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FROM ANALOGUE TO DIGITAL
It would be no surprise to anyone that just about every
aspect of the TV and radio production and broadcast
process has changed over time. The people who worked
at RTM in the 50s to the 70s are gone. They used the
earliest systems of radio and TV production and those
systems have also been replaced over the years.
The management that we spoke to in the interview
experienced the transition. Wan Bukhari, who started
working in the early 80s said that back then, the digital
age had not arrived. Material was still shot using 16 mm
films. The huge old Thomson cameras that made a lot
of noise when filming were being replaced with U-Matic
video recording cassettes. These were later replaced by
Beta tapes. Of course, by now the recording of news has
evolved to a digital server system.
In the 80s news writers were still actually typing out
the news. Teleprinters which typed out text sent using
telegram technology were still in use. The production
of graphics used for news shows was still very manual.
The staff had to go into the studio and manually cut and
put together the graphics which accompanied the news.
Today, the process has become completely digital. A
WASP digital editing solution is in place and everything
can be sent direct from the computer to studio. Studios
which were analogue became digital about five years ago.
News journalism has also
rapidly changed. The process of
dispatching material from regional
centres in the 80s was dependent
on buses and taxis. At that time
it was mostly a 24 hours news
cycle. Events covered by the TV
crew outside Kuala Lumpur were
broadcast the next day because
they had to be sent though buses
and taxis to the production studio.
When RTM staff went overseas,
the challenges were immense. The
team would have to book uplink
slots at local TV stations there to
send material to the headquarters.
Large trucks filled with equipment were needed in
the 80s when events were being covered. Today, two
state of the art technologies are used. Vans are equipped
with DSNGS systems (Digital Satellite News Gathering
System). Similar video news gathering systems have
also been placed in all states. These systems can send
material direct to Angkasapuri through dedicated IP lines
that are sourced from Telekom
Malaysia.
In addition to that system,
RTM also has MOJO (Mobile
Journalist) systems at its
disposal for fast breaking news
types of events. There are four
such mobile systems. News
journalists can carry these
backpack systems and can
shoot footage and send them
across easily. Mojo systems
have eight slots for SIM cards.
The system will detect which
signal strengths are strong
and send the videos over using
combinations of these lines.
No feature on RTM would be complete without
mention of the Tun Abdul Razak Institute of Broadcasting
(IPPTAR). The training centre was founded in 1971 and
since then it has grown to become an internationally
renowned training centre for the broadcasting industry.
It has trained and developed the skills of RTM staff all
these years.
Another event that took RTM to a new level
of technical excellence was the hosting of the
Commonwealth Games in 1998. It gave RTM the
opportunity to handle an international class sporting
event with multiple live telecasts and intensive coverage.
In short, everything has gone digital save for the
transmission portion. RTM is ready as Malaysia is due to
switch to digital TV in the near future with the service
provided by a separate company that has been awarded
the project. RTM would only be supplying content
through its various channels.
A news show in progress
Mobile recording studio in the 1970s
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