According to the latest Nielsen Media Index survey, the onslaught of the global economic recession in the past year has not had a significant impact on media consumption habits in Singapore. Traditional media consumption levels have been maintained, while the internet has continued to thrive in this challenging environment. The latest annual Media Index report from The Nielsen Company, which surveyed 4, 687 adults aged 15 and above in Singapore from July 2008-June 2009 showed that consumption of newspapers, television, cable, magazines, and radio have remained stable, with close to eight in 10 (78 percent) adults on average tuning in to terrestrial TV on a daily basis. From Universal McCann’s raw audience data from TNS Infosys collected for two-week periods randomly selected across 2009, viewership is showing consistent improvements, possibly in light of Singaporeans spending less time out of home as part of decreasing discretionary expenditure. Free-To-Air Despite the emergence of new platforms and channels in recent years in Singapore’s TV landscape, MediaCorp’s free-to-air channels continue to perform as strongly as before in the face of fierce competition, garnering about 93 percent weekly reach on all channels. According to Chang Long Jong, deputy CEO, Television, MediaCorp, their channels still attract as many viewers during primetime (7pm-12 midnight) and enjoy close to 70 percent of total TV audience share during primetime, comparable to last year. Local Chinese dramas continue to top the ratings charts, with Housewives’ Holiday and Reunion Dinner constantly reaching out to more than one million viewers (P4+). Major ‘live’ events and variety specials including the Star Awards 2009, Lunar New Year Eve’s Special 2009, National Day Parade and SingTel F1 Singapore Grand Prix also achieved very high ratings, reaching out to between one and two million viewers aged four and above. Indeed, according to Nielsen, Channel 8 remains the station with the highest viewership at 49 percent. Together with Channel U and Channel 5, which held their respective forts with average daily reach of 32 percent and 28 percent respectively, these channels were the three most watched terrestrial channels. Channel News Asia, stable at 22 percent, remains the top choice among the Professionals and Managers segment, reaching two in five (42 percent). Maintaining its average daily reach at seven percent, Suria is still the top channel among the Malay community, reaching three in five of people in that segment. What previously was Central has split into two channels: standalone okto and Vasantham, and both of these specialised channels have done well to garner six percent and four percent average daily viewership respectively. okto is watched by 10 percent of the 15-24 age group, who now make up a third of its audience (34 percent). On the other hand, Vasantham reaches 45 percent of the local Indian population, who form more than nine in 10 (93 percent) of its audience. “In times of recession when saving money and cost cutting becomes crucial, stay at home activities like turning to the media such as print, television, or radio becomes an attractive option as it is inexpensive and readily available,” said Rebecca Tan, executive director for Media Group, The Nielsen Company Singapore. Starcom Singapore notes that Chinese terrestrial channels remain the most well-watched, and although Channel 5 daily reach may fall behind Channel U, its Past Week reach surpassed that of Channel U. Top 10 highest-rated programs are mainly from Channel 8, being dramas and locally-produced variety shows. While local dramas remain top-watched among P4+ and P15+, local variety shows are popular among the general mass audience in Singapore. Youth in Singapore (15-24) show stronger preference for movies, dramas and variety shows, especially Taiwan produced idol dramas. PMEB’s tend to be more selective in their viewing, as they are likely to watch special events or programmes and prefer watching news/current affairs to keep themselves up to date. Meanwhile, homemakers are strong followers of 9pm local dramas, as well as local variety shows. Broadcast of special events/programmes topped the viewership chart on Channel 5 (+15) from July to September 2009. However, omitting special programmes from the list, movies dominate the top 20 list. Top watched programmes on Channel 8 are usually the locally-produced drama series, with 9pm drama achieving higher viewership. Locally-produced variety shows (8pm) are relatively well watched by Channel 8 audiences. Top-rated shows on Channel U are mainly acquired programmes, while Korean dramas and Taiwan variety shows remain highly popular. Although terrestrial TV remains most-watched, it is losing viewing share to cable TV, notes Starcom Singapore. In Singapore, terrestrial TV dominates with about two-third of total audience viewing share. However, its share has been decreasing over the years, from 76 percent in 2001 to 61.5 percent in 2009 ( down 14.5 percentage point in eight years). Starcom Singapore added that while TV remains one of the highest reach mediums, its weekly viewership has been on a decreasing trend, with the gradual increase in internet and cable TV consumption over the years. The latest industry survey (Nielsen Media Index, 2008, 2009 – ‘TV viewed yesterday’) shows that the cable TV subscriber base is likely to have grown in 2009. “This could be due to changes in Singapore demographics as a result of new residents in Singapore,” the report stated. Pay TV In Singapore, half of the adult population has access to cable TV and cable continues to attract 38 percent of local adult viewers on a daily basis, and close to half (48 percent) on a weekly basis. Studies show that individuals in cable TV households view an average of more than two hours of cable TV programmes daily on multiple channels (source: Nielsen Media Index 2008, Nielsen Media Research). Indeed, Singapore’s cable TV business has grown over the years. As of end September 2009, StarHub’s cable TV customer base stood at 535,000. Digital customers now make up 100 percent of the total pay TV customer base. The number of channels offered by StarHub has grown significantly over the years, with over 130 channels to cater to customers’ viewing needs, including key genres such as Education, Entertainment, News, Sports, Kids and Lifestyle. Ong Bee Lian, StarHub’s vice president of home solutions said, “We understand that our customers lead active lifestyles, with varying habits and interest; therefore we are