Asian Media Landscape Series - Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia

Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia
Asian Media Landscape Series
We Tell Your Story to the World

2Copyright © 2014 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Table of contents
Overview......................................5
Mass Media................................ 6
Newspapers.......................................................7
Television.............................................................8
Radio.................................................................11
Magazines & Journals...................................12
Social media....................................................17
Websites...........................................................18
Conclusion................................23
Highlights.................................25
Overview..................................................27
Media Profile...........................................28
Traditional Media.................................................................29
Print: Newspapers & Magazines...................................30
Broadcast: Television & Radio.........................................34
News Agencies......................................................................35
New Media.............................................................................36
Search Engines......................................................................38
Social Media: Social Networking, Blogs, Forums....39
Mobile & Tablet....................................................................42
Top Tips for Leveraging Content in Taiwan............44
Summary.................................................46
Hong Kong
P4 Taiwan
P26

Overview..................................49
Print Media..............................50
Broadcast Media.....................53
New Media..............................54
Overview.................................58
Print Media.............................59
Broadcast Media....................62
New Media............................. 63
Singapore
P48
Malaysia
P57
Taiwan
Hong Kong
Malaysia
Singapore

Overview
[1] International wire services with significant operations in Hong Kong include Agence FrancePresse, Bloomberg,
Dow Jones and Thomson Reuters.
[2] Hong Kong is the regional base for a number of international titles such as The Financial Times, The Wall Street
Journal Asia, USA Today International, International Herald Tribune and THE NIKKEI.
[3] International broadcasters with studios in Hong Kong include Channel News Asia, CNBC, CNN and Phoenix TV.
Hong Kong people are kept well informed by a vigorous media. They have a vast appetite for news
and this demand has given rise to a healthy and outward-looking press, radio, and television industry
that enjoys complete freedom of expression.
The availability of the latest telecommunications technology and keen interest in Hong Kong's affairs
have attracted many international news agencies
[1]
, newspapers
[2]
with international readership
and international broadcasters
[3]
to establish regional headquarters or representative offices here.
The production of regional media in Hong Kong underlines its importance as the financial, industrial,
trading and communications centre.
Two factors that attract media businesses is the freedom of information and the investment
opportunities that Hong Kong offers. Hong Kong is considered the freest economy in the world and
enjoys the most liberal media and multimedia environment in Asia, with an open investment regime
and unrestricted foreign ownership rules.

Mass Media
Daily 51
Periodicals 684
Domestic free television
programme service licensees 2
Domestic pay television
Non-domestic television
Government funded public
service broadcaster 1
Sound broadcasting licensees 4
Media Number
Hong Kong's mass media at the end of 2012
included:
Radio
3
Social media
5
Television
2
Magazines &
Journals
4
Websites
6
1
Newspapers

The newspaper market has also become more
competitive than ever with free newspapers gaining
stronger momentum in these years. According to
the Nielsen Media Index, Hong Kong people read an
average of two newspapers per day.
Hong Kong is home to many of Asia's biggest
English and Chinese language newspapers. The
territory has one of the world's largest press
industries and is a major centre for print journalism.
Currently there are sixteen Chinese newspapers
in Hong Kong: am730, Apple Daily, Headline Daily,
Hong Kong Commercial Daily, Hong Kong Daily News,
Hong Kong Economic Journal, Hong Kong Economic
Times, Metro Daily, Ming Pao Daily, Oriental Daily
News, Sing Pao Daily News, Sing Tao Daily News, Sky
Post, The Sun, Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po.
Newspapers1

The English media pool is very small versus the number of
local Chinese publications. There are three local English-
language newspapers: South China Morning Post, The
Standard [4]
and China Daily Hong Kong Edition and three
regional English-language newspapers: Wall Street Journal
Asia, Financial Times Asia and International New York Times
(previously the International Herald Tribune).
[4] The Standard, a free tabloid with a mass market strategy, is the most widely-circulated English newspaper.
According to independent surveys conducted by The
Chinese University of Hong Kong, South China
Morning Post and Ming Pao are the most
trusted newspapers in Hong Kong.
Headline Daily, Oriental Daily News, Apple Daily
and The Sun have the highest shares in the Hong
Kong newspaper market, while the Hong Kong
Economic Times is the best-selling ﬁnancial
newspaper.
Local Chinese and English
newspapers

