radio.

TV on-air presentation update #3.5

What happened in late December 2013 in the world of TV on-air presentation in Malaysia? (Just a few, more to come)

Malaysia Hari Ini has started using its brand new ticker since late December 2013 replacing the existing one. The new ticker has blue and white colour while the old one is yellow in colour. This screenshot was taken on 23.12.2013 when I first spotted this.

On 21.12.2013, Buletin Pagi was aired from near-the-newsroom studio instead of Studio A at Sri Pentas.

TV on-air presentation udpate #3

What happened last week in the world of TV on-air presentation in Malaysia?

TV1's Semasa news updates has got a new look for the new year. I've spotted the new look on 10.1.2014. My brother Hafiz who had listened to the Semasa news updates' music theme said that the music theme is still the same but with one pitch forward than normal pitch. The Semasa news updates' music is taken from RTM radios' former news updates music theme. Here's a snapshot of how TV1 Semasa virtual studio set looks like.

My brother Hafiz also spotted in my recording of the 50 Tahun TV Malaysia documentary on TV1 via livesreaming that the 1 Malaysia logo on the left side of TV1 (and TV2)'s time banner which had a new look after a by-election in November 2013 has a 2D logo turn animation instead of the 3D logo turn animation in the previous time banner look.

I have confirmed that NTV7's Bella still airs as usual after Bella Weekend stopped airing since January 2014, but now I saw Bella also airing on Fridays beside on Monday to Thursday.

Here's another shot of TV3's Nightline new virtual studio set taken on 11.1.2014. I've mentioned about Nightine's new virtual studio set in my previous post.

Speaking about Maulidur Rasul, TV Alhijrah has a new Maulidur Rasul branding for 1435H. It is a stylised version of writing Muhammad in Arabic script. Meanwhile TV1's branding look a bit dull; in fact the animation was made in 16:9 aspect ratio and then rescaled back to 14:9 letterbox (TV1 did the same for its Aidiladha branding in late 2013 for the first time). And TV9 reuses its previous Maulidur Rasul branding; in fact it also air the old generic promo which was aired a few years ago in the early 2010s.

Speaking about TV9's slight changes to its on-air presentation,  I've spotted Raudah Lin Nisa' ident on 11.1.2014.

Discovery Channel now has its own programme name banner which has been used since the start of the new year It is located just near the edge part of the top black bar of 16:9 letterbox. It also has a next banner which appears in the last part of any programme.

TV3's Soal Jawab has a new look for the new year. Johan Jaafar via Twitter sent a picture of Soal Jawab's new studio set along with its presenters.

Program "Soal Jawab" berwajah baharu, Norzie dan Saiful mewawancara YB @Khairykj, mlm ini 11.00 di TV3 pic.twitter.com/Tts8FURvp4
— Johan Jaaffar (@Johan_Jaaffar) January 8, 2014

My first handphone is an iPhone 5C

On 8.1.2014, my father bought an iPhone 5C. This is my first handphone and I was glad because I have this kind of handphone for the first time. My brother Haziq is the first to have his handphone which was a Blackberry that my father previously used. I'm the second to have a handphone. The next day my father made a white cover on my handphone. I also charged my handphone for the first time later at night on 10.1.2014. Now I can use the handphone that my father gave to me to watch videos on YouTube, take pictures, keep files on Dropbox and download new apps.

Revised on 17.1.2014

TV on-air presentation: Media Prima maintenance works on 8.1.2014

In the early hours of this morning, Media Prima TV stations were having their maintenance works at Sri Pentas. The last time I know that maintenance works happened was in early October 2013, involving TV3.

I woke up suddenly just after 3 am, switched on the TV and found out that TV3 was airing TV3's own Philips PM5544 test pattern instead of normal programming. I was feeling excited at that time because I found out that the test pattern was never aired on TV3 after nine years of absence. TV3 used colourbars since 2005 which replaced the test pattern which was used since its launch in 1984. TV3 has never used colourbars in recent years. 8TV was the first to use colourbars since its test transmission in December 2003 before its launch the next month. TV9 also use colourbars while NTV7 has its own Philips PM5522 test pattern used since its launch.

TV3 did say on its Facebook page that they will be doing maintenance works late night before the actual maintenance works was made.

