Guests in red (left pic) masked up for the ‘Wanita Hari Ini’ show while shows on the right a host is seen with finalists from the ‘Muzik-Muzik 36’ show. — Pictures courtesy of Media Prima Follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates.

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PETALING JAYA, March 17 —  Some of the nation’s local TV productions are still complying with strict Covid-19 guidelines for their in-house “live” shows as the country is transitioning into the endemic phase.

While many of these TV stations had to work remotely during the first movement control order (MCO) in 2020, some of these rules have changed with them adopting online and “live” interview sessions while limiting the number of guests for shows.

Malay Mail spoke to Astro and Media Prima Bhd to gain an insight on how their “live” shows — both news and entertainment programmes are coping following the National Security Council (MKN) and the Communications and Multimedia Ministry (KKMM) guidelines.

Adapting to remote news presentation

In an email interview with Malay Mail, Astro’s director of content Agnes Rozario said the team had to fully adapt to remote news presentations from the first MCO.

“While our Astro Awani and Astro AEC news talents do not need to host from home anymore, virtual interviews have become the norm and a positive outcome for us as we can conduct more interviews with subjects from all over the world.”

Mandatory procedures for staff including implementation of work rotation basis

Agnes added that some of the mandatory requirements for staff and guests was the wearing of face masks, physical distancing and only allowing those who were fully vaccinated to be on production sets.

“Weekly tests for our crew working on site ensure continuity of productions, while staff who test positive need to undergo the quarantine procedures before returning to work. 

“Other safety initiatives in our productions include special procedures for hair, makeup,  wardrobe, and microphone handling in an effort to minimise cross-contamination and practice split teams on a rotation basis to ensure continuity of production.

“Moving much of the pre-production work and planning online has enabled us to reduce the number of in-person meetings,” she said.

Media Prima Television Networks and Primeworks Studios chief executive officer Datuk Khairul Anwar Salleh said the team has been strictly complying with the government’s SOPs.

“Apart from the usual government SOPs and guidelines, all our staff and working crew members are fully vaccinated and need to perform the RTK tests periodically.

“But now, in terms of our ‘live’ talk shows, only working crew, a limited number of guests and panelists are allowed on set as we practice restricting the number of people according to the studio size or working space.

“The production still prefers having guests virtually or google-meet during ‘live’ telecasts while staff and working crew members who are fully vaccinated have to perform the RTK test periodically.”

Lesser number of guests allowed to enter live shows and in-house talk shows

For Media Prima Bhd, the first “live” entertainment show award since the MCO, was held on December 8 last year.

It was the Anugerah Drama Sangat that included both celebrities and fans in the audience.

“The number of attendees in accordance with the SOPs were limited to help curb the spread of Covid-19,” said Khairul. 

“Invited guests were required to do the RTK antigen test before being permitted into the event hall and had to be fully vaccinated.

“Even for the recent prestigious Anugerah Juara Lagu 36 that was held this March 6, guests also needed to be double vaccinated and take the mandatory RTK antigen test.”

He added that the in-house talk shows such as Malaysia Hari Ini, Wanita Hari ini, Melodi and Money Matters, guests were welcomed back to the studio as long as they followed the SOPs in place in accordance with relevant health orders.

Premises sanitised and contact tracing if staff catches Covid-19

The chief executive officer added that if a positive case was identified among its staff members, contact tracing was done immediately while the premises will be sanitised.

“The case in question will then undergo the RTK testing and quarantine themselves following the SOP’s from the Health Ministry.”

Difficulties and future plans for ‘live’ TV productions under new SOPs

Khairul said the pandemic has not only created hurdles for production crews due to them having to comply with safety precautions but also respond to the various challenges.

“For example, most of our guest interviews are conducted online via google meet or via conference call.

“But if the internet or wifi connection is stable, this could be a problem and a pre-recorded interview will be done instead,” he said.

He said the team was constantly re-aligning and re-thinking processes in order to adapt to the ‘new normal’ but priority would always be the safety of their staff.

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