Reading newspapers and magazines online has also become more common. Newspaper
reading habits via the use of mobile devices has increased by almost three times, from 3
percent to 11 percent between 2008/09 and 2010/11.
Reading News on Mobile Phone Increases Constantly
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
2008.7-2009.6 2009.1-2009.12 2009.7-2010.6 2010.1-2010.12 2010.7-2011.6

2
TV remains the primary medium for
Hong Kong people with an average
daily consumption time of 4.6 hours.
Hong Kong has two
broadcast television
stations, ATV and TVB. The
latter, launched in 1967, is currently
the predominant TV station
in the territory. Paid cable and
satellite television have also been
widespread.
Television

There are three main radio
stations in Hong Kong.
Radio Television Hong Kong
(RTHK) is a public broadcasting
organisation that is operated
as an independent department
by the government under
the commerce and economic
development bureau. Commercial
Radio Hong Kong along with
Metro Radio Hong Kong are
the only two commercial radio
broadcasting companies.
Radio3

Hong Kong is well served by a great variety of magazines
in Chinese, English and other languages; and by both local
and international publishers.
Some popular titles in each respective categories:
Magazines & Journals4
News & Comprehensive Magazines
The Mirror Yazhou Zhoukan
A high end monthly
magazine providing
news, political and
economic reviews.
A respected magazine
on Asian news, politics,
business and society.
Local magazines in
traditional Chinese

Life & Travel Magazines
Weekend Weekly Economic Digest
Capital MagazineU Magazine
HK Discovery Capital Weekly
A popular magazine
delivering life, travel
food and more.
A famous and authorative
magazine in Hong Kong
featuring economic reviews,
stocks, investment and
management.
A magazine covering
life, travel, health,
entertainment.
A business magazine
targeted at decision
makers, offering special
report, brand management,
enterprise and travel.
A magazine featuring
outdoors, sports, travel
and nature.
A magazine "for the rich
and powerful", offering
business news, stocks and
investment strategies.

Women & Fashion
ELLE Hong KongMarie Claire
Cosmopolitan HKJessica
Jessica Code
Hong Kong edition
of world famous
women's magazine.
Covering fashion,
beauty, ﬁtness, career,
relationships and life.
Top selling women's
fashion magazine in
Hong Kong.
Providing fashion,
fashion trends, beauty,
women's careers and
love tips.
A women magazine
featuring trends, fashion,
beauty and style.

Men & Fashion
HIM Men's Uno
JMEN Esquire
A magazine for men
covering life, leisure,
entertainment and
other content.
Interviews, Men's
fashion, trends, and life.
One of the popular
men's magazine
featuring fashion,
intuition, grooming
and attitude.
A Men's magazine
covering beauty,
fashion, clothing,
style, life and sex.

Entertainment & Celebrities
Computer & Technology
TVB Weekly
e-Zone Computerworld Hong Kong
Next Magazine Eastweek
The best-selling
celebrities magazine
in Hong Kong.
A consumer magazine
published weekly. It
focuses on computers,
business technologies
and other new
technologies.
A monthly magazine and mainly
focuses on information technology
and development, computer
hardware, computer industry and
mobile computing.
One of the top magazines
in Hong Kong offering news,
analysis, entertainment,
celebrities and more.
A very popular magazine
offering celebrities, gossips,
movie stars and more.

The digital landscape in Hong Kong is dynamic and constantly
evolving. Internet penetration rate in Hong Kong is about 69
percent. Social media is fast gaining popularity among Hong
Kong netizens. Over these years, social networking sites such
as Facebook, YouTube and discussion forums are gaining its
market share of visits. 94 percent users utilize social media
channels to "stay in touch", 74 percent to "gather information"
and 55 percent for "business networking".
Social media5
The proportion of Hong Kong netizens utilize social media
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Socialising with peers
Promote company
Business networking
Gather information
Stay in touch
74%
55%
94%
As of December 2012, about
75.7 percent of Internet
users in Hong Kong access
Facebook and making it
become the most popular
social networking site in the
city.

