KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 — The Finance Ministry has approved increasing the price for shows being aired on government broadcast channels RTM.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo told a press conference today that the increase will be between 10 to 60 per cent depending on the type of shows being aired.
“The price increase that have been approved according to categories are: 20 to 60 per cent for telefilms, 30 to 60 per cent for drama series, 10 to 30 per cent for documentaries and magazines, and 30 per cent for animated series.
“The current price rate was determined in 1986 and has not been reviewed for 33 years. After listening to the grouses coming from local producers, I have proposed the review of the price through the Malaysia Broadcast Department as a way to upgrade the local creative industry.
“RTM has done a price comparison with third parties to ensure that its rates are competitive with the current market,” said Gobind.
The new rates will come into play on April 2020.
At the same time, his ministry has also added new shows under the extreme gameshow category which runs for 30 minutes under the Variety Show category.
Other new categories being introduced include musical entertainment series with a 60-minute runtime and capsules/trailers/promotional materials that run between one to three minutes.
At the same time, the ministry is also upgrading RTM’s “belting”, or programme line-ups, and is studying the pitching process and the national broadcast channel’s marketing process.
The pitching process will begin on January next year and is expected to be completed in March. Production companies who are successful will enjoy RTM’s new rates come April.
