MYAWADDY television will begin using Indonesia’s Palapa C-2 satellite from March 1, a change which will save it about US$400,000 a year. The channel has been using the Asia Sat-2 satellite to reach viewers in remote parts of the country and throughout Asia, northern Australia and the Middle East, at a cost of $1 million a year. Lt-Col Maung Maung Oo, from the Directorate of Public Relations and Psychological Warfare at the Ministry of Defence which operates the channel, said the fee for using the Indonesian satellite would be $600,000 a year. Myawaddy television had signed a contract with Indonesia’s Satelindo company to use the Palapa C-2 satellite for three years, he said. He said the satellite had a smaller footprint than Asia Sat-2 and would reach overseas viewers throughout the Asean region. Lt-Col Maung Maung Oo said Myawaddy television needed to cut operating costs because it relied on its own income, generated mainly by advertising revenue. He said Myawaddy television had a policy of accepting 20 minutes of advertising an hour, more than the world standard of 12 minutes an hour. "This is one of the reasons why the general public complains that Myawaddy entertainment programs are boring," he said. The station tried to ensure that only 12 minutes of advertising was broadcast during the early evening, he told Myanmar Times. Nearly 80 per cent of Myanmar’s total population regularly watches Myawaddy television, which broadcasts for an average of eight hours a day. Myawaddy was officially launched in early 1995 and operates from a broadcast centre about 22 miles north of central Yangon. Myawaddy’s broadcasting operation also includes two radio stations. They include Thazin Radio, which operates from studios at Maymo, more than 400 miles north of Yangon. It broadcasts programs in nine national languages. Each is broadcast for a total of seven hours a day. Its other service, Myawaddy Radio, based at the television centre, is expected to resume operations later this year following repairs after being hit by lightning in 1999.