Websites6
Yahoo! Hong Kong
is the most visited
website in Hong
Kong for top news
and information.
It is revealed that more
than 60 percent of the
online audience in Hong
Kong are above the age of
35, indicating the internet
users are relatively more
mature compare to China.
Top Website Properties - Hong Kong
* See next page for the original chart

Source: comScore Media Metrix, 2013.03

Source: Online marketing, 2013.03
In terms of search
engine, Google Hong
Kong is highly used
by the internet users,
accounting for 65
percent market share
versus 33 percent
market share for
Yahoo! Hong Kong.

Among the local internet forums, Hong Kong Golden Forum and The Hong
Kong Discuss Forum are the most popular. The former focuses on topics related to
computer hardware and software, while the latter covers a variety of discussion topics.
The reason for bloggers in Hong Kong
to "blog" is to maintain relationships
and express themselves. Popular blog
sites include Xanga and Yahoo HK
Blogs. Xanga hosts weblogs, photo blogs,
and social networking proﬁles. Yahoo!
HK blogs are another very popular social
networking and personal communication
portal under Yahoo! in Hong Kong. Users can
create personal blogs, share photos, etc. The
site is in Chinese and features many celebrity
blogs.
Twitter has struggled in Hong Kong largely due to a very competitive social media scene.
Users log on to popular US platforms such as Facebook and other Chinese social media
platforms such as Sina Weibo, which appeals to the locals. Sina Weibo is one of the biggest
players in the social-media scene. It has more than 2 million users in Hong Kong, as of
November 2011.

Category with platforms which are relevant to the current digital sphere in Hong Kong
Source: AsiaDigitalMap

Conclusion
After The reuniﬁcation with China, Hong Kong media has continued to enjoy freedom of
communication and expression. There is little internet censorship in Hong Kong and no
government censorship in local and overseas publications. The city is the regional hub for
many international magazines and periodicals. Excellent communication networks enable
companies to reliably transmit and receive information at very low cost. The stringent
intellectual property protection enforcement is also an essential part for the media sector.
Hong Kong is a small place and the people are very sensitive to new trends.
Communications professionals can leverage on social
media tools to connect with their audience as it is a
fast and convenient. Unlike TV commercials, the cost of
delivering a message to its target market would now
be more affordable or almost for free. Word-of-mouth
creates substantial plays well and creates substantial
impact to a certain product and services.
Social media
becomes an
inevitable part of life
in Hong Kong and is
well accepted as an
effective business
strategy promotion
channel.

Therefore, digital and interactive agencies that create effective
social media campaigns have become more favorable among
the communicators who would like to take social media as an
important communication channel. Companies which utilize
social media may incorporate the following practise into some of
their communication channels. For instance, blogging to connect
users via corporate websites, tweeting to engage audience and
create instant communications, building Facebook community for
the target consumers to market its company, creating company
proﬁle for the business via LinkedIn and setting up a group, inviting
prospects and letting these people to connect, engage and to share
the same interest to a particular company or industry.
Nevertheless, majority of Hong Kong people are becoming more
selective about the level of personal information they share and
the types of information they sign up to. A company website is
the most valuable source of information the public use to look for
information about a brand. The print media versus social media
as the preferred channels to getting information changes depend
on cultures and demographics. The key is, communicators must
adapt the changing of media environment and deliver intelligent
messages and provide timely response via the preferred media
channels.
The lack of
knowledge
and skills
is one of the major
challenges for local
companies to take
social media as a
serious business
strategy.

