Television broadcasting in Malaysia is provided by the federal government and respective private broadcasting companies. Analogue TV transmissions were completely turned off on 31 October 2019 and switched to full myFreeview Digital TV broadcast using DVB-T2 technology.[1] The switchover was done in stages by region, which began with from the Central and Southern on 30 September 2019, North and East on 14 October 2019 and Sabah and Sarawak on 31 October 2019.[2] The digital TV transmissions' Service Level Availability (SLA) currently stands at a 99.9% coverage rate.[3]
The first trial broadcasts of digital TV started in 2006 by a government-owned television broadcaster Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM). Some local TV channels have been broadcasting shows in HD for special occasions since 2008. Free-to-air and subscription-based television channels in Malaysia are available in HD standards through terrestrial, satellite and IP, as well as over OTT platform.
Currently there are only two free-to-air digital terrestrial platforms with high-definition digital television channels in Malaysia, MYTV and NJOI.
Government owned free-to-air television broadcasters
WaTV ceased broadcasting and transmission on 1 March 2012. Replaced by Celestial Movies HD and KIX HD while programs broadcast by the channel are now carried by Astro AEC.
Astro @15 ceased transmission and broadcasting on 1 May 2012 at midnight. Replaced by Astro Mustika HD on 21 May 2012 while programs broadcast by the channel were carried by other Malay channels.
CNBC ceased broadcasting and transmission on 7 October 2013 because it was unable to fulfill these objects, but was relaunched back in the same month.
2014
Jia Yu ceased broadcasting and transmission on 1 April 2014 at midnight. A temporary channel was broadcast for a month before being relaunched as Kah Lai Toi at 6am.
The SD version of FOX (Channel 710) ceased broadcasting on 16 November 2014. They were upgraded to FOX HD (Channel 724) until FOX HD ceased broadcasting on 30 September 2021 at 11:59:59pm and was replaced by Disney+ Hotstar that formally launched on 1 June 2021.
2015
iView ceased broadcasting and transmission on 12 January 2015. Replaced by the NJOI version on 20 January 2015.
Golf Channel in SD ceased broadcasting and transmission on 26 February 2015.
2016
Astro Hitz ceased broadcasting and transmission on 16 May 2016 at midnight due to low viewership and declining popularity.
Channel M HD was rebranded back as tvN HD on 3 June 2016 (After barely 16 months this channel name after Channel M HD launched in 2015, except for HyppTV).
Sundance Channel HD ceased broadcasting and transmission on 1 July 2016 at midnight due to low popularity. The first International Movies channel to be ceased on Astro.
Zee Variasi ceased broadcasting and transmission on Astro on 1 October 2016 at midnight. Replaced by a new Hindi HD channel called Tara HD on 19 October 2016.
CCTV News rebranded to CGTN on New Year's Eve (31 December) 2016 at 12:00pm.
2017
ITV Choice ceased broadcasting and transmission on Astro on 16 January 2017 at 12:15am due to low viewership.
FOX Sports News' broadcast on Astro GO ceased transmission and broadcasting on 29 April 2017.
Astro Bella ceased broadcasting and transmission on 1 October 2018 at midnight due to low viewership. Replaced by Naura HD on the same package with completely different content.
EVE was discontinued and terminated on 1 November 2018.
Lifetime and FYI ceased broadcasting on 14 December 2018.
2019
Astro Maya HD ceased broadcasting and transmission on 14 January 2019 at midnight. The programs were later carried by both Astro Prima, Astro Oasis, Astro Prima HD and Astro Oasis HD channels which are HD and it’s available to all Astro customers. For NJOI customers, the HD version is made optional by purchasing the HD pack, while making the SD version available on different channel numbers.
The SD version of Disney XD ceased broadcasting and transmission on 1 March 2019. The HD version of this channel remained until 1 January 2021 due to a review of Disney's business in the region and was replaced by TA-DAA HD on 15 March 2021.
Channel NewsAsia rebranded to CNA on 29 March 2019 as the channel celebrated its 20th anniversary.
Astro Xi Yue HD ceased broadcasting and transmission on 1 July 2019 at midnight because the Overseas event channel would be aired on Channel 338. Replaced by iQIYI HD 17 days later on the same channel number (Channel 300). It is the first Chinese HD channel to be ceased on Astro.