During this time I checked what happened using Tonton live TV streaming and tweeted about it on Twitter.

The maintenance works started around 2 am when TV3 closed down after airing its usual night programming. TV3's maintenance works consist of airing a test pattern which started after its closedown at 2 am, airing yesterday's episode of Bismillah at 4:50 am, some Motivasi Pagi and accidentally aired a feed from Dubai TV before switching back to test pattern at around 5:30 am. TV3 returns to 24-hour broadcasting at 5:59 am with Negaraku, some promos and Azan Subuh before going to the first programme of the day which is Bismillah.

TV9 on the other hand also do maintenance works, which consists of airing some music videos from TV3 and 8TV such as Wanita Hari Ini theme song MV, The Ultimate Song theme song MV from 8TV, some Bananana and TV3 Wanita Inspirasiku breakbumpers before settling down with a still image of TV3's promo endboard and continue with airing an episode of Catdog called Curiosity Killed the Cat, an episode of Penguins of Madagascar which was aired yesterday and then return to colourbars at around 5:30 am before starting its normal programming again at 6:30 am.

NTV7 and 8TV each other started their maintenance works at around 4:30 am by airing yesterday's episodes of some programmes airing at primetime. NTV7 also accidentally aired a technical fault caption at the end. They return back to test pattern at around 5:30 am.

In short, the maintenance works that I saw this early morning reminds me of what I saw in July 2007 and July 2008 where Media Prima TV stations air some promos and test pattern during the maintenance works event. I think this thing happen once in a blue moon or when Media Prima required to do it such as when Media Prima TV stations had technical problems in early October 2013 or when they require a system upgrade such as changing station logo designs.

TV on-air presentation update #2

Bananana Squad on TV3, NTV7 and TV9 has stopped airing (or hiatus) as of Janaury 2014. It had been aired for the whole year of 2013. There are no replacements as of the time of writing.

NTV7's Bella Weekend has stopped airing since January 2014. Bella airs as usual on Monday to Thursday.

Media Prima has started its 2014 World Cup campaign called Riuh di Brazil. It has started since 3.1.2014 with a launching ceremony at Sri Pentas which was shown live during Buletin Utama's sports segment and the appearance of the World Cup trophy which is on exhibition in Malaysia two days later at PWTC. Media Prima TV stations have started airing Destination Brasil one-minute capsules which airs during primetime since 5.1.2014.

Moving on to TV3 news presentation. I've just found out that Buletin Utama's Seantero segment now has different music. In late December 2013, I also found out that the music for the bumper before the world segment after the break has been changed.

On 4.1.2014 I found out that Nighline has a totally different virtual studio design. It's diferent than the other TV3 news programmes.

I also found out that Buletin 1:30's ender now is just a wide shot of Buletin 1:30's virtual studio set (although sometimes also do video segment enders like Buletin Utama) and also credits just like Buletin Utama.


TV9 had made slight changes to its on-air presentation at the start of the year. The idents for Raudhah programme block and Saranghae movie block have been changed to a new one. Raudhah now has a sub-brand for women called Raudhah Lin Nisa' which was also first used for one of Raudhah Di Hatiku's booths. The brand will air programmes such as Shoutul Quran, SIS, Hijab Stailista and Safiyya. During the transistion to the new year TV9 used the Evolusi 2014 branding for promos, breakbumpers and Malam ini menus.

Berita TV9 had a new look on 1.1.2014, replacing the existing one used since 2011. Berita TV9's studio set is slightly bigger than usual. A digital clock is added for its newscasts. No change for its theme music.

On 5.1.2014 at 10:00 pm I spotted TV3 airing special programme name corner animation which uses the characters from the TV3 primetime schedule revision promos. It supplements the usual programme name corner animation used since late June 2013.


NTV7 has stopped using "15 years of feel good" branding since 4.1.2014 and reverted back to its normal branding that they used since March 2012. I've also managed to record some "15 years of feel good" idents and breakbumpers and uploaded them to YouTube.

NTV7 has started airing Chinese New Year telemovie promotion breakbumpers since late December 2013 replacing the usual breakbumpers. They are used to promote NTV7's Chinese New Year special telemovie called Spring Chorus. So far I've recorded two versions of it and uploaded to YouTube.