Media in Hong
Kong generally
enjoys freedom of
expression.
Newspapers
remain
competitive due
to the distribution
of free newspapers.
Hong Kong is one
of the regional
bases for many
international
media, including
newspapers, wire
services, broadcasters,
and etc.
Apple Daily,
Oriental Daily,
South China
Morning Post and
Headline Daily are most
popular daily newspaper
in Hong Kong.
TVB Jade is the
main television
channel for general
households.
People here in
Hong Kong can
easily purchase
international
magazine titles.
Yahoo! Hong Kong
is widely used by
internet users for
gathering information.
Highlights:

Overview
One of the four "Asian Tigers", Taiwan is a vibrant democracy that is situated between
mainland China, Japan, and Philippines. Often overlooked is its media, which is
famed in the region as one of the freest. In fact, Taiwan's "Press Freedom Score" is
25, ranked just behind Japan's 22 and ahead of HK's 33 and China's 85. Therefore,
despite its geographical proximity and recent economic ties to mainland China and
Hong Kong, the media landscape of Taiwan is very different. The result is a media
landscape that enjoys a free market environment that is protected
from state intervention through rigorous policies, allowing ﬁerce
competition and innovative channels and programs to emerge,
as well as a diverse range of perspectives. However, due to the intense
competition and a relative lack of experience of journalists after 1988, Taiwan's
media also gained the reputation for sensationalist news, especially in regards to
entertainment and politics.

Media Profile
Taiwan's media profile at the end of March
2012 included:
Radio stations 171
Terrestrial (wireless) television stations 5
Cable television system operators 62
TV and radio program
production/distribution companies 7,257
Audio (compact disc, ect.)
production companies 10,976
Satellite broadcasting program
providers (262 channels) 103
Satellite broadcasting service operators 8
Newspapers 2,215
Magazines 8,918
Book publishers 14,343
Foreign media with correspondents in Taiwan 68
Sources: Government Information Offices, National
Communications Commission
Search
Engines
6
Mobile &
Tablet
8
Media Number
1
Traditional
Media
Print
Newspapers &
Magazines
2
News
Agencies
4
New Media
5
Social Media
Social Networking,
Blogs, Forums
7
Broadcast
Television & Radio
3

Traditional Media1
Traditional media is
currently the primary
source of news to
a majority of the
population, yet this
is slowly shifting to
online and new media.
Despite this, traditional print
and broadcasting still remains
inﬂuential at the present. There
are more than 360 privately
owned newspapers and radio
stations in Taiwan, excluding
the 280 plus satellite TV channels,
providing a diverse selection.

The number of newspapers
in Taiwan grew exponentially
after 1988 when martial
law was lifted, from 31 to
2,524 registered newspapers
in 2004. Despite the large
increase, popularity of
newspapers peaked
in the 1990s, and has
since shrunk so that
only a couple dozen newspapers
still publish daily. This can be seen in
the advertising revenues: from $1.5billion
USD in 1997 to a signiﬁcantly decreased
$264 million USD in 2009.
However, not only is
the industry-wide
advertising revenue
shrinking, but so is
the industry share
of the entire pie
compared with
other media forms.
This is seen in the 43.9%
of those surveyed by Nielsen who read
newspapers in 2008, as compared to the
76.3% in 1991.
2 Print: Newspapers & Magazines

Annual Advertising Revenues by Type of Media
2008 2009
Source: Brain magazine, march 2010 issue
200
150
100
50
0
Newspapers Magazines Radio Terrestrial TV Cable TV Internet
Unit: NT$ 100 million
108.99
87.19
67.23
60.51
31.98 31.40
83.42
79.25
163.98
160.70
59.76
69.89

For example, the largest daily, Liberty Times with
its circulation of 682,000 in 2009 has digitized
its articles, but has been surpassed by the online
presence of its competitors' United News Daily with
130 million page views, Nextmedia TW (including
Apple Daily) at 66 million views, and China Times at
61 million.
Perhaps the ﬁercest competition to print media is
the popularity of major news portals such as Yahoo!
and Yam.com, with 11,503 and 7,276 unique
visitors per day.
Other newspapers include locally published English
dailies, The Taipei Times and The China Post, and top
specialized newspapers such as Commercial Times
and Economic News Daily with a larger readership.
The newspapers are
responding to this
by digitizing and
maximizing their
online presence to
retain relevancy in
this digital age.

