Wednesday, July 06, 2005

BBC and MediaCorp renew agreement on transmission in Singapore


PRESS RELEASE
6 July 2005



The BBC has renewed its transmission agreement with the Singapore-based MediaCorp Technologies. The contract signed on Tuesday, 5 July in Singapore will see the BBC World Service remain on Singapore's airwaves indefinitely.

The BBC World Service 88.9FM has been transmitting in Singapore since 1976 and it reaches an audience of 300,000 people every week. For the last 10 years, MediaCorp Technologies has been the company responsible for the transmission of the BBC World Service in Singapore.

This facility receives the BBC programmes live from London via satellite and simultaneously relays it on FM to all parts of Singapore. With the agreement, MediaCorp Technologies will continue to provide technical services to the BBC indefinitely.

Michael Grade, BBC Chairman attending the signing ceremony in Singapore, said: "BBC World Service has a long association with Singapore, spanning more than 30 years. I am delighted that, by renewing this contract today, this deep-rooted association will continue long into the future."



Ernest Wong, Group CEO of MediaCorp, said: "We are delighted that the chairman of the BBC, Mr Michael Grade, himself is here to witness the signing, and it attests to the quality of the technical transmission that we are providing from our MediaCorp Technologies. We hope to do more collaboration with the BBC.”

Pictures from the signing ceremony are available on request.

Ends

For more information contact:
Lala Najafova, International Publicist, BBC World Service
+44(0)207557 2944; lala.najafova@bbc.co.uk

Note to editors:

BBC World Service broadcasts programmes around the world in 43 languages and is available on radio and online. It has a global audience of 149 million listeners. BBC World Service is available globally on short wave; on FM in 144 cities; and selected programmes are carried on around 2,000 FM and MW radio stations around the world. The BBC World Service websites receive over 330 million page impressions every month.