Public Service Broadcasting

Public Service Broadcasting

Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) is generally the transmission of programmes that are
made available nationwide, catering for all interests and taste. Whether it be through radio or the widely popular medium of television, these programmes cater to the minority and serve the interests of the nation thus promoting social objectives and national harmony. In this manner most of the Public Service Broadcast programmes are less commercially viable. Thus in a world driven mainly by economical gains and the “bottom-line”, how then will Public Service Broadcasting survive? In fact with Public Service programmes deemed archaic and today’s digitized society demanding much more whilst commercial television seemingly supply better shows, can PSB deliver the “goods”?

According to a sourcebook published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), most existing perceptions of PSB has been somewhat askewed in the sense that a Public Service Broadcaster should not be entirely controlled by its State or by Private companies. Rather, PSB should be “…of the people, by the people, for the people ”. Henceforth I shall explore this seemingly bleak future of Public Service Broadcasting and how the service shall prevail in Singapore by first explaining its history.

1.1 Broadcasting in the world of mass communication has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1895 when an Italian man by the name of Guglielmo Marconi discovered that by allowing each end of a transmitter and receiver antenna, he was able to transmit electronic signals over an approximate distance of 1.5 kilometers. In 1922, a consortium of radio manufacturers formed the British Broadcasting Company whose purpose, initially was to encourage an increase in sales of radio devices. When its license expired in 1926, it became the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Spearheaded by its first Director-General, Scottish man John Reid, the BBC came to be “…an...

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