Awards and charitable activity
At the 2002 Promax BDA Awards, SPH MediaWorks bagged a record four gold, six silver and one bronze awards, and was touted "Asia's Most Awarded TV Station", a first for a Singaporean group.[61]
On 4 December 2002, MediaWorks won the "Broadcaster of the Year" award at the 2002 Asia Television Awards. Channel U also bagged the "Channel of the Year" award.[62][63][64] Despite the wins, there were concerns from MediaWorks about potential attacks from MediaCorp.[65]
At the 2001 Asian Television Awards, SPH MediaWorks only won one award, with Channel U's The Big Challenge earning the Best Entertainment Programme award.[66] In January 2002, SPH MediaWorks barely managed to gain spots in the English and Chinese top tens. None of TVWorks' content reached the English ranking and in the Chinese ranking, only one programme from Channel U, A Kindred Spirit, reached sixth place (week from 13–19 January).[67]
Channel i News won the "Best News Programme" award at the Asian Television Awards on 4 December 2003.[68]
In January 2003, Channel U organised a charity show, Ren Ci Charity Show, in support of Ren Ci Hospital, shortly after being named the Broadcaster of the Year. The charity show featured SPH MediaWorks artistes and guest performers with entertainment and physical endurance segments to encourage the public to donate to the hospital. Channel 8 moved the PSC Nite Special to the night of the show, an hour ahead of its start, causing confusion and opposite arguments between the two broadcasters.[69] The charity raised $4.76 million, almost the double of the initially intended target of $2.5 million.[70] A Lianhe Zaobao editorial on 17 January revealed that MediaCorp disclosed its donation to the charity and denied its anonymity, over the broadcast of advertisements for Ren Ci Hospital during PSC Nite Special, airing at the same time as the competing telethon.[71]