A-List HD ceased broadcasting and transmission on 2 August 2019 at midnight due to low viewership, but its Astro OD (On Demand) service continued.
Tara HD was discontinued and terminated on 1 October 2019. Replaced by Colors Hindi HD 6 hours later.
2020
Diva and E! (along with their HD feeds) ceased broadcasting on 1 January 2020. They are the first historic channels to cease on Astro. Their shows were moved to Hello HD .
Setanta Sports HD was rebranded to RugbyPass TV HD on 29 January 2020.
Astro Vaanavil was upgraded from SD to HD on 1 June 2020, and made available for all Astro customers. For NJOI customers, the HD version is made optional by purchasing the HD pack, while retaining the SD version which is assigned to a different channel number.
The SD version of Astro First ceased broadcasting on 1 July 2020.
The SD version of Astro Best ceased broadcasting on 29 July 2020, while the HD version of the channel remained.
The SD versions of the Fox Sports channels and Eurosport ceased broadcasting on 16 November 2020, while the HD versions of the channels remained.
The SD versions of the Astro SuperSport channels ceased broadcasting on 30 November 2020, while the HD versions of the channels remained.
2021
Disney Junior HD, Disney Channel HD and Disney Channel ceased broadcasting on 1 January 2021 due to the television provider's refreshed Kids Pack on 14 December 2020 and the launch of Disney+ Hotstar in Malaysia on 1 June 2021 and were replaced by Nick Jr. HD and Boomerang HD which launched on the same date. Disney XD HD ceased broadcasting and transmission on New Year's Day (1 January) 2021 at midnight due to the review of Disney's business in this region and was replaced by TA-DAA! HD on 15 March 2021. These are the second Kids channels and the first HD Kids channels to be ceased on Astro.
Comedy Central ceased broadcasting on 1 February 2021. It was replaced by BBC Lifestyle HD on the same channel number on 15 September of the same year.
Almost all SD channels in Astro ceased broadcasting because most channels were fully switched to all HD channels on 1 March 2021.
Astro Awani launches the HD version of their channel on 29 March 2021. While the upgrade from SD to HD is made available for all Astro customers, NJOI customers will still continue to enjoy the channel in SD version on different channel number and HD version are made optional by purchasing the HD pack.
Aniplus on Astro Go ceased broadcasting on 1 April 2021 due to low viewership while its VOD service remained operational until 11 April 2021.
Hello HD ceased broadcasting on 30 September 2021 and was replaced by Lifetime HD and PRIMEtime HD which were launched on 15 September 2021 and Discovery Science HD ceased broadcasting at the same date due to review of the channel performance and replaced by BBC Earth HD. They were the first Learning channels to be ceased on Astro. On the same date, ART Variety was replaced with ART Movies before ceasing transmission on 1 June 2022.
Naura HD officially ceased broadcasting and transmission on 31 January 2022 at 11:59:59pm because due to Naura content on its Astro GO app and its VOD service continued reserved.
Astro Tutor TV PT3 and Astro Tutor TV SPM will merge into a single channel named Astro Tutor TV SMK HD on channel 603 starting 1 April 2022. Astro Tutor TV PT3 cease transmission and Astro Tutor TV SPM rebranded as Astro Tutor TV SMK HD On the same day, TVBS News HD, Astro AOD 353, Astro AOD 355 and Makkal TV ceased transmission and Astro Tutor TV SK and OKEY will be upgraded to HD on channels 601 and 146.
Astro Vellithirai on Astro GO ceased transmission on 14 April 2022 at 1:00am, with the channel upgraded to HD on the same day.
Oh!K HD officially ceased broadcasting and transmission on 31 May 2022 when K-PLUS HD became available on Astro channel 396, along with ART Movies.
KIX HD officially ceased broadcasting and transmission on 1 July 2022 at 12:59:15am.
eGG Network HD officially ceased broadcasting and transmission on 23 January 2023 while retaining their social media pages. Programs carried by that channel and esports content were transferred to Astro Arena HD and Astro Arena 2 HD.
SHOWCASE Movies HD was renamed to SHOWCASE HD, while PRIMEtime HD ceased transmission on 4 September 2023.
