Nielsen: Media Consumption Levels in Singapore Remain Healthy

The number of exclusive Internet users continues to remain small at 6% as 9 in 10 people still turn to either newspapers or the television daily for news and entertainment.

The latest annual Media Index report from The Nielsen Company showed that media consumption across the board remains at similar levels as last year. Newspaper and TV each continues to reach more than seven in 10 people on an average daily while Cable Television, Magazine and Travel consumption patterns remain stable.

The research firm surveyed 4,862 adults aged 15 and above in Singapore from July 2009 to June 2010.

Rebecca Tan, Executive Director, Media Group, The Nielsen Company Singapore, said, “Just like
offline media, people go online mainly for information, news and entertainment. Though this pool of
people is growing, only a very small group will forgo the usual offline means and use the Internet
exclusively. Most people still consume offline media like newspapers and TV, with the Internet as a
complement.”

Newspaper Daily

General readership of newspapers remained high at 73% while readership of English dailies dipped slightly to 47%. Chinese daily readership, meanwhile, is stable at 29%.

Singapore’s highest read daily paper The Straits Times topped the list at 36%, with three in five PMEB (Professionals/Managers/Executives/Businessman), reading the paper.

“Newspapers remain a staple part of people’s media diet,” Tan said. “People continue to use this
medium to satisfy their appetite for news and information amidst the various media available these
days.”

Internet Usage

Internet usage of the average adult in Singapore remains unchanged from a year ago, with 61% of the population using it on an average daily.

The study noted, however, that more than six in 10 youth are engaging in social networking (67%) and chatting (58%) weekly.

“While the average adult follows blogs, activities such as blogging, ‘tweeting,’ posting of photos, etc.,
are more likely among the younger audience. This group contributes and distributes content online,”
said Tan.

Among the population in general, participation in Social Networking sites has taken off in a big way,
registering an 8.5 percentage-point increase from last year.

Mobile Internet and Mobile Email usage in the past week are also on the rise, reaching 7% (+5%
points and +5.3% points respectively) this year. Added Tan, “We see more affordable data plan
packages, often up to 12GB, being offered by the telecommunication providers who want to cash in
on the popularity of iPhones and android phones to increase their subscription base.”

Television

Close to eight in 10 (78%) of adults watch local television channels on an average daily basis. Channel 8 keeps its position as the most watched station with 48% viewership, followed by Channel U at 31%.

Channel News Asia’s viewership remained stable at 22%. PMEBs are still the core viewers of the
channel, making up almost half of its audience (47%).

Cable TV viewership, meanwhile, remained stable, with 37% watching on an average daily basis, and
close to half (49%) of all adults watching on an average weekly basis.

“TV remains the mass entertainment choice for a broad spectrum of the public,” said Tan. “Local
channels remain as familiar favorites for people in Singapore, while cable TV’s variety of channels
caters to different interest groups, from education and travel, to lifestyle and entertainment.”