Source: comScore Media Metrix, 2013.03

Broadcast: Television & Radio3
Television is still the primary source of
news for many adults in Taiwan as it holds
the highest household penetration rate
over radio and print. In fact the figure has
risen from 86% in 1991 to 94.5% in 2007
when percentages for the other traditional
media were falling. The advertising
revenue for cable TV remains the highest
amongst the different media forms in
Taiwan and terrestrial TV ranking third.
Currently, the ROC government is in the
process of digitizing television, hoping for
a complete switchover by 2014.
Terrestrial television dates back to 1962,
with five current existing stations:Taiwan
Television Enterprise (TTV), Chinese
Television Systems (CTS), China Television
Company (CTV), Formosa Television (FTV),
and Public Television Service (PTS). The
former three dominating the first three
decades and the latter two launched in
the late 1990s.Cable TV has a broad reach
with approximately 85% penetration
rate, providing 281 satellite channels.
The most frequently viewed channels are
news channels, likewise with the highest
ratings, such as TVBS-N, SET, CtiTV, and
ETTV. In fact, Taiwan has seven 24-hour
news stations, whereas the US and UK
both have three, as well as the highest
density of SNG (Satellite News Gathering)
trucks in the world since 23 million people
share 82 trucks as compared to the 71
shared between 120 million in Japan, and
1 between 7 million in Hong Kong.

News Agencies4
The major news agency in Taiwan
is the Central News Agency,which
originated in Guangzhou as a branch of the
Kuomintang government in 1924. Before 1988
when martial law was lifted, the CNA was the
official mouthpiece of the state. Now, it is officially
a non-profit organization partially funded by the
government, which distributes news internationally.
Other significant news agencies amongst the 2,063
last counted in March 2012, is the United
Daily News, China Economic News
Service and Military News Agency,
which broadcasts news about the Republic of China
Armed Forces.

Taiwan has built one of the most technologically advanced telecommunications
infrastructure in the world, ranked no. 11 out of 142 countries for Networked Readiness
by the World Economic Forum with a 75.4% internet
penetration rate of the entire population in 2012.
The compound annual growth rate of internet users
in Taiwan is growing at around ﬁve times the rate of
established countries, with the number of internet users
are steadily growing, from 16 million in 2010, to 17.5
million in 2012.The demographic is not limited to the
younger generations when in fact, more than half of
Taiwan's internet users are aged 40 and over.
Unlike China, Taiwan's websites are not monitored by
the state and increasingly, the internet is becoming a
popular source of news and information. In fact, the
average internet user in Taiwan spends an average of
170 minutes online each day, with "searching/collecting
information" as the number one activity at 87.9%, and
"reading news" at number three with 67.6%.
New Media5
Why the Taiwanese Go Online?
Email
Instant Messaging
Online Shopping
Online Leisure Games
Downloading Software
Chatroom/Dating
BBS/Forum/Community
Reading News
Browsing Blogs/Videos
Searching/collecting
information
75.4%
66.9%
47%
39.7%
28.9%
29.2%
28%
67.6%
61.1%
87.9%
Source: Digital Jungle

The popularity of websites in Taiwan is a mix of international companies such as Facebook
and YouTube, as well as homegrown companies such as Wretch and PCHome. It is crucial to
understand the localization of global websites in Taiwan, as well as the unique leveraging
of Taiwanese websites in order to connect with your audience. The top websites in Taiwan
are, in order: Yahoo!, Facebook, Wretch, YouTube, and Pixnet.
Source: Burson-Marsteller Asia-Paciﬁc
TOP 5 Websites in Taiwan

Search Engines6
The majority of online content is found
through search engines such as Google,
and as such, they are the gatekeepers in
leveraging your content. The rules are
not completely different for example,
multimedia content is still
widely preferred over text-
only articles, and as such will
be more searchable and retain
more readerships. So including
images, video, and even audio is crucial
to optimizing your SEO and increasing
awareness.
01
02
03
In Taiwan, Yahoo! is the most popular
search engine, followed by Google,
PCHome, and HiNet. Yahoo!'s
acquisition of Kimo, the Taiwanese portal,
in 2001 is a major aspect of its success in
the Taiwanese market.
TOP 3 popular search engine in Taiwan