Astro Xiao Tai Yang HD ceased transmission and was transitioned to its VOD service on 4 September 2023. Selected programs will be broadcast on Astro AEC HD the following morning.
Astro Tutor TV SK HD and Astro Tutor TV SMK HD merged into a single channel named Astro Tutor TV HD on channel 603 starting 4 September 2023.
All Go Shop HD Channels (111, 118 And 303) Ceased Transmission On 11 October 2023 Due To Shopping Trends Declined.
2024
Paramount Network HD ceased broadcasting and transmission on 1 April 2024 and replaced by HITS Now HD. As part of TVB's restructuring, Astro AOD 352 and 354, TVB Magic HD ceased broadcasting and the TVBAnywhere+ application was removed on the same date as well.
Awesome TV (Channel 123) ceased broadcasting and transmission on 1 August 2024.
All Astro SuperSport HD channels (805 (UHD), 811, 812, 813 and 814) ceased broadcasting & transmission on 17 October 2024 and were replaced by Astro Sports UHD (805), Astro Grandstand HD (810), Astro Premier League HD (811), Astro Premier League 2 HD (812), Astro Football HD (814), Astro Badminton HD (815) and Astro Sports Plus HD (817) on the same day.
Astro Premier HD ceased broadcasting and transmission on 20 November 2024. Programming will be carried on Astro Citra HD.
Astro Warna HD ceased broadcasting and transmission on 3 December 2024. Programming will be carried on Astro Prima HD.
2025
WWE Network HD ceased broadcasting and transmission on 1 January 2025.
DreamWorks Channel HD ceased broadcasting and transmission on 1 February 2025 after barely 2 years of broadcasting and replaced by Blippi & Friends.
Channel [V] International HD, Channel [V] Taiwan and FOX Crime HD ceased broadcasting and transmission at midnight, 1 June 2018 due to low rating. The first Chinese Channel to cease on Unifi TV, However, FOX Crime HD shows aired on FOX HD. It was replaced by CJ WOW SHOP HD and Dunia Sinema HD.
1News ceased broadcasting and transmission at midnight, 1 July 2018 due to low popularity.
HyppSports HD and HyppSports 2 HD ceased broadcasting and transmission at midnight, 1 August 2018 as ASN program suppliers ceased operations in Malaysia and Singapore, replaced by Sports Illustrated TV until its ceased broadcasts on 1 May 2019.
TVB8 HD and Stingray iConcerts HD were discontinued and terminated at midnight, on 1 September 2018. Second Chinese Channel to cease on Unifi TV.
UTV Movies and Animax HD ceased broadcasting and transmission at midnight, on 1 July 2020 due to the low popularity of Animax HD, but relaunched on 1 October 2021. Replaced by YuppThirai HD.
2021
Comedy Central HD officially ceased broadcasting and transmission on 1 February 2021 but Comedy Central On Demand is still available. Replaced by GEM HD starting 1 October 2021.
The 2021 Summer Olympics ceased broadcasting and transmission on 8 August 2021. Replaced by Unifi Sports HD.
Blue Ant Entertainment HD and Blue Ant Extreme HD were rebranded to ROCK Entertainment HD and ROCK Extreme HD on 1 September 2021.
SCM Legend HD, SCM HD, Star Chinese Channel HD, FOX Movies, FOX Action Movies, FOX Family Movies, FOX, FX, FOXlife, National Geographic, National Geographic Wild, Nat Geo People HD, BabyTV, Sky News, FOX Sports HD, FOX Sports 2 HD and FOX Sports 3 HD officially ceased broadcasting and transmission in October 2021. The shows from these terminated channels are now carried by Disney+ Hotstar.
2022
Sony MAX, Sony SAB and Sony SET officially ceased broadcasting and transmission on 1 January 2022.
Now Baogu Movies HD On Demand ceased broadcasting and transmission in June 2022.
LAKU Mall HD ceased broadcasting and transmission on 1 February 2023.
TechStorm HD and Arirang HD ceased broadcast and transmission on 1 February 2023, barely 16 months after the channel launched. Replaced by ONE HD and Moonbug Kids HD. The first Korean channel to cease transmission on Unifi TV.
