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Nuku'alofa. The success of the station caused it to convert from a free service to a subscription service. In 1986, it had claimed 300 subscribers and broadcast a variety of pre-recorded programs from the United States. The service was priced at T$ 150 for installation fees and T$ 15 for a monthly subscription and covered the entirety of the island of
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on channel 7, ASTL-TV3 ceased broadcasting its subscription service and reverted to free-to-air broadcasting, while also beginning to earn revenue from commercial advertising. This led to an increase in revenue and also in manpower. With the 1991 reconversion, a survey conducted that same year showed
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and rebroadcast on videotape. The channel was already carrying a limited number of local programs: sporting events, pageants, church services and advertisements for local companies and businesses. There was some censorship, scenes involving sex were edited out, but scenes involving violence were
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As of early 1987, the owner and director of the channel demanded 200 subscribers in order to reach the break-even point. In
January 1989, the service became entirely scrambled while still maintaining its subscriber base of 300, yet up until the decision was taken, a larger number of viewers was
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The station was founded in August 1983 under the initiative of the
Tupouniua brothers and an American company, Clearview International. Clearview was also planning to introduce pay television to Thailand. Broadcasts started in 1984, at the time there were an estimated 300-400 television sets in
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still allowed. Manpower consisted of ten full-time staff members, three on-air operators, three tape operators, three producers and three who both produced the programs and held administrative positions. The tenth person was the staff member responsible for taping programming from Hawaii.
54:. In the same year, ASTL-TV3 was installing a 4-meter receive-only wire-mesh dish capable of picking up signals from satellites receivable in the country as well as the introduction of basic local programming concentrated on local events of community interest.
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picking up the signals for free. In order to properly receive the channel, a decoder would be used to descramble the pictures. Latu
Tupouniua still said that the service was operating at a loss, but still loved the idea of providing a subscription service.
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color standard for broadcasting. In contrast to OBN, ASTL-TV3 had minimal equipment, but unlike OBN, the station broadcast more contemporary movies and series, prompting the station to have a much larger viewing audience.
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Although the station had video playback, editing and transmitter facilities, ASTL-TV3 has no TV studio. Outside events were shot on VHS tapes and edited. The tapes of content recorded in Hawaii came in three-quarter-inch
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As of 1993, ASTL-TV3 broadcast from 7am to 9pm and from 4pm to 11pm
Mondays to Saturdays and from 7pm to 10pm on Sundays. Nearly all programs were recorded from TV stations in
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The Tongan media and press freedom: The crucial role of independent media in the fight for press freedom in Tonga, Kitekei'aho Tu'akalau, 2005
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service, later converted to a free-to-air television station upon the arrival of competition, it was broadcast over-the-air on channel 7.
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that the station was being watched by 5,000-6,000 television sets, for a population estimated between 35,000 and 42,000.
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Tevita
Tupouniua, a Tongan living in the United States, showed a proposal for a cable system to be implemented in
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ASTL-TV3 winded down operations in 1996 and the
Tupouniua brothers left the media industry. Until the launch of
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196:"PACIFIC REGIONAL TELEVISION SURVEY PROJECT – 352lRASl21 (PAC TEL)"
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83:
137:, Pacific Islands Communication Journal, January/February 1987
113:, Pacific Islands Communication Journal, January/February 1987
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in 2000, OBN was the only television service in the country.
194:
Bentley, J.E.; Hermanson, D.; Rao, V.V. (September 1993).
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Television channels and stations disestablished in 1996
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or half-inch VHS cassettes. The station employed the
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Television channels and stations established in 1984
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was the second television station in the
Kingdom of
30:was the first), which existed from 1984 to 1996. A
254:"Selected Issues in Pacific Island Development"
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291:, Pacific Magazine, January/February 1987
148:"Cable TV plans for Asia and the Pacific"
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303:, Pacific Islands Monthly, January 1989
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289:Tonga private TV needs 200 subscribers
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135:Do-it-yourself and Pay TV in Tonga
111:Do-it-yourself and Pay TV in Tonga
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125:, Islands Business, October 1983
61:In 1991, after the start of the
261:Australian National University
227:. October 1986. Archived from
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320:Television stations in Tonga
63:Oceania Broadcasting Network
218:"Tonga - A Country Profile"
346:
16:Tongan television channel
32:subscription television
263:. 1986. Archived from
123:New vision for Tonga
234:on 21 February 2017
301:Tonga TV scramble
154:. 28 October 1983
152:The Straits Times
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92:Television Tonga
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274:12 February
238:12 February
158:12 February
314:Categories
98:References
44:Nuku'alofa
52:Tongatapu
198:. UNESCO
28:VAP-TV18
20:ASTL-TV3
80:U-Matic
38:History
71:Hawaii
268:(PDF)
257:(PDF)
232:(PDF)
225:USAid
221:(PDF)
24:Tonga
276:2024
240:2024
204:2024
160:2024
84:NTSC
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182:^
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