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MediaCorp Channel U or Channel U (U頻道; pinyin: U Píndào) is Singapore's second free-to-air Chinese television channel in Singapore. Formerly it uses by SPH Mediaworks Channel U. ==Programming== Channel U was created by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) on 6 May 2001 as an alternative Chinese channel to MediaCorp TV Channel 8. After SPH MediaWorks and MediaCorp merged on 1 January 2005, it now serves as a complementary to MediaCorp TV Channel 8. When operated by the incumbent broadcaster SPH MediaWorks (a subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings) during its first 4-years, Channel U operated from 10am (except Sunday where it begins at 9:30am) to around 2:15am (the following day) in a day. Its programming was similar to Mediacorp TV Channel 8, with its foundation set up by some staff transferred over to SPH MediaWorks from Television Corporation of Singapore, as well as new staff recruited through talent search.〔(SPH MediaWorks stars all ready to shine )〕〔(MediaWorks welcomes on board four artistes )〕 There were two daily news bulletin, namely "6:30 News" at 6:30pm and "10:00 News" at 10pm, with an encore of the 10pm news before end transmission.〔(SPH Mediaworks Ltd Channel U Schedule )〕 Due to lack of facilities and expertise, broadcaster SPH MediaWorks could only produced a limited number of local productions. Nonetheless, the channel quickly grew its popularity and viewership over the years, through efforts like airing Hong Kong and Taiwan prime time television dramas and variety shows, by being the 1st channel to air television programmes from Korea and also producing the local productions with good quality. These efforts paid off eventually. In 2002, Channel U was named Terrestrial Channel of the Year.〔(Channel i to close on 1 January 2005 Channel U and Channel 8 to have complementary programming )〕 However, this did not translate into profits for broadcaster SPH MediaWorks. Mounting losses from fierce competition and a small free-to-air television advertising demand caused the television business to be viewed as unsustainable. Thus, as "a rationalisation move to stem losses and enhance shareholder value.",〔()〕 SPH MediaWorks was made to merge with MediaCorp with effect of 1 January 2005 and Channel U was operated by MediaCorp ever since. Upon merger with MediaCorp on 1 January 2005, Singapore aged 15–45 became Channel U's target audience and broadcasting hours was changed to begin at 3:00pm SST on weekday and 10:00am SST on weekend and now closes down every 2:30am (the following day). Channel U continued to air the Ren Ci charity shows (as it did previously when under SPH MediaWorks) and started to run Campus SuperStar a singing competition for teenagers. There are more locally produced programmes on the channel, which included a revamp of the news bulletins, and the introduction of new current events and variety programmes. Between 1 January 2005 and 14 August 2012, it exclusively aired 100% Entertainment, 23 hours after Taiwan's Gala Television's original broadcast, from Sundays to Thursdays, at 5pm and again before transmission ends. In 2010, there was a major programming refresh of Channel U during prime-time hours ever since post-merger. Channel U started having non-stop entertainment programmes on weekdays between 8:00 pm and 10:00 pm with the best of acquired programmes from the region and quality local productions. Its weekend news bulletin ''News Club'', which aired at 7pm, was replaced by current affairs programmes ''Money Week'' and ''World This Week'', which were previously aired in their former timeslots, Friday at 9:30pm and Monday at 9:30pm, respectively. On 13 April 2015, Channel U changed its target audience to people aged 25 to 55, as this age group is growing and Mediacorp understands that there is an increasing need to appeal to them.〔(Channel U to offer more Korean dramas and local content after April 13 revamp )〕 The weekday evening programming was revamped to have three time-belts from 7pm to 11pm, namely "K-Family Drama" (优选拌饭剧场), "Local Infotainment" (原创资讯节目) and "The Best of Asian Drama" (亚洲最Hit戏剧). The weekend programming was revamped to have a new time-belt "Weekend Thematic Special" (周末U选强档) from 9pm to 11pm. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「MediaCorp Channel U」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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