VAP-TV18

{{Short description|Tongan television channel}}

VAP-TV18, also known as Vision of Pilolevu was a Tongan television channel owned by Siaosi Polutele Guttenbeil. The channel started terrestrial broadcasts in August 1983 in NukuʻalofaDo-it-yourself and Pay TV in Tonga, Pacific Islands Communication Journal, January/February 1984 being the first such television station in the country. Polutele had a three-hour-a-day - but not daily - schedule New vision for Tonga, Islands Business, October 1983 in what was considered to be a "do-it-yourself" format. Polutele had 20 years of experience in the field of television, working at television stations in New Zealand and as a TV repairman in the United States. The programming was entirely local: sports, news and current affairs. The television signal used by VAP-TV18 would reach a maximum of 100 television sets, aiming to cover the entirety of the island of Tongatapu. Startup costs for operation were estimated to be worth $10,000, with no charge to viewers, with the signal being entirely free-to-air. The station was supported by advertising, something a future competitor, ASTL-TV3, refused to carry until 1991.{{cite web|url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000137721|date=September 1993|title=PACIFIC REGIONAL TELEVISION SURVEY PROJECT – 352lRASl21 (PAC TEL)|publisher=UNESCO|first1=J.E.|last1=Bentley|first2=D.|last2=Hermanson|first3=V.V.|last3=Rao|accessdate=February 13, 2024}}

By September 1984, both stations were operating on a verbal agreement issued by the government to carry out their services as a subscription, which was locally known as a "club membership".{{cite web |title=Media Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NTRSAQAAIAAJ&q=%22VAP+TV18%22 |access-date=13 February 2024 |website=Google Books |date=1994 }} In early 1987, VAP-TV18 folded as the station had been broadcasting on an irregular basis for a few months by that point. With the closure of the service, Polutele reverted to his former business of repairing equipment.{{cite web |title=Pacific Magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fbgVAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Siaosi+Polutele%22+%221983%22 |access-date=13 February 2024 |website=Google Books |date=1987 }}