Social Media: Social Networking, Blogs, Forums7
There are many aspects and types of social
media that may be utilized to connect to and
interact with audience and the media.
Social networking is the one that often comes
to mind ﬁrst, such as Facebook, Twitter, and
Weibo; personal or professional blogs; content-
sharing services such as YouTube and Flickr; and
online communities and forums, such as the
Bulletin Board Systems (BBS).
All four channels are prevalent in Taiwan, with
Facebook leading with 14,000 million page
views and 13 million users, followed by the
local blogging service, Wretch.cc with 3,300
million page views (which was shutdown by
Yahoo! at the end of 2003).
Source: Burson-Marsteller Asia-Paciﬁc

Social networking is a huge trend in Taiwan, with Facebook announcing that Taiwanese are
the biggest users of the service in Asia, especially in sharing food photographs and using the
check-in function. Its 14 million users represent a 60% penetration rate in the country, and
is an optimum platform to connect with the local Taiwanese market, especially as users are
familiar with the format of sharing personal stories.
Companies with the highest number
of likes on their pages and those who
have successfully leveraged Facebook,
are 7-Eleven, Starbucks (Taiwan),
MUJI, and McDonald's. In terms of
microblogging, the locally-based Plurk
is preferred over Twitter.
Source: Singapore Management University

Blogging is the ﬁfth most popular online activity in Taiwan,
with an average of 167.5 minutes spent on Wretch.cc. In fact, 85.5% of Taiwan's
internet users visited blogs in 2011, which is comparatively the highest percentage in
the world. Famous bloggers are inﬂuential in their reach as opinion leaders, and their
reviews or posts can bring in thousands of new "converts" for products and events. As
such, they are sometimes treated like celebrities and it is known that in Taiwan, many
of the posts are sponsored by companies as
an accessible aspect of a media campaign.
Despite the popularity of Wretch.cc, its
parent company Yahoo! is in the process
of consolidating its services, and has plans
to shut it down by the end of 2013, and
replacing it with Tumblr, Flickr and Xuite.
In addition, Taiwan has one of the most active Bulletin Board
Systems (BBS) in the world, with 1.5 million users on the largest forum PTT
Bulletin Board System. Other notable BBS communities are Mobile01, Eyny, Gamer.
com.tw, and Backpackers.com.tw.

Mobile & Tablet8
Taiwan's mobile penetration rate is 120%, which is 40% over the global average of 80%,
with more than 20 million Taiwanese (70% of the total population) subscribed to 3G. What
this means is a new way of consuming content, especially in urban areas where commuting
to work provides an "in between time" where mobile devices are important companions to
fill time.
Over a third of the Taiwanese population own smartphones, and this is expected to rise
to 56.8% by 2015. The number of tablet users is also expected to rise to almost a third of
the population. Therefore, mobile audience who use smartphones and tablets are growing
steadily, and the time spent on mobile web is predicted to come close to the time spent on
traditional media. Currently, mobile users spend an average of 6 hours consuming media
daily, 27% of which is on mobile devices, surpassing the 24% of time spent watching TV and
becoming the second most popular channel of media consumption.
Statistics exposing popular activities on mobile are varied, but what has been consistent
is, to information browsing, social media, email, music or video, and games. Information
browsing though is estimated to be between 12% to 43%, which is a decrease from the
87.9% cited for PC users. In fact, this is part of the indicators that show audience do not
go past the first page of the search results, placing more emphasis and urgency in search
engine optimization. In addition, mobile web is on par with television and print media in
influencing purchasing decision.

Source: Rice Communications for InMobi

Top Tips for Leveraging Content in Taiwan
1. Localize
Not only in translating global
messages into Chinese, but also
understanding and respecting the
local culture and trends which is
crucial to an outstanding campaign,
perhaps even viral.
2. Sincerity and passion
Taiwanese people are known for their
kindness and passion for helping
people; they will go out of their way to
take a lost tourist to their destination,
and that goes for customer service as
well, which is paramount in a society
that values the community.
3. Interact
Take advantage of Taiwan's intensely
networked environment, where audience
are "online" almost 24/7, and connect with
people through social media, as seen with
7-Eleven's successful augmented reality
campaign.
4. Do not mistake Taiwan for China
Understand that there is a ﬁercely proud
Taiwanese identity, culture, and history. In fact,
viral media that become incredibly popular
in Taiwan have been those that portrays the
unique blend of the nation's history and
development, like the ﬁlms, You Are the Apple
of My Eye in 2011 and Cape No. 7 in 2008.

