According to the Nielsen Media Index survey, the onslaught of the global economic recession last 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. 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 on 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 strongly. According to Chang Long Jong, deputy CEO, Television, MediaCorp, their channels still attract as many viewers during primetime (7pm–12midnight) and enjoy close to 70 percent of total TV audience share during primetime, comparable to 2009. 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. The 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 have garnered 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. Youth in Singapore (15–24) show stronger preference for movies, dramas and variety shows, especially Taiwan produced idol dramas. Cable 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. Currently, StarHub’s cable TV customer base stands at 537,000. Digital customers now make up 100 percent of the total pay TV customer base. 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.