Singaporeans have a wide choice of media content. As a global city, Singapore is an exciting hub for media created from the world over, such as games, film or arts performances.
As a regulator, MDA’s role is to expand media choices for consumers while simultaneously creating a pro-business environment. In 2011, MDA facilitated the introduction of over 70 new TV channels, 233 new local publications and processed 831 imported publications. Today, consumers enjoy a choice of more than 400 TV channels across multiple transmission platforms and 18 radio stations.
MDA also provides information on media content so that the public can make more informed decisions for themselves and their families.
Arts entertainment
In 2011, 1,1427 arts entertainment
licences were given out, including stage
plays, musicals, dance performances,
art exhibitions, variety shows and pop/
rock concerts.
From February 2010, MDA also made available, through its online arts classification database, information on all arts entertainment events licensed by it for public reference.
Film and video
To make classification ratings more intuitive and easier to understand, MDA also streamlined the rating symbols with a common set of new symbols for film, video and broadcast in 2011.
Movie-goers stepped into the shoes
of a film classifier and learned more
about how film classification is done
at ‘A Day with the Classifiers’ workshop
at Shaw Theatres Nex in 2011.
These new rating symbols provide greater clarity and consistency, and are also more easily identifiable, with green circles for advisory ratings and orange rectangles for age-restricted ratings.
With the harmonisation of classification guidelines for films, video and broadcast, PG13 is now the highest rating on free-to-air TV, and PG13-rated programmes may be scheduled between 10pm and 6am daily.
Pay TV has also adopted film ratings from PG to M18, including PG13. This means that there is now a common set of ratings across films, video, pay TV and free-to-air TV.
In 2011, over 1,600 films and 12,000 videos were classified under the appropriate ratings. The film classification database is available online.
To raise awareness and educate the public on film classification, MDA continued to reach out to the public through ‘A Day with the Classifiers’ workshops. More than 2000 took part in the 23 workshops held in 2011.
MDA believes in working with the industry and took first steps in 2011 towards co-classification with the video industry by training industry representatives to classify films under G, PG and PG13 ratings.
Training began in June 2011, with the first batch of representatives from video distributors and retailers being trained to assess films and interpret the classification guidelines. Twenty-three representatives were certified as content assessors at the end of 2011.
Video games
Through its classification of 1,150 game titles in 2011, some 50% increase from the year before, MDA played a part in informing consumers of the content included in video games.