TV1 Live Streaming – Watch RTM TV1 Malaysia Online

When something matters nationally, TV1 carries it. Parliament sittings, royal ceremonies, state funerals, national addresses – the country’s oldest channel handles the moments no private broadcaster is set up to cover.

The live feed sits above. It costs nothing and needs no account.

About the Channel

Full name
RTM TV1
Operator
Radio Televisyen Malaysia
Owner
Government of Malaysia
Launched
1963
Position
Malaysia’s first television channel
myFreeview channel
101
Picture
HD
Languages
Malay, with some English
Headquarters
Angkasapuri, Kuala Lumpur
Official platform
RTMKlik

What TV1 Does That Others Cannot

Private stations chase ratings. A public broadcaster carries obligations instead, and those obligations shape the schedule.

Parliament, live

Sittings run in full, along with the annual budget address. No commercial channel gives the chamber that kind of airtime.

Royal and state ceremonies

Installations, official birthdays and state occasions receive complete coverage, often running for hours without commercial breaks.

Hari Merdeka and Hari Malaysia

Both national celebrations are broadcast end to end – the march-past, the addresses, the closing. Commercial channels usually settle for highlights.

Official announcements

When a minister addresses the nation, TV1 carries the feed and repeats it through the day.

Emergency coverage

Flood seasons, haze episodes and public health alerts get sustained airtime, with information drawn from state agencies.

Berita Perdana and the RTM Newsroom

RTM runs the largest broadcast newsroom in the country, and TV1 is where most of that output lands.

Berita Perdana anchors the evening. It reads formally, leans on official sources, and covers government activity in more depth than commercial rivals attempt. Regional bureaus feed in from every state, which gives it stronger reporting from Sabah and Sarawak than most Peninsular-focused newsrooms manage.

Shorter editions run through the day, including a morning bulletin inside the breakfast programme and a midday round-up. A late summary closes the broadcast day.

Selamat Pagi Malaysia

Few Malaysian programmes have lasted this long.

The morning show has been part of RTM’s schedule for decades, built around interviews, health advice, cooking, community stories and government information. Its pace is unhurried and its tone is plain. That has not changed much, and its audience seems to prefer it that way.

Government agencies frequently use the programme to explain new policies directly, which gives it a role no commercial breakfast show fills.

Beyond the News

A common assumption is that TV1 is news and ceremony only. The schedule says otherwise.

Documentary

Malaysian history, wildlife, heritage crafts and the country’s ethnic communities all receive feature treatment. Production values run higher than the timeslot suggests.

Culture and performance

Traditional music, gamelan, zapin and classical dance hold regular slots – material commercial channels dropped years ago.

Religious programming

Recitation opens the broadcast day, and talks and discussion sessions run through the week.

Drama

Lighter in volume than TV3’s output, usually carrying a moral or community theme.

Children’s programming

Educational formats sit alongside animation, often produced locally.

First on Air

Television arrived in Malaysia in 1963, and TV1 was the whole of it.

The channel began as Televisyen Malaysia, broadcasting a few evening hours to the Klang Valley. When a second network split off in 1969, the original was renamed Rangkaian Pertama. Another rebrand in 1978 made it RTM 1, and the logo was redesigned in 2004. The name TV1 arrived in 2009 and has stayed since.

Round-the-clock broadcasting came in 2006. High definition followed in 2019, timed to one of RTM’s anniversaries. Through every change, the channel number never moved.

TV1 or TV3?

Both run news in the evening. The similarity ends there.

TV1TV3
Launched19631984
OwnershipGovernmentPrivate
Main bulletinBerita PerdanaBuletin Utama
Newsroom styleFormal, official sourcesFaster, more populist
Drama volumeLowVery high
DocumentariesFrequentOccasional
Parliament coverageFull sittingsNone
National ceremoniesCompleteHighlights
Advertising loadLightHeavy
Regional coverageStrong across all statesPeninsular-focused

Viewers who want the official record choose TV1. Viewers who want entertainment choose TV3. Plenty of households move between the two in a single evening.

What a Public Broadcaster Does Differently

Commercial television answers to advertisers. RTM answers to the government that funds it, and that single difference explains most of what TV1 puts on air.

Without ratings pressure, the channel can carry material no advertiser would sponsor. A three-hour parliamentary sitting draws a small audience. A documentary on traditional weaving draws a smaller one. Both run anyway, because the obligation is to record them rather than to sell them.

That obligation shows up in several places:

  • Regional coverage. Bureaus operate in every state, including Sabah and Sarawak, which commercial newsrooms tend to cover thinly from Kuala Lumpur.
  • Minority languages. RTM broadcasts across its network in languages with audiences too small to interest a private station.
  • Unfiltered events. Ceremonies and sittings run in full rather than cut into highlights.
  • Public information. Health campaigns, safety notices and policy explainers get airtime a commercial channel would sell instead.

There is a trade-off, and it is worth naming. Government funding means TV1’s news reflects official positions more closely than a commercial newsroom’s would. Viewers who want the official record are well served. Viewers who want an adversarial press usually look elsewhere as well.

Questions Viewers Ask

Who runs TV1?

Radio Televisyen Malaysia, a department within the Malaysian government.

What channel is TV1 on myFreeview?

Channel 101.

Is TV1 the oldest channel in Malaysia?

Yes. It launched in 1963, and every other Malaysian channel came after it.

What was TV1 called before?

Televisyen Malaysia at launch, then Rangkaian Pertama from 1969, then RTM 1 from 1978. The current name arrived in 2009.

Does TV1 broadcast Parliament?

Yes, including full sittings and the annual budget address.

Is TV1 available in English?

Programming is mainly Malay, though some bulletins and documentaries carry English.

What is the difference between TV1 and Berita RTM?

TV1 runs a mixed schedule with news as one part of it. Berita RTM is a dedicated news channel operating around the clock.

Where can I find TV1 programmes after they air?

RTMKlik holds RTM’s catch-up library and is free to use with an account.