Okto: Difference between revisions

okto
奥多频道
எட்டு

Country	Singapore
Network	MediaCorp TV12
Headquarters	Bestway Building, 12 Prince Edward Road, Tanjong Pagar, Singapore 079212
Programming
Language(s)	Singapore English
Ownership
Owner	MediaCorp

okto (Chinese: 奥多频道), is a television channel in Singapore, managed by MediaCorp and caters to the general youths and young adults of Singapore, similar to Channel U.

The word "okto" means "8" in Greek. To reflect this, both StarHub TV and SingTel mio TV carry this channel as Channel "8" (this channel shouldn't be confused with MediaCorp Channel 8, which is MediaCorp's main Mandarin language channel). Despite the meaning of the channel's name, the channel is actually airing on channel 30 for those receiving channels via aerial or channel 25 for those using StarHub TV sockets. For those who subscribed to StarHub TV the channel will be aired on channel 108 and mio TV the channel will be aired on channel 209. Due to mio TV's channel number switch,this channel would broadcast on Channel 209 with effect on Thursday, 1 November 2012 at 00:00 SST.

Okto has a mascot named Ollie who was originally named OktoBoy. He was introduced in 2011.

History

• 1 September 1995 - Channel 8 began 24-hour transmission and Tamil programmes, previously aired on Channel 8, was separated from Channel 8 to form Prime 12. Premiere 12 was launched to include more children's programmes (mainly for Pre-school children) and sports coverage. Premiere 12 later included Tamil programmes and was renamed Central, on 30 January 2000.

Previously, Central had 3 program belts:

1. Kids Central – a children's television channel with enriching educational & animation programming.
2. Vasantham Central – a Tamil language channel.
3. Arts Central – a channel that showcases art, cultural and largely foreign award-winning productions and incorporated a significant amount of niche programming, making the channel rather distinctive compared to the others.

• 19 October 2008 - Central was dissolved. The program belt of Vasantham Central was extended to form the new Vasantham, a full-fledged Indian Channel to provide better television programmes to the Indian community of Singapore, as announced on January 2008 when the Parliament of Singapore decided to expand the Tamil language Vasantham Central into a standalone Tamil language channel.

This leaves behind Kids Central and Arts Central, the other two program belts of Central and Central was renamed Okto since then. Okto took over the frequency of Channel i, a channel which went defunct since 1 January 2005. Besides broadcasting children's programmes and cultural programming, they also broadcast live sporting events (e.g., Football, Olympic Games, Asian Games, Southeast Asian Games etc.) if there is a need to, making the channel somewhat similar to SPH Mediaworks Channel i and Premiere 12.

By 2016, Okto, along with Channel U and Channel NewsAsia will definitely go digital, in line with the start of the digital switchover that will take place by 2020.

Transmission hours

Transmission hours are on weekend (every Monday to Friday) at 09:00 to 00:00 SST and for the weekend (every Saturday to Sunday) and public holiday 07:00 to 00:00 SST when it plays the national anthem.

TV Tuner Frequency

495.000 MHz

Opening and closing times

Startup

okto starts up at 09:00 SST (weekday), 07:00 SST (weekend and public holiday). The national anthem is played and the station ident is shown after that.

Closedown

Okto closes down at 00:00 SST (daily) or later than the expected closedown time with the station ident and the national anthem.

At other times when programmes are not transmitted, still image of Okto logo is displayed with the background sound of radio Gold 90.5FM.

Programming

Okto is predominantly an English channel with selected programmes in the language of the country of origin. The programming on the channel is similar to its predecessors Premiere 12, Kids Central, Arts Central and SPH MediaWorks Channel i, with preschool and children programmes between the day and night and documentaries; lifestyle, news, current affairs, anime and art performances in the rest of the night.

Okto aims to be a one-stop channel that will enrich, engage and entertain, offering some of the best local and international programmes to the Singapore viewers. The channel has a special focus on the kids and arts communities and on User Generated Content (UGC) enabling them to participate, grow and be an integral part of the channel. It is also the first channel to use the old Premiere 12 structure.

oktoDAY

okto replaces Kids Central and generally has children's programmes.

Transmission Hours:

• Monday to Friday: 09:00 to 21:00 SST
• Saturday to Sunday and Public holiday: 07:00 to 21:00 SST (originally - 09:00 SST)

Website - okto

Original Shown on Kids Central in 2000 - 2008

New shows

Also includes repeats of older shows from other MediaCorp TV Channels. (Example like MediaCorp Channel 5's Adventures of Merlin Series on Every Saturday & Sunday, 7:00 pm & 8:00 pm)

Original productions (from Kids Central)

• Sketch
• Robbie and the Book of Tales
• Groom my Room
• Moon Face
• Magic Garden
• Before I was Awesome

• We are R.E.M
• R.E.M the Next Generation
• Schoolhouse Rockz
• Wushu Warriors
• Jobs for Juniors
• Record Breakers: Singapore Edition
• The Tales of Alex and Weero
• Ubin Boy

• Growing Up

• Whizzes of the Void Deck
• Bring Your Toothbrush
• Kids United
• Double Chin
• Art Factory
• Einstein's Tingkat
• The Adventures of Super Einstein
• Hobby TV
• Looking for Natheniel

• Sports On
• Little Coach
• Why didn't I Think of That?
• Trick And Treats!
• Groom My School

oktoNITE

a~ok replaced Arts Central and it has culture programmes intended for adults.

Transmission Hours:

• Monday to Sunday: 22:00 to 00:00 SST

Website - a~ok

New shows

Found Inside Other MediaCorp TV Channel Too. (E.g. Knockout Carnival)

New programming

On 1 April 2011, the programming on okto was revamped.

The channel is no longer divided into oktoday & oktonite. Instead, it is divided into okto & a~ok (Arts on Okto).

However, the transition clip to oktonite (where the background changes from white to blue) is still played.

Transmission Hours

• oktots: 09:00 to 15:00 SST (weekday)

• okto: 15:00 to 21:00 SST (weekday), 08:00 to 21:00 SST (weekend) and 15:00 to 19:15 SST (Fridays, during the Great Eastern-Yeo's Singspore Football League season)

• Oktonite: 21:00 to 22:00 SST (daily) and 21:30 to 22:00 SST (on Fridays when the Great Eastern-Yeo's S. League is broadcast live from Jalan Besar Stadium)

• a~ok: 22:00 to 00:00 SST (daily)

• Sports on Okto: 19:15 to 21:30 SST (on Fridays when the Great Eastern-Yeo's S.League is broadcast live from the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Lego shows

• Lego: Ninjago - Masters of Spinjitzu (3 seasons, 17 episodes)
• Lego: friends (4 episodes)
• Lego: city police (ongoing - on feb. 22 2014)

See also

• MediaCorp TV12 Central
• MediaCorp Vasantham
• MediaCorp TV12
• SPH MediaWorks Channel i

External links

• New Official Website
• OktoAsia.com