Summary:
Taiwan enjoys a protected
freedom of press and with
it a ﬂourishing free market
environment and diverse media
landscape.
Traditional media, especially
television, still holds the most
reach within society, and so it
should not be ignored in favor of
new media.
Cable television is favored over
terrestrial. Competition is so ﬁerce
with the top channels being:
TVBS-N, SET, CtiTV, and ETTV.
New media is growing rapidly in
Taiwan with social media being
incredibly popular with its usage
of Facebook being the highest
in Asia, and search engines becoming
more relevant as more netizens go online
to search for information, with the most
popular being: Yahoo!, Google, and HiNet.
Mobile media is on the rise,
already surpassing the amount
of time spent on the TV, with the
amount of smartphone and tablet
owners increasing to 56.8% by 2015.

Sources:
http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/infographic-asia-paciﬁc-social-media-statistics-stats-
facts/
http://www.slideshare.net/digitaljungle/taiwanese-social-media-and-internet-fast-
facts
http://www.slideshare.net/fullscreen/wearesocialsg/we-are-socials-guide-to-social-
digital-and-mobile-in-taiwan-dec-2011/14
www.taiwan.gov.tw
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/07/28/2003538850
http://www.inmobi.com/press-releases/2012/04/27/one-in-four-taiwanese-mobile-
web-users-say-the-mobile-device-is-their-preferred-method-of-going-online-inmobi/
http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/fp.asp?xItem=171039&ctNode=1337
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeco/201309180010.aspx
http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Presentations_and_Whitepapers/2013/2013_
China_Taiwan_Hong_Kong_Digital_Future_in_Focus

Overview
Singapore has a multi-racial population consisting about 75
percent Chinese, 14 percent Malays and 8.8 percent Indians,
and the dominant working language is English. As the media
hub in South East Asia, Singapore is a strategic centre for English
speaking audience in this region. Similar to most of mature
markets, with more mobile devices and the availability of high
speed internet in Singapore, consumption of media spans across
multiple screens.
According to the recent Nielsen Media Index Report 2012, it
shows that an increment in digital media consumption, supported
by the data more than 4 in 10 (42.7%) aged 15+ Singaporeans
have watched videos, movies or television programs online (up
2.3% points from last year), and more than a third (35.7%) have
accessed news and current affairs/read e-newspapers online (up
4.3% points from last year) on an average monthly basis.
[1] Department of Statistics Singapore www.singstat.gov.sg/publications/publications_and_papers/
Print Media
1
Broadcast
2
New Media
3

1
In the traditional media sector, most of the
prominent newspaper and magazine titles
are owned by Singapore Press Holdings
(SPH) which is regulated by the Newspaper
and Printing Presses Act of 1974. Printed
newspapers remain the staple read for the
majority of the adult population in Singapore,
with 68.4 percent having read a hardcopy
daily newspaper on an average daily basis
(down 2.3% points). [2]
[2] Nielsen Media Index Report 2012
Source: Data from Nielsen Media Index Report 2012
34.3%
18.1%
14.9%
12.1%
11.7%
10.2%
7.6%
2.7%
31.0%
16.8%
13.6%
11.4%
11.7%
10.2%
7.3%
2.2%
6.3%
1.9%
1.8%
0.9%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
0.6%
The
Business
Times
My Paper
Lianhe
Wanbao
Shin Min
Daily
The New
Paper
Lianhe
Zaobao
Today
The
Straits
Times
The top two most inﬂuential
newspapers are still the local daily
titles The Straits Times and The
Business Times for general public
and business professionals.
Digital Print Total Readership
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Top Newspaper Titles in Singapore by Readership
Print Media

