Radio Televisyen Malaysia (, abbreviated as RTM, stylised as rtm), also known as the Department of Broadcasting, Malaysia () is the national public broadcaster of Malaysia. Established on 1 April 1946 as Radio Malaya, it is the first and the oldest broadcaster in the country. After Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963, Radio Malaya was renamed Radio Malaysia. On 28 December the same year, television service in Malaysia began with the establishment of Televisyen Malaysia. In 1969, Radio Malaysia and Televisyen Malaysia merged to form the present-day broadcast department. Radio Televisyen Malaysia monopolised the free-to-air television until 1984 and radio until 1988, when private television and radio stations such as TV3 and Best FM begin to exist. Currently, it operates 6 television channels and 34 radio stations nationwide. History The birth of local broadcasting, 1921 to 1946 History of local broadcasting in Malaysia began in 1921 when an electrical engineer from the Johor Government, A.L. Birch, brought the first radio set into British Malaya. He then established the Johor Wireless Association in 1923 and commenced broadcasting through 300 meter waves. Similar associations were also established in Penang (Penang Wireless Association) in 1925 and in Kuala Lumpur (Malayan Wireless Association) in 1928. In 1930, Sir Earl from the Singapore Port Authority commenced its short wave broadcast every fortnight either on Sundays or Wednesdays. The same effort was emulated by the Malayan Wireless Association, broadcasting from Bukit Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, via 325 meter waves. Penang Wireless Association led by Khoo Sian Ewe launched Station ZHJ – Malaya's first radio station on 24 August 1934, which operates out of George Town, Penang. British Malaya Broadcasting Corporation (BMBC) was formed on 21 July 1935 and awarded a broadcasting license by the British crown on 1 June 1936 as a radio network. On 1 March 1937, Sir Shenton Thomas opened the BMBC Studio and its transmitter at Caldecott Hill in Singapore. The Corporation was taken over by the Straits Settlements Government in 1940, subsequently nationalised and reorganised as the Malaya Broadcasting Corporation and was placed under the British Department of Information. During World War II in 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army occupied British Malaya and used the existing radio channels in Penang, Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Seremban and Singapore to transmit Japanese propaganda. Malaya Broadcasting Corporation was renamed Syonan Hoso Kyoku ('Light of the South' Broadcasting Corporation), the local counterpart to the Japan Broadcasting Corporation