TV & Radio in Sabah: Channels and RTM Stations Guide
What TV channels and radio stations are there in Sabah?
Sabah's public television comes from RTM, including its TV Okey channel for Sabah and Sarawak, and the streaming platform Borneo.TV launched in 2025. RTM's Sabah radio stations are Sabah FM, Sabah VFM, Sandakan FM, Tawau FM and Keningau FM.
Broadcasting in Sabah
Broadcasting in Sabah is shaped by the state's geography and its many language communities. Television and radio here are dominated by RTM, Malaysia's government broadcaster, which carries national channels while also producing local content for Sabah audiences. Layered on top of that public-service base are newer offerings: a dedicated free-to-air channel for East Malaysia, and an online platform that tells Sabah's stories to the wider world.
Radio in particular reflects how spread out Sabah is. Rather than a single statewide station, RTM runs a network of regional FM stations, each serving a different part of the state and, in several cases, a different language audience. This network reaches from the coastal cities into the interior, where indigenous-language broadcasting plays an important role.
For a visitor, the practical takeaway is that you can expect both national Malaysian programming and a distinct layer of Sabah-specific content, whether you are watching television in Kota Kinabalu or tuning a car radio in the interior. The mix is deliberately local, with news bulletins, cultural programmes and indigenous-language segments built into the schedule.
Television channels
The backbone of television in Sabah is RTM (Radio Televisyen Malaysia), the government broadcaster. It carries its national channels in Sabah and supplements them with local content produced for the state.
RTM also runs TV Okey, a channel launched in Kota Kinabalu on 21 March 2018 for Sabah and Sarawak. At the launch, the government said it would carry more programmes in local languages such as Dusun and Bajau, not only Kadazan and Iban (NST, 21 March 2018).
RTM does not just relay national channels. Its TV Okey channel and Sabah VFM radio station carry programmes in Sabah's local languages.
Between RTM's public-service mix and TV Okey's regional focus, Sabah viewers have access to both nationwide programming and channels that speak directly to East Malaysian life.
Online video platforms
Beyond broadcast television, Sabah has Borneo.TV, a streaming platform launched by the Chief Minister on 1 July 2025. It is run by a private company, IB Media Consultant Work Sdn Bhd, without state funding. Its slogan, "Cerita Sabah di Mata Dunia" (Sabah Stories Through the Eyes of the World), reflects its aim to carry documentaries, arts, culture and nature content about Sabah (Bernama, 1 July 2025). When we checked on 7 October 2026, the borneo.tv website was redirecting to a holding page, so check its status before relying on it.
Borneo.TV reflects a wider shift in how regional stories reach viewers. Where RTM and TV Okey rely on scheduled broadcast, an online platform can publish to anyone with an internet connection, anywhere in the world, on demand. For a state with as much natural and cultural appeal as Sabah, that is a useful complement to broadcast television, giving travellers and the curious a window into the destination before they ever arrive.
For anyone researching Sabah's landscapes, wildlife or cultural traditions, Borneo.TV's documentary and travel focus makes it a natural counterpart to the news-and-lifestyle emphasis of the broadcast channels.
RTM Sabah radio stations
Radio in Sabah is led by RTM stations. Sabah FM is the state station, and Sabah VFM caters to Sabah's various languages (Bernama, 15 August 2024). Three district stations cover population centres outside the capital. Frequencies vary by area, so check RTM's own channels for the one near you.
| Station | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sabah FM | State station | Relayed by the district stations overnight |
| Sabah VFM | State station | Caters to Sabah's various languages |
| Sandakan FM | District station | Local broadcasts 6am to 7pm |
| Tawau FM | District station | Local broadcasts 6am to 7pm |
| Keningau FM | District station | Local broadcasts 6am to 7pm |
The district stations, Sandakan FM, Tawau FM and Keningau FM, run local programmes from 6am to 7pm and then relay Sabah FM and Nasional FM until 6am (Bernama, 13 February 2023). Keningau FM is the interior station of the three.
Languages and regional reach
The breadth of Sabah's radio network is one of its defining features. When RTM standardised the hours of five of its community radio stations in 2023, three of them were in Sabah (the others were Labuan FM and Langkawi FM) (Bernama, 13 February 2023), a reflection of the state's geographic spread and linguistic diversity.
That network is not just about coverage; it is about language. Sabah VFM caters to Sabah's various languages, and in 2024 the Sabah Information Department used it to broadcast National Month announcements in Bajau, Murut, Kadazan and Dusun (Bernama, 15 August 2024).
Taken together with the television channels and Borneo.TV, this radio network shows how Sabah's broadcast media tries to reach across both geography and language so that the state's diverse communities can all find programming in a familiar voice.