The channel features mostly news, talk shows and documentaries and some in-house, local and international kids, drama and sports programming.

[7] On 8 May 1962, Mohamad Sopiee announced that the first television station would be built in Kuala Lumpur, covering the states of Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.

[10] Programmes were scheduled to start in December a one-channel service (Singapore had two channels under Malaysian rule) covering a radius of 15 miles from the capital.

[13] The prime minister of the time Tunku Abdul Rahman announced on 27 November 1963 that Televisyen Malaysia would start broadcasting on 28 December 1963.

[23] In late April, work started for another relay station at Gunong Banang in Batu Pahat.

[32] On 13 July 1966, the state of Sabah approved plans for the extension of the television service, specifically in Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu) and Sandakan.

As of then, the service in East Malaysia was still under consideration[35] - at the time, plans for the Sabah station were outlined for it to begin operations in 1970, worth $10 million.

[40] In 1973, it was suggested that English-language programming should be phased out in favor of increased local output, with the target being 60% for both channels.

[44] National broadcasts to Sabah and Sarawak start an hour early at 7:30 pm Peninsular Malaysia time on 7 May 1979.

[46] In late 1987,[47] TV1 along with TV2 revamped their programming to compete with rival TV3 with movies, American serials and Chinese dramas.

[49] In the wake of the report, TV1 switched to an all-Malay channel in stages, beginning 31 August 1987 [50] with the move of RTM's English news broadcast to TV2 and expected to be completed in late 1987.

[59] However, entertainment programmes were not aired in the daytime in which the then-Information Minister, Mohamed Rahmat said that it would "contrary to a concept of creating the hardworking society".

[67] In April 1995, TV1 and its sister channel, TV2 facing a disruption of broadcast transmissions for two hours due to power surge after Tenaga Nasional's cables went damaged.

[70][71] Most of the local programming on TV1 in 1998 were provided by Home Video Distributors (HVD), Wayang Tinggi and Eurofine.

[74] A similar proposal made in November 1998, meant to start in January 1999, was to "cut operating costs" and would save RM30 million.

[74] In April 2001, in conjunction with RTM's 55th anniversary, TV1 and TV2 underwent restructuring on their respective scheduling time to adapt with current situation.

[75] On 1 January 2003, TV1 and its sister channel, TV2 underwent programme reschedulling in order to "give a satisfaction" to its viewers and to attract its advertisers.

[89][90] On 1 January 2009, RTM1 along with its sister channel RTM2 reverted to its old primary name, which has been used since 1990, and at the same time, their respective new logo was introduced.

[94] On 1 April 2019, TV1 has started its HDTV broadcasting in conjunction of RTM's 73rd anniversary, and available exclusively through myFreeview DTT service on channel 101.