constantly innovating and ensuring that our content are readily accessible on as many platforms as possible.” “The cable TV market is unique as it has very targeted audience segments. In my view, this gives advertisers the flexibility to accurately reach out to their various customer segments, with messages appropriately tailored to their differing needs,” adds Ong. Rival telco SingTel says it is making significant progress in its transformation to becoming a multimedia service solutions provider through the introduction of new content and multimedia services. During Q3, mio TV, SingTel’s pay TV service, attracted 25,000 new customers to reach 126,000 as at 30 September 2009. In August, Football Frenzy, Singapore’s first multimedia social football experience was made available to fans on SingTel’s mio TV, online and mobile platforms. With 18,000 net customers added in the quarter, the total customer base for mio Plan and mio Home bundles grew to 152,000 as at 30 September 2009. Allen Lew, CEO Singapore, said: “Our distinctive initiatives to differentiate ourselves from the market have proven successful with strong acquisitions of mobile and mio TV customers in the quarter. We will continue to lead and shape the market. “In a game-changing move, SingTel secured the rights to broadcast the Barclays Premier League for three seasons starting in 2010 and also a suite of ESPN STAR Sports channels. And this will significantly enhance our competitiveness.” Mobile Mobile phones are a necessity among the Singapore population today, with nine in 10 adults owning at least one mobile phone, reports Nielsen. However, gone are the days when mobile phones were used mainly for their primary function of verbal communication. Consistent across all generations, the Short Message Service (SMS) is reportedly the top feature used in the Past Week (equivalent to the average weekly usage), followed by the camera. “Generation Y users are the key drivers in terms of mobile features usage. As in the case of the internet, Generation Y mobile phone users are more likely to use their mobile for entertainment and keeping in touch compared to the more mature Generation X and Baby Boomers. They are more likely to play games, listen to music and the radio, use multimedia messaging (MMS), instant messaging and video stream,” noted Nielsen’s Tan. She added, “Comparatively, Generation X is more likely to use the organiser/PDA function and listen to the radio. While they also play games, MMS, download and instant message, usage levels are pretty similar to the average population.” The more traditional Baby Boomers generally show low levels of usage of other features apart from SMS. More than one in five use the camera and slightly more than 10 percent use the organiser/PDA function, Bluetooth and listen to music. Internet The internet has further widened its reach amongst adults in Singapore. Today, almost three in five (59 percent) adults go 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. Although email and general surfing remain the top two activities performed online, the two internet functions of connectivity and entertainment are fast gaining popularity amongst the population. The Nielsen Media Index reports higher numbers participating in social networks and internet messaging, as well as accessing multimedia clips such as videos or music. “There is almost a two-fold increase in the number of people joining social networking sites – from 12 percent last year to 23 percent this year,” observed Nielsen’s Tan. “Instant messaging is also a fast-growing platform for people to keep in touch. We are seeing at least one in four adults in Singapore using this function on a monthly basis – a growth of three percent from the previous year.” Facilitated by faster broadband speed and connection, more people across all age groups have also caught onto watching videos, movies, television programs (+6 percent), as well as accessing news/current affairs (+5 percent) on the internet with average monthly usage reaching 31 percent and 24 percent respectively. While the email function remains the most common feature used in the Past Month (equivalent to the average monthly usage) regardless of age, different generations have shown to embrace different internet features to a different extent. Nielsen Media Index shows that the younger group of 15-29 years old, or Generation Y as they are known, are more internet-savvy and go online to fulfill a broader spectrum of purposes, with a higher inclination to use it for their entertainment and social networking needs. “Among the most popular internet activities indulged by the Y Generation are watching movies/TV/videos, listening to music and playing games, and participating in social networking and instant messaging,” noted Tan. “In fact, more than four in 10 of these Generation Y youngsters are now engaging in these activities on a monthly basis.” “Generation X members (30-44 years old) on the other hand tend to log on to the internet more for gathering news and information, be it for corporate information, product and services information or to get their daily dose of happenings. Information and news gathering ranks among their top five most used web feature. However, a sizeable number of between 20-30 percent among the Generation X group also go online for entertainment and social networking purposes. ” The more mature Baby Boomers (aged 45-59) are much more practical and comparatively less keen on the features popular with the younger X and Y Generations, such as entertainment and staying in touch, which registered much lower levels of usage. Ad spend According to Starcom Singapore, advertising expenditure in Singapore remains in healthy growth level in 2008, with 5.9 percent increase in adspend compared to 2007. However YOY (2008 vs 2009) registered a 9.7 percent drop. Rajesh Mahtani, executive director, strategy and analytics, Southeast Asia of Starcom MediaVest Group said, “TV and newspaper garnered highest share of ad revenue. With the re-merger of the broadcast giants in 2004, share of ad revenue for TV has been decreasing, now stabilised at 35 percent share.” He continues, “TV adspend increased by 7.6 percent in 2008 compared to previous year. However, a drop in TV spending is expected in 2009, with the hit of the economic slowdown since end 2008.” “Although YOY (2008 vs 2009) TV adspend has been down by -10.5 percent in 2009, we can expect closing of this deficit gap by end 2009 as news on economic recovery may help to boost market sentiments,” notes Mahtani.