SINGAPORE: Free-to-air television continues to be the top platform for local audiences to consume news and entertainment, according to the annual Nielsen Media Index Report released on Thursday (Nov 3).
The report said 85.5 per cent of local viewers tuned in to free-to-air television on an average weekly basis, while pay TV had a weekly viewership of 51.7 per cent.
The survey of 4,660 people aged 15 and above was conducted between July 2015 and June 2016.
Among Mediacorp’s TV offerings, Chinese-language Channel 8 maintained the highest weekly reach at 56.7 percent, or 2.4 million viewers. The English-language Channel 5 reached over four in 10 viewers weekly, while Channel NewsAsia was viewed by three in 10 adults weekly.
Except for okto, all other Mediacorp free-to-air TV channels registered increases in viewership ranging from 5.7 per cent to 46.6 per cent.
Overall, TV viewership grew 6 per cent from the same period last year.
“Even in the digital age, most Singaporeans prefer to consume news and entertainment through free-to-air TV. Channel NewsAsia’s reach, for example, grew significantly while Channel 8 remains the most watched channel. Across Mediacorp, we will continue to focus on creating content that is engaging, relatable and in tune with the times, and to delivering it to our audiences in all the ways they choose to consume it,” said Mr Chang Long Jong, deputy CEO of Mediacorp.
The survey also found that the use of the Internet continued to grow, with a monthly usage of 83.3 per cent. The increased usage came mainly from instant messaging, watching movies, TV, videos and news or accessing e-newspapers.
Close to two in 10 adults (18.4 per cent) accessed Channel NewsAsia’s website on a weekly basis, with 57.9 per cent of these online visitors being PMEBs (professionals, managers, executives and businessmen).
MediaCorp’s TODAY remains Singapore’s second most read daily newspaper. It had a combined average daily readership of 12.9 per cent. Its free print edition reached out to 11.2 per cent while its digital version reached out to 1.8 per cent on an average daily basis. TODAY also bucked the trend of declining newspaper readership – its print and digital version increased 3.6 per cent.
