Media Merger
Sad to see so many professional artistes moving out of the spotlight while majority of the moronic actors/actresses from MCS are remaining on screen. One has never seen a company run so much like a closely knitted family. Somehow, very conveniently, this years' poor showing of Singapore in the Asian television awards seems to go hand in hand with the merger theory that steming domestic competition will help local media compete regionally and internationally. If this was so, there would not have been competition between each radio station and between Channel 5 & 8 some 10 years back...
The artistes moving back into that hill are like adopted children. Will the family treat these children the same way as those which are born and bred on the hill and never ever dared to venture out into the real world? Will a previous rivalry stable continue to outshine the home stable in variety and current affairs programming?
Channel U will be complementing Channel 8's programming. That's a whole lot of bull. We shall see. Once we see the end of all the familiar series on Channel U, we shall be seeing a whole new Channel U, Mediacorp TV Channel U. A channel that will no longer show its zest and creativity.
That's why I have simply gave up on the local media industry. 5 years down the road, I will go regional if not international. Chances I have of this mindset changing will be as much as I will say "I enjoy NS."
MediaCorp and SPH complete staff rationalisation exercise
Singapore, 7 December 2004 – MediaCorp and Singapore Press Holdings (“SPH”) have completed the staff rationalisation exercise following their agreement to merge their mass market TV and free newspaper operations.
The exercise, lasting about two months, involved the selection of staff needed to run the merged TV and Studio operations in which MediaCorp owns 80 per cent and SPH 20 per cent.
It was undertaken by a Manpower Synergy Committee chaired by MediaCorp independent board member, Mr Soo Kok Leng, and comprised heads of the Human Resources Divisions, Mr Wee Leong How of SPH and Mr Chua Hoe Sing of MediaCorp.
The Committee reviewed about 1,200 staff from both SPH MediaWorks (SPHMW) and two companies in the MediaCorp group, namely MediaCorp TV (MCTV) and MediaCorp Studios (MSD).
The rationalisation affects a total of 429 staff from SPH, the majority of whom are from SPHMW. Of these, 200 will be transferred to MediaCorp, 97 will be absorbed by SPH and 132 will be retrenched.
Besides the rationalisation of MCTV and MSD’s manpower undertaken by the Committee, MediaCorp separately reviewed its own staffing level with a view to enhancing efficiency further. Altogether, MediaCorp will be releasing 72 staff from across the group.
On the rationalisation of the merged TV and Studio operations, Mr Soo Kok Leng, Chairman of the Committee, said: “We evaluated staff from both parties on the principle of ‘best person for the job’, that is, people who can adapt, respond, anticipate and deliver to meet the future needs of the merged businesses. The individual’s performance is one of the key assessment criteria that we used.
“The process was open and transparent, with both sides taking a consultative approach at all times. I’m happy to report that the Committee has done its best in ensuring that the process has been fair, rigorous and thorough.”
Mr Wee Leong How, Executive Vice President of SPH's Human Resources Division, said: "I am satisfied that the Committee has done its best to save the maximum number of jobs. We have managed to secure jobs in the joint venture company for as many MediaWorks employees as we could. Separately, SPH has also managed to absorb almost a quarter of the affected MediaWorks and SPH TV News staff, who will be redeployed to other parts of the Group. "
Added Mr Chua Hoe Sing, Executive Vice President, Group Human Resource and Corporate Services of MediaCorp: "We had taken some time to conduct the review to ensure that the process was thorough, and that due consideration was given so that the right job goes to the right person."
The National Trades Union Congress has formed a task force under its Assistant Secretary General Mr Seng Han Thong which is facilitating the consultations between union and management on manpower rationalisation issues at the two media groups.
Sad to see so many professional artistes moving out of the spotlight while majority of the moronic actors/actresses from MCS are remaining on screen. One has never seen a company run so much like a closely knitted family. Somehow, very conveniently, this years' poor showing of Singapore in the Asian television awards seems to go hand in hand with the merger theory that steming domestic competition will help local media compete regionally and internationally. If this was so, there would not have been competition between each radio station and between Channel 5 & 8 some 10 years back...
The artistes moving back into that hill are like adopted children. Will the family treat these children the same way as those which are born and bred on the hill and never ever dared to venture out into the real world? Will a previous rivalry stable continue to outshine the home stable in variety and current affairs programming?
Channel U will be complementing Channel 8's programming. That's a whole lot of bull. We shall see. Once we see the end of all the familiar series on Channel U, we shall be seeing a whole new Channel U, Mediacorp TV Channel U. A channel that will no longer show its zest and creativity.
That's why I have simply gave up on the local media industry. 5 years down the road, I will go regional if not international. Chances I have of this mindset changing will be as much as I will say "I enjoy NS."
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