Brunei

Broadcasts in Brunei  by John Lent

Brunei, a British protectorate since 1888, occupies 2,226 square miles, divided into four districts, within the boundary of Sarawak, East Malaysia. Its 145,000 people are mainly Malay (65%) and Chinese (23%), who have, after Japan, the second highest income per capita in Asia.

Most of the money comes from Brunei's rich oil deposits. The nation does not have a daily newspaper, although there is a  government radio station. Brunei Broadcasting Service (BBS) operates a network with medium-wave transmitters at Tutong (10 and 20 kw.), Berakas (10 kw.), South W. Lichty and Kuala Belait (0.6 kw.).

On 2 January 1957,  the Straits Times announces that Brunei was to have its first through a contract with  Marconi's  Wireless Telegraph Company. The scheme provided for the buildling of  a modern  broadcasting house in Brunei  Town, a trasmitting station at Tutong and an additional small studio at Seria. A receicing station was also planned where relays of the BBC's Overseas service news bulletins from London  in Malay,  Chinese and English  would be broadcasted.  Special serials  were also to be  used for the reception of the BBC and Australian broadcasts and  those of "less distant stations such as  Radio Malaya, Radio Saba and Radio Sarawak." The receiving station was to occupy a land area of 15 acres. (The Straits Times, 2 January 1957, p,10) By  February of 1962, the government expands their broadcasting capabilities by  installing a 10 KW transmitter to beam shortwave signals much like the capacity of North Borneo and Kuching (The Singapore Free Press, 23 February 1962, Page 2)

BBS broadcasts mainly in Bahasa Malaysia (13 hours daily), English (½ hour), Chinese (5 hours), and Churkhali (1 hour). Of Radio hours of weekly programs, over 80% are of national origin, the Brunei's categories 180 being light entertainment and news and information (UNESCO 1975, main p. 261).

The number of radio receivers is 22,000. No receiver license fee is required, and low-cost receivers are made available by the government on easy terms for poor families. A major phenomenon is that Brunei, in March 1975, started color-television transmissions, using the most modern equipment in the area and doing it quite rapidly - the whole operation was designed and built in less than seven months. Ironically, the best equipment will be catering to the smallest television audience Asia; only 5,000 receivers are expected to be sold in the first two years.

In 1975, there were 5,000 registered owners of  black and white receivers who picked up less adequate reception from neighbouring Sabah,  The equipment for the transmitter is British. ALso , only British-made colour TV have been approved for import into Brunei.