Media news daily: TV9's changes in 2014

TV9 has just made some changes for 2014. New programmes and schedule revisions.

New programmes that will air on TV9 in 2014 are Shoutul Quran, Ke Korea Ke Kita and Ya Beda Bedu. Returning programmes are SIS and Hijab Stailista. Just months before 2014 new programmes start to air such as Korean variety Two Days and One Night, Vektor 58 and Apa Saja FBI which is returning for a new season. The new Korean programmes that air on TV9 gives me an indication that TV9 now concentrates more on Korean programming like how TV2, NTV7 and 8TV did. TV3 also do Korean programming again after a long time with airs a Filipino adaptation of the Korean drama Full House every Wednesday at 10:30 am (Correction made on 28.1.2014. TV3 has definitely not airing a single Korean programming unlike other channels; checked from Pereka Cerita blog).

While TV3 has its own Drama Festival related programme which is Festival on Sunday evenings, TV9 has its own which is called Shorties which airs short movies made by Drama Festival contestants. It will air every Saturday at 7:00 pm.

In terms of schedule revisions, this has happpened a few months before 2014. The schedule revision affected Bananana on TV9 and TV9's closing time. On 25.11.2013, the weekday 1:30 to 2:30 pm slot has been changed to local drama re-runs, replacing Bananana Whizz Bang block which also aired on weekday mornings on NTV7. The block aired cartoons from Warner Bros. Animation which has been previously aired on TV3 such as Xiaolin Showdown, Baby Looney Tunes and Static Shock.

For 2014, SIS and Hijab Stailista which returns for the new year with Season 2 now airs its weekly new episodes on Fridays at the 7:00 pm hour, which replaces the usual Bananana block at 7:00 pm and Hot TV at 7:30 pm which now moves to Sundays at 7:00 pm. The Saturday 11:00 am hour is now for the programmes' repeats instead of weekly new episodes in the first half of last year. If SIS and Hijab Stailista go for a hiatus in the second half of the year like how they did last year, then the Friday 7:00 pm hour and Saturday 11:00 am hour slots may be reserved for other Raudhah programmes.

9X programme block has also added another timeslot on weekends which is at the 7:00 pm hour. It supplements the Monday-Wednesday 10:30-11:30 pm timeslot. The Sunday 7:00 pm timeslot and later the Saturday 7:00 pm timeslot was previously used by Bananana until it was replaced by 9X in the latter part of 2013.

Local childrens programming under the Bananana branding is also increasing with new programmes such as Vektor 58 and Ninja Cat Ichi Ni San on TV9, Ema Emyliana and a not-yet-airing and unnamed action series inspired from some Japanese tokusatsu series on TV3, unlike in the past until seven years ago when there were almost no local children's programmes at all and lots of foreign cartoons. TV9 also no longer air any anime like Kochikame and Perman other than TV3 and NTV7.

TV9's closing time is now slightly earlier after Rosalinda ended its TV9 run at weekdays 11:30 pm to 12:30 am slot on late December 2013. Rosalinda now airs daily as a rerun at 10:00 am since it began airing on weekends on 4.1.2014 replacing drama reruns (I previously said that it airs on weekdays at 10:00 am). The last programme of the day on Monday to Friday and Sunday is Tanyalah Ustaz. This means TV9 will now close at varied days on Mondays to Thursdays and Saturdays at 12:30 am and Fridays and Sundays at 1:30 am. The last time TV9 changed its closing time to just 1:30 am instead of 1:00 am was in February 2012 where TV9 changed some of its programmes' airtimes.

Revised on 3.1.201, 5.1.2014 and 28.1.2014

Media news daily: TV3 revises its schedule again for 2014

TV3 for the new year of 2014 has made another revision of its schedule. What TV3 refers about the schedule revision is the primetime slot.

According to the recent press release made by TV3, Cik Sherina Mohamed Nordin who manages TV3 and TV9 said that TV3's revised schedule made in June last year received positive response from its viewers. She says that TV3 has a viewing share of 44%. TV3 once again makes a schedule revision for its programmes at primetime for 2014 with only some changes to the programmes' airtime and airing day while the others still remain at the same airtime and airing day (effective 1.1.2014), as said in my previous related post.

