Oli 968
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| Broadcast area | Singapore Johor Bahru/Johor Bahru District (Malaysia) Batam/Batam Islands, Riau Islands (Indonesia) |
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| Frequency | 96.8 MHz |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | Tamil |
| Format | Tamil music |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Mediacorp |
| History | |
First air date |
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Last air date |
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Former names |
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Former frequencies |
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| Links | |
| Webcast | |
| Website | Oli 968 |
Oli 968 (Tamil: ஒலி 968) is a Tamil-language radio station in Singapore. Owned by the state-owned broadcaster Mediacorp, it broadcasts programming serving Indian Singaporeans
An audio simulcast of Oli 968 is carried by Mediacorp's Tamil television channel Vasantham after sign-off.
History[edit]
Although programming in Tamil was carried by the extant Singaporean radio station in its several incarnations from 1937 to 1945, it wasn't until 23 December 1945 where a de facto separate service in Chinese and Indian dialects, the Red Network, was created by Radio Singapura.[1] On 1 January 1951, Chinese programmes were spun off to a new station, the Green Network.[2]
The AM frequency was first used in 1963 to provide a second audio channel for TV Singapura.[3][4] The station moved from 1370 kHz to 1368 kHz in 1978 to comply with the Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975.[5]
On 1 January 1982, the station was rebranded as Radio 4 as part of a restructuring of Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (SBC)'s stations; by then, most of its broadcast day was occupied by Tamil-language content, although it still carried a small block of Chinese programmes from 9 p.m. to midnight. As part of the rebrand, Radio 4 would also introduce a new evening "chat show" featuring music, topical segments, and listener phone-ins; Radio 4's programme manager M K Narayanan stated that it was "the first time such shows are being broadcast in this region. As far as I know, there are no such shows in India and Sri Lanka."[6]
In late 1991, it was announced that Radio 4 was to be renamed Olikkalanjiam (or "Oli" for short), meaning "treasure house of sound".[7]
References[edit]
- ^ "NEW RADIO SCHEDULES Begin TODAY". Sunday Tribune. 23 December 1945. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
- ^ "CHINESE GET OWN RADIO". The Straits Times. 12 December 1950. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
- ^ "2nd sound channel for TV within a '—month—'". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 9 June 1963. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- ^ "Singapore begins second TV sound channel". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 25 June 1963. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- ^ "Radio frequencies to be changed". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 3 October 1978. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
- ^ "New Year gift: New-sound radio". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 16 December 1981. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
- ^ "New names for four SBC radio stations". The Straits Times (retrieved from NLB). 4 November 1991. Retrieved 22 September 2023.