Traditional media still tops in Singapore, but web keeps rising

• Nielsen release Media Index survey
• Mass media still performing well
• Online continues to thrive

Singapore - According to the latest Nielsen Media Index survey the economic recession has not had a significant impact on consumers' media consumption habits in Singapore, with traditional media consumption levels maintained, while the internet has continued to thrive in the challenging environment.

The internet has further widened its reach amongst adults in Singapore with almost three in five (59%) adults going online on a daily basis - an increase of three percentage points compared to a year ago. Internet usage has jumped four percentage points amongst the young to mature (15-54 years old) while remaining stable among the older group aged 55 and above.

The Index also showed that print readership remains healthy in light of the economic backdrop, with any daily readership maintaining at three-quarters (75%) of the local population. Paid papers did well to sustain their respective readership, whereas free papers gained popularity during this belt-tightening period with readers turning to them not as substitutes but as complimentary sources of information.

"More people who are reading paid papers are reading the free papers as well. The free papers have also attracted other English paper readers, especially the bilingual My Paper which was launched with the aim of giving English readers more exposure to the Chinese language,"Rebecca Tan, executive director for Media Group, The Nielsen Company Singapore, said.

An increasing number of adults in Singapore are also continuing to take up reading of newspapers online.  

"Apart from ST online, we're also seeing growth from other online titles like Today and The New Paper. Our findings show that increase in online newspaper reading is contributed mainly by readers in the 15 to 54 age group, which registered a significant three percent increase. Between the local dailies with both print and online editions, majority of readers are still exclusive hardcopy readers or reading both exclusive readership of the online edition is still small," Tan said.

Magazines have managed to hold up their performance in the past year and continue to retain their niche. Chinese weeklies I-Weekly and UW maintain their reach at 6% and 5% readership respectively, while their English counterpart 8-Days continues to be read by 4% of the local population.

Women's magazines also manage to retain their loyal following with Her World (5%), Cleo (4%), Female (4%), Women's Weekly (3%) and Simply Her (2%) being the most popular titles. Close to eight in 10 (78%) adults on average continue to tune in to terrestrial TV on a daily basis.

Channel 8 remains the station with the highest viewership at 49%. Together with Channel U and Channel 5 who held their respective forts with average daily reach at 32 percent and 28 percent respectively, these channels were the three most watched terrestrial channels.

Half of the adult population has access to cable TV and cable continues to attract 38% of local adult viewers on a daily basis, and close to half (48%) on a weekly basis.

Big-screen viewership, similar to small-screen, has also maintained. Media Index findings show that average weekly cinema visits has remained stable at 11%. Over nine in 10 (95%) adults in Singapore also continue to tune in to listen to a radio station on a weekly basis.

Outdoor media is also still solid with Singaporeans continuing to ride buses, MRT, and use taxis. Overall public transport usage remains stable, with the exception of taxis which shows a small decline to 23%.

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