Will TV4 be a harbinger of change?

IT was initially billed as "RTM's third television network". Then, almost immediately, there was a retraction. Now, it's being called a "subscription service". Whatever. What is certainly clear is that, almost out of the blue, after having much earlier rejected applications from the private sector to set up a fourth television channel, the Government now informs us that a "subscription service" will begin operating in early 1992. One that will initially serve the Klang Valley and major West Coast towns before eventually operating nationwide. Equally surprising - for those who naively (and misleadingly) saw the beginning and rise of TV3 as being the harbinger of the deregulation of Malaysia…