Capital 958
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| Broadcast area | Singapore Johor Bahru/Johor Bahru District (Malaysia) Batam/Batam Islands, Riau Islands (Indonesia) |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 95.8 MHz |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Mandarin |
| Format | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Mediacorp |
| YES 933 LOVE 972 | |
| History | |
First air date |
|
Former call signs |
|
Former frequencies |
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| Links | |
| Webcast | |
| Website | CAPITAL 958 |
CAPITAL 958 (城市頻道) (also known as Radio Singapore, Chinese Service, Red Network, Green Network and Radio 3) (officially call sign as Radio Singapore and Chinese Service) is a Mandarin news and information station operating in Singapore, managed by Mediacorp. It was the only Mandarin radio station in Singapore before the official introduction of its sister channel such as YES 933 and Love 972 on 1 January 1990 and 23 September 1994 respectively. The station mainly provides local and international news, current affairs, in depth analysis interviews into different key topics and playing of Mandarin hits. It also broadcasts news daily in other languages including Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hainanese, Hakka and Fuzhounese on selected timings from Monday to Sunday. During weekends, listeners could also look forward to songs from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
History[edit]
Although programming in Chinese dialects was carried by the extant Singaporean radio station in its several incarnations from 1937 to 1945, it wasn't until 23 December 1945 where a de facto separate service in Chinese and Indian dialects, the Red Network, was created.[1] Strictly speaking, an all-Chinese service was announced in December 1950, with the launch date set for 1 January 1951. The new network was known as the Green Network.[2] One of the aims of the new service was to counter Communist propaganda in the region (alongside the Malay service). The station broadcast on 72 metres (7200 kilocycles, later redefined to 680 kHz on AM medium wave) from 5pm to 11pm daily,[3] and was moved to 675 kHz in 1978 to conform with the Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975. All AM broadcasting in the country ceased in 1994.
The station began FM transmissions on 95.8 MHz in 1967, and was renamed from Radio 3 to City Sounds (tentative name The City Channel[4]) on 16 December 1991, capturing the essence of "city life". The previous format remained unchanged.[5]
It is one of the nation's oldest stations, and its origins can be traced back to the beginning of regulated radio broadcasting in Singapore/Straits Settlements along with Gold 905, Warna 942 and Oli 968 on 1 March 1937.
In preparation for 24-hour broadcasts in December 1994, City Sounds recruited six new deejays: three of them from mainland China. The new deejays were under 30. The station also trained the China-born deejays to speak clearly to make them understandable to local listeners.[6]
In 1997, 95.8 aired news in Chinese dialects – Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka, Hainanese and Fuzhounese, airing nightly at 8 pm with each dialect news lasting three to five minutes. RCS also had problems replacing its current batch of dialect newsreaders,[7] with most of its newsreaders in their late 50s and 60s.[8] Although the news scripts were the same as Mandarin, the script readers will need to improvise due to the differences in the structures of each dialect.[7] The dialect news broadcasts also suffer from lack of funds and professional newsreaders, with listeners preferring dialect songs than dialect news.[7]
The station ended its broadcast at Caldecott Hill at 10:00 on 8 February 2017 and thereafter moved to Mediacorp Campus at 1 Stars Avenue. The first programme to be broadcast at the new campus began on the same day.
Shows Produced[edit]
958 TV show (958 开麦啦!)
Frequencies[edit]
| Frequencies | TRP (kW) | Broadcast area | Transmitter site |
|---|---|---|---|
| 95.8 FM | 10 | Singapore | Bukit Batok Transmission Centre |
| Johor Bahru/Johor Bahru District, Johor, Malaysia | |||
| Batam/Batam Islands, Riau Islands, Indonesia |
National anthem[edit]
The National anthem plays at 06:00 SGT daily at the start of the broadcasting day. The National anthem is played in full with the lyrics being sung.
| Nation | National Anthem | Start Broadcast | Final Broadcast |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Anthem | |||
| Straits Settlements (Singapore) | God Save the King | 1 March 1937 | 14 February 1942 |
| Syonan | Kimigayo | 15 February 1942 | 15 August 1945 |
| Straits Settlements (Singapore) | God Save the King | 12 September 1945 | 31 March 1946 |
| Singapore | 1 April 1946 | 5 February 1952 | |
| God Save the Queen | 6 February 1952 | 2 December 1959 | |
| Majulah Singapura | 3 December 1959 | 15 September 1963 | |
| Singapore | Negaraku | 16 September 1963 | 8 August 1965 |
| Singapore | Majulah Singapura | 9 August 1965 | now |
| State Anthem | |||
| Singapore | Majulah Singapura | 16 September 1963 | 8 August 1965 |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "NEW RADIO SCHEDULES Begin TODAY". Sunday Tribune. 23 December 1945. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
- ^ "CHINESE GET OWN RADIO". The Straits Times. 12 December 1950. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
- ^ "Green Network To Fight Reds". The Straits Times. 23 December 1950. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
- ^ "New names for four SBC radio stations". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 4 November 1991. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
- ^ "Mandarin radio station renamed". Today (retrieved from NLB). 16 December 1991. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
- ^ "Six new deejays for SBC's City Sounds". The Straits Times. 7 July 1994. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
- ^ a b c "S'poreans tune in to dialect songs, tune out dialect news". The Straits Times. 21 August 1997. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
- ^ "I feel closer to the Hakka news". The Straits Times. 21 August 1997. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
External links[edit]
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