Mondays and Tuesdays at the 9:00 pm hour is now reserved for documentaries where 999 and Bersamamu moves to Tuesday instead of the usual Thursday. Majalah 3 still remains on Monday.

Wednesdays and Thursdays at the 9:00 pm hour is now reserved for local drama where Lestary moves to Thursday instead of the usual Tuesday. Aksi still remains on Wednesday. In a related note, the drama which is currently running on the Lestary drama block which is Ku Cinta Kau Seorang has its premiere on Tonton 48 hours before its airing on TV3 through Tonton Premier.

The Pearl Screen movie block which airs Chinese movies moves back to Monday instead of Thursday.

Wrestling sport programme Worldwide Entertainment Wrestling moves back to Thursday at 11:00 pm instead of Monday. I didn't notice this in my previous related post.

The weekend which is Saturday and Sunday is still reserved for entertainment programmes such as Mat Three Four (a dramedy), Res Q (water themed game show) and Kintang Kintung (comedy talk show talking on specific topics which varies in each episode).

A brand new programme block which is set to air on Sunday at 10:00 pm is called Festival. It is not related to the block of the same name which airs local telemovies on NTV7 in the latter part of 2000s. The slot will air telemovies and dramas directed by the speakers of the upcoming Drama Festival 2014.

Other programmes in the primetime are still at the same airtime and airing day.

Speaking about TV3's schedule revision again, this time in other parts of the day other than primetime, Tonton TV schedule has revealed the revised schedule. The revised schedule affects programmes on weekdays between 9:30 am and 12:00 pm, Mondays to Thursdays between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm and Sunday mornings between 9:30 and 11:00 am.

On weekday mornings (effective 1.1.2014), Bananana programmes on weekdays at 9:00 am has been stopped, being replaced by a new local drama called Julia which airs Monday to Thursday at 9:30 am and a new Islamic motivation programme called Positif Pagi (tentative title is Sinergi Hati 2014 according to Tonton TV schedule) which airs Fridays at 9:30 am. Programmes on Mondays to Thursdays that start airing at 10:00 am are now airing 30 minutes later which is at 10:30 am. Other programmes are not affected. This means that TV3 might effectively remove all Disney related programmes which usually air at 9:30 am and has been a norm in the 1990s and 2000s, except for telemovies that air on Saturdays during Bananana Movie Magic and on school holidays.

On Monday to Thursday late afternoons between 5:00 and 7:00 pm (effective 6.1.2014), the local drama reruns which air on Monday to Thursday at 5:00 pm will decrease its length to just 30 minutes instead of a full hour. Bananana on Mondays to Thursdays will now air between 5:30 and 6:30 pm for Monday to Wednesday and 5:30 pm only for Thursday, with local programmes on the former and foreign programmes on the latter. Local programmes will now air at 5:30 pm instead of 6:00 pm with Boboiboy on Mondays, Dunia Eicak on Tuesdays, Saladin on Wednesdays and Bola Kampung on Thursdays. Foreign programmes now air at 6:00 pm instead of 6:30 pm with Kiteretsu on Mondays, Me and My Robot on Tuesdays and Larva on Wednesdays. This means that Bananana on TV3's Monday to Thursday airtime is decreased with a few programmes on Monday to Wednesday late afternoons, only one programme on Thursday late afternoons. The Monday-Thursday 6:30 pm timeslot is now reserved for local comedy series reruns with Simpang 3 on Monday and Tuesday and Pemanduku Jutawan on Wednesday and Thursday.. Other programmes are not affected.

On Sunday mornings (effective 5.1.2014), Spongebob Squarepants and The Troop move their airtime 30 minutes later to 10:00 am and 10:30 am to give way for Fanboy and Chum Chum at 9:30 am. Other programmes are not affected.

Revised on 5.1.2014

My first post for 2014

Happy New Year 2014, my dear readers of my blog. Welcome to the new year. This is my first blog post for 2014. This is my first year after leaving school and completed my SPM examination. I'll be making new posts for the coming days. In two months time, my blog will turn two. As of now I have no further plans to make changes on my blog other than a few changes that I made after I had my SPM examination.