Few bother turning on the TV these days, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have fond memories of it. A lot of 90s Malaysian kids would remember waking up on the weekend to watch cartoons on ntv7. Sadly, the younger generation may not get to have the same experiences.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) has announced the launch of DidikTV, an educational network for the SPM curriculum and co-curriculum. It will be available on channel 107 on MYTV, 146 on Astro and NTV7 on Unifi TV.
The Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin will be launching DidikTV on Wednesday (17th February) at 8am. It will not only broadcast content on SPM curriculum and co-curriculum, it will also televise news related to the education world, edutainment programmes and student-produced content. Relevant international programmes will also be shown. The broadcast time is unclear however, with conflicting information from the MOE and ntv7’s Facebook post.
According to the statement released by the MOE, the education channel was established to allow students to have access to quality educational programmes. DidikTV is meant to be a platform to empower the culture of knowledge, encourage good values and create an informed society.
Although nothing was said about whether the program is temporary or permanent, netizens have already started saying tearful goodbyes. Some have thanked ntv7 for all the times it made them ‘feel good’ while others are reminiscing the shows they used to watch from there.
Even Sarimah Ibrahim, a Malaysian television host who has worked with ntv7 took to Facebook to talk about her memories with the channel. She promises that the memories of ntv7 will still live on.
There were a few netizens willing to say good riddance to the channel, complaining that it mostly aired uninteresting shows nowadays. One netizen even commented that the channel deserved to be taken over by the MOE.
Media Prime, the company that owns ntv7, is unclear about whether DidikTV will be officially taking over ntv7 as a broadcaster. As Khairul Nizam Rahmat asked on Facebook, “Is ntv7 being replaced with DidikTV? ntv7 is under Media Prima, right? Does this mean Media Prima is handing over the TV station to the education ministry?”
So with the news of NTV7 going to be defunct and will turn into DidikTV by the gov, let's dive into the memory lane with these "I feel good" compilations. This is so nostalgic 😭 pic.twitter.com/HXLH0eYhu2
— izzi beraya (@IzzraifHarz) February 15, 2021
Well, one thing is for sure, ntv7 will be showing educational programmes from now on. So, what are your favourite memories of ntv7?
Update (16th February, 8pm):
According to The Edge, Media Prima Group Bhd has assured that ntv7 isn’t shutting down for good. “ntv7 will not be [made] defunct. DidikTV KPM (DidikTV Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia) is a strategic commercial collaboration between Media Prima and KPM to increase the access of quality education to students nationwide, given Media Prima’s extensive reach within Malaysia across traditional and digital media, and its quality content production capabilities,” the company told the publication.
Having said that, Media Prima didn’t specify whether the DidikTV KPM (DidikTV Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia) initiative is a temporary or permanent one, but hinted that “it would take more than one year to build this initiative up“.
Sources: China Press, Free Malaysia Today, The Star, Ministry of Education.
