TV Licence Fee to be Raised?

Aliran is shocked to learn, on the first day of April, that Information Minister Mohamad Rahmat is toying with the idea of raising the television licence fee from the present RM24 to RM36, a move that would contribute to inflationary trends in the country.

What is also stunning is that Mohamad Rahmat tried to justify the hike by saying that Malaysians should be willing to pay for the increased fee because they “had been able to tune in to private TV stations which offered free programmes.”

Are we to assume that the Information Minister wants to tax the viewers for something extra that is being offered by the private stations, and not by the public television stations?

Besides, as we all know, not all the private stations provide “free services”, which means that the viewers concerned are already paying “double” for having made the pay-per-view choice.

In addition, television stations do not really offer “free programmes” as such because they also collect advertising revenues. These stations actually “sell” their respective viewing audiences to advertisers, while seeking greater profits in an atmosphere of stiff competition.

If the Information Ministry wants to raise more funds, we suggest that it bills the private stations for using any of the government’s televising facilities, including hill-top transmitters.

We would also suggest that government-run Radio Television Malaysia be more innovative and creative in its televised offerings to attract more viewers - and advertising ringgit - instead of indulging in intellectually unstimulating fare like game shows.
 

Dr Mustafa K Anuar
Exco Member
2 April 1998