Okto

okto 奥多频道 எட்டு
Okto logo
Launched	31 January 1984 as SBC-12 1 October 1994 as STV-12 1 September 1995 as Premiere 12 30 January 2000 as Central 20 October 2008 as Okto
Network	Mediacorp TV12
Owned by	Mediacorp
Picture format	PAL 576i (SDTV) 4:3/16:9 ,1080i (HDTV)
Slogan	Going further to bring you closer(2008-2013) / It's ok to call the shots(2013-present)
Country	Singapore
Language	Singapore English
Broadcast area	Singapore
Formerly called	MediaCorp TV12 Central
Sister channel(s)	Channel 5 Channel 8 Channel U Suria Vasantham Channel NewsAsia HD5
Timeshift service	09:00 to 00:00 SST during weekdays 07:00 to 00:00 SST during weekends
Website	okto
Availability
Terrestrial
Mediacorp – Analogue (PAL-B)	Channel 30 (UHF 543.25 MHz)
Mediacorp – Digital (DVB-T2)	Channel 33 (UHF 570MHz) (LCN 08) (HD)[1]
Cable
StarHub TV	Channel 108 (SD) Channel 183 (HD)
Mediacorp – via (SCTV socket)	Channel 25 (UHF 503.25 MHz)
IPTV
Singtel TV	Channel 8 / 209 (HD)

Okto, stylised as okto, is a television channel in Singapore, managed by Mediacorp and caters to the youths and young adults of Singapore, similar to Channel U. It was formerly known as MediaCorp TV12 Central and airs on the frequency 495.25 MHz.

The word "okto" means "8" in Greek. To reflect this, both StarHub TV and SingTel Singtel TV carry this channel as Channel "8", which should not be confused with Mediacorp Channel 8, Mediacorp's main Standard Chinese-language channel. Despite the meaning of the channel's name, the channel is aired on channel 30 for those receiving the broadcasts over the air, or channel 25 for those using StarHub TV sockets. For StarHub TV subscribers, the channel airs on channel 108. On Singtel TV, the channel airs on channel 209. Due to Singtel TV's channel number switch, the channel started broadcasting on Channel 209 with effect from 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

On 1 September 1995, Channel 8 began a 24-hour transmission and also aired Tamil programmes. 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 as Central, on 30 January 2000.

Central had three programme belts, Kids Central, which was a children's television channel with enriching educational & animation programming, Vasantham Central, which was a Tamil language channel, and Arts Central which 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.

On 19 October 2008, Central was dissolved. The programme 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 in January 2008 when the Parliament of Singapore decided to expand the Tamil language Vasantham Central into a standalone Tamil language channel.

Kids Central and Arts Central, the other two programme belts of Central, was merged and 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, the channel also broadcast live sporting events such as Football, Olympic Games, Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games if there is a need to.

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.

When Okto first started broadcasting, it was split into two segments, oktoday & oktonite. oktoday shows programmes mainly for kids and young teenagers. Since 1 April 2011, oktoday (The Kids Central timeslot) is divided into oktots, which shows programmes for toddlers, and okto. oktonite(The Arts Central timeslot) was also renamed as a~ok (Arts on okto).

In June 2014, Sports on Okto was introduced which shows sporting events live as well as recorded and delayed coverage. Events such as 2014 FIFA World Cup (opening match, 2 semi-finals & final), 2014 Commonwealth Games, 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, 2014 Asian Games and 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup have been broadcast on the channel.^[2] As Singapore hosted this year's SEA Games, Okto took the full coverage of the games live, and in HD for the first time, including the Opening & Closing ceremonies and the daily highlights.

And in September 2016, Sports on Okto has extended to showing many highlights of various sports in different shows on the channel. Its on every day from 9.30pm with onmisport.tv to 12mn with onmisport.tv (2nd telecast).

Transmission Hours

During weekdays, Okto starts at 09:00 SST and ends at 00:00 SST. On weekends, Okto starts at 07:00 SST and ends at 00:00 SST. The oktots segment airs from 09:00 to 16:00 SST during weekdays. The a~ok segments airs from 22:00 to 00:00 SST / 00:30 SST (on Sunday).

At other times when programmes are not transmitted, a still image of the Okto logo is displayed, with the radio broadcast channel Gold 90.5FM playing in the background until 06:00 SST.

See also

• MediaCorp Vasantham
• MediaCorp TV12 Central

References

External links

• Official Website
• Old Official Website at the Wayback Machine (archived 16 July 2014)