The Straits Times launched in 1845 is the ﬂagship
daily of SPH and it covers world and local news and
it is the most-read newspaper in Singapore with the
print version read by 31.0% of the adult population.
The Business Times is Singapore's only ﬁnancial daily and is a key source for business
intelligence for investors, managers and businessmen in Singapore and the Asian region.
Combined print and online readership of The Business Times was 2.7% of the adult
population of which 75.28% of them are PMEB (Professionals, Managers, Executives and
Businessmen).
[3]
The second most-read newspaper is a free daily called Today, which
reached 16.8% on an average daily basis. Today is published by MediaCorp and is distributed
widely at major transport hubs, business districts and selected residential homes.
[3] Nielsen Media Index Report 2012

Local magazines focus on lifestyle/
fashion/entertainment sectors
which are published mostly by SPH
and MediaCorp, though Asia or
international independent business or
trade publishers usually either utilize
Singapore as the regional hub or have
journalists/contributors to cover local
stories. Almost all of the magazines
have online presence where they either
publish electronic version of the print
copy, or share content on website.
For non-English newspaper, the largest publication is SPH's ﬂagship Chinese daily
Lianhe Zaobao. It establishes itself as a prominent Chinese media in the region,
publishes serious news and current affairs. Lianhe Wanbao and Shin Min Daily are both
local tabloid paper published in Chinese focusing on entertainment and local news.

2
For broadcasting including radio and TV, MediaCorp is
the largest content creator and broadcaster in Singapore
and is the only terrestrial TV broadcaster too.
Channel NewsAsia (CNA) is MediaCorp's English news
network launched in 1999 which provides the latest local
and international news from Asian perspectives. It is
said the network could reach 36.6% of the population of
which 41.3% are PMEBs.
[4]
Audience here
is still largely
consuming
great amount of
local audio and
video content
via traditional
platforms. The
trend to switch to
digital platform is
slated to grow.
Broadcast
[4] Data from Nielsen Media Index Report 2012.

3
With greater consumption of digital
content, internet usage in general is on
the rise. Top online activities include
social networking (49%), watching
videos/TV/movies (42.7%) and accessing
news/current affairs/reading e-papers
(35.7%).
[5]
Most of the top news sites are local
media brands which are part of the
two media conglomerates SPH and
MediaCorp. With more than 35% of
the population have accessed online
news on a monthly basis, online news
has become a very powerful channel to
reach PMEBs and younger audience.
[5] Data from Nielsen Media Index Report 2012.
Top News Sites in Singapore
New Media

Source: comScore - 2013 Southeast Asia Digital Future in Focus
Top 5 social networks for South East Asia Countries
© comScore, Inc. Proprietary. 24
Top Social Networks by Country
After Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Tumblr are Popular
Only Vietnam has Substantial Local Social Networks
Internet Audience 15+ accessing Internet from a Home or Work PC
Source:c omScore Media Metrix, March 2013
74.5
32.9
12.4
10.2
7.0
FACEBOOK.COM
ZING Me
DIENDANBACLIEU.NET
KENHSINHVIEN.NET
Linkedin
Vietnam
80.2
26.4
10.5
5.9
4.9
FACEBOOK.COM
TWITTER.COM
Linkedin
Yahoo! Profile
TUMBLR.COM
Indonesia
82.3
15.9
13.9
5.7
5.3
FACEBOOK.COM
TWITTER.COM
Linkedin
TUMBLR.COM
Tagged Inc.
Malaysia
89.2
10.8
9.4
9.2
6.1
FACEBOOK.COM
TWITTER.COM
SOCIALCAM.COM
Linkedin
PANTOWN.COM
Thailand
92.1
20.3
12.6
8.6
6.5
FACEBOOK.COM
TWITTER.COM
TUMBLR.COM
Linkedin
Yahoo! Profile
Philippines
65.9
20.1
16.0
10.2
3.9
FACEBOOK.COM
Linkedin
TWITTER.COM
TUMBLR.COM
GOODREADS.COM
Singapore
Reach of Top 5 Social Networks
by Country

[6] comScore: 2013 Southeast Asia Digital Future in Focus
It is no surprise that the globalized city-state utilizes popular social networks, such as
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Tumblr and etc., amongst which Facebook and LinkedIn