Brunei Darussalam publishes newspapers in multiple languages covering local, regional and international news. Borneo Bulletin is the country’s oldest paper, published since 1953. The English paper started off as a weekly report for the expatriate community in the Belait District. Borneo Bulletin is published daily by Brunei Press as the country’s leading source of trusted and influential information, available in print and online.
Media Permata is the Malay equivalent of Borneo Bulletin. The paper was initially published as a weekly Malay insert in its English counterpart on January 13, 1994 but was eventually published daily from July 30, 1998.
Pelita Brunei is a Malay newspaper, produced by the Information Department at the Prime Minister’s Office. The paper primarily covers governmentrelated news and events including features on tender information, inter-department sports activities and job vacancies within government institutions. The paper can be found in various places nationwide: government departments, the airport and petrol stations among others.
Foreign newspapers available in Brunei include Borneo Post and New Straits Times from Malaysia and the Straits Times, Singapore. Malay daily Berita Harian and Chinese dailies See Hua Daily, Sin Chew Daily and United Daily from Malaysia are also circulated here.
In 1957, Brunei saw its inaugural radio broadcast go live. The station was operated by the state, which later evolved into Radio Television Brunei (RTB) as a television and radio network.
RTB operates three channels: RTB Perdana focussing on government policies, current affairs and international information; RTB Aneka for family entertainment; and RTB Sukmaindera for all sorts of news related to Brunei. RTB also runs five radio channels: Nasional FM (92.3 or 93.8), Pilihan FM (95.9 or 96.9), Pelangi FM (91.4 or 91.0), Harmoni FM (94.1 or 97.7) and Nur Islam FM (93.3 or 94.9).
Kristal Media Sdn Bhd is a DST subsidiary which runs the radio channel KRISTALfm, one of Brunei’s private commercial radio stations. The popular station is known to play a variety of music from current chart-toppers to throwback songs and classic tunes. KRISTALfm is available through 90.7FM for Brunei-Muara listeners and 98.7FM for Belait listeners.
In August 2020, Progresif Sdn Bhd launched its digital media streaming platform, Progresif Media. The app is an evolution of Progresif Radio, Brunei’s first app-based radio station which went live in 2017. Progresif Media brings together local, regional and Hollywood content while keeping the best of Progresif Radio with its Local, Live, On Demand and Podcast content. In September 2021, Progresif announced its all new Progresif Media is live on web platform featuring Progresif Media originals and Videos on Demand from RTB classics such as Bintang Kecil and Bintang Remaja
Copyright 2019 Borneo Bulletin Yearbook 2019 All rights reserved.
