Accommodating national goals and conflicting societal needs through privatization of television broadcasting: The Malaysian case

This macro-level study analyzes the external and internal forces that influenced decision makers, and prompted dramatic policy changes in Malaysia's telecommunication and broadcasting systems. The primary objective was to study the forces that led to the economic and philosophical shift toward privatization, particularly in the television industry which had been a government monopoly since its inception. Data were gathered from interview with decision makers at key institutions, including government and private television networks, the telecommunications regulatory agency and the partially privatized telecommunications organization; from primary and secondary policy documents; and analysis of television programming schedules. An overview of the pan-national perspectives in the literature indicated that the United States Government, international and regional agencies such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank, had pressured many governments to lessen their involvements in the economy and to promote private enterprise. The interview findings showed that the Malaysian privatization policy is an innovation introduced by Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamed. The term privatization refers to the formation of a privately-owned television network called TV-Tiga (TV3), and the contractual private sector participation in the provision of programs and management of specific airtime slots in the government-owned Radio Television Malaysia (RTM). TV3 was formed alongside RTM to recapture VCR audiences and those tuning in to border television stations. Privatization of domestic program production was implemented at RTM (i) to provide additional Made-in-Malaysia programs; (ii) to revive a dying film industry; and (iii) to encourage private sector participation in broadcasting. Privatization of airtime was aimed at recapturing VCR audiences by showing foreign programs that catered to their cultural and entertainment needs. The strategies recaptured viewers and made television the principal advertising medium but in general both private and government-owned television networks did so at the expense of the national culture and national language policies.