CAPITAL 958 (城市頻道) (also known as Radio Singapore, Chinese Service, Red Network, Green Network and Radio 3) (officially call sign as Radio Singapore and Chinese Service) is a Mandarin news and information station operating in Singapore, managed by Mediacorp. It was the only Mandarin radio station in Singapore before the official introduction of its sister channel such as YES 933 and Love 972 on 1 January 1990 and 23 September 1994 respectively. The station mainly provides local and international news, current affairs, in depth analysis interviews into different key topics and playing of Mandarin hits. It also broadcasts news daily in other languages including Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hainanese, Hakka and Fuzhounese on selected timings from Monday to Sunday. During weekends, listeners could also look forward to songs from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
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Quick Facts Broadcast area, Frequency ...
CAPITAL 958 |
| Broadcast area | Singapore
Johor Bahru/Johor Bahru District (Malaysia)
Batam/Batam Islands, Riau Islands (Indonesia) |
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| Frequency | 95.8 MHz |
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| Language(s) | Mandarin |
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| Format |
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| Owner | Mediacorp |
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| YES 933
LOVE 972 |
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First air date |
- 1 June 1936; 87 years ago (1936-06-01) as Radio Singapore and Chinese Service
(on AM frequency)
- 15 July 1967; 56 years ago (1967-07-15)
(on FM frequency)
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Former call signs |
- Radio Singapore (officially call sign)
(since 1 March 1937)
- Chinese Service (officially call sign)
(since 1 March 1937)
- Red Network
(since 22 December 1945)
- Green Network
(since 1 January 1951)
- Radio 3 (第三广播网)
(since 1 January 1982)
- City Sounds 95.8FM (95.8FM城市頻道)
(since 16 December 1991)
- Capital Radio 95.8FM
(since 23 September 1994)
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Former frequencies |
- 680 kHz
(since 1 March 1937)
- 675 kHz
(since 23 November 1978)
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| Webcast | |
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| Website | CAPITAL 958 |
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Although programming in Chinese dialects 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.[1] Strictly speaking, an all-Chinese service was announced in December 1950, with the launch date set for 1 January 1951. The new network was known as the Green Network.[2] One of the aims of the new service was to counter Communist propaganda in the region (alongside the Malay service). The station broadcast on 72 metres (7200 kilocycles, later redefined to 680 kHz on AM medium wave) from 5pm to 11pm daily,[3] and was moved to 675 kHz in 1978 to conform with the Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975. All AM broadcasting in the country ceased in 1994.
The station began FM transmissions on 95.8 MHz in 1967, and was renamed from Radio 3 to City Sounds (tentative name The City Channel[4]) on 16 December 1991, capturing the essence of "city life". The previous format remained unchanged.[5]
It is one of the nation's oldest stations, and its origins can be traced back to the beginning of regulated radio broadcasting in Singapore/Straits Settlements along with Gold 905, Warna 942 and Oli 968 on 1 March 1937.
In preparation for 24-hour broadcasts in December 1994, City Sounds recruited six new deejays: three of them from mainland China. The new deejays were under 30. The station also trained the China-born deejays to speak clearly to make them understandable to local listeners.[6]
In 1997, 95.8 aired news in Chinese dialects – Hokkien, Cantonese, Teochew, Hakka, Hainanese and Fuzhounese, airing nightly at 8 pm with each dialect news lasting three to five minutes. RCS also had problems replacing its current batch of dialect newsreaders,[7] with most of its newsreaders in their late 50s and 60s.[8] Although the news scripts were the same as Mandarin, the script readers will need to improvise due to the differences in the structures of each dialect.[7] The dialect news broadcasts also suffer from lack of funds and professional newsreaders, with listeners preferring dialect songs than dialect news.[7]
The station ended its broadcast at Caldecott Hill at 10:00 on 8 February 2017 and thereafter moved to Mediacorp Campus at 1 Stars Avenue. The first programme to be broadcast at the new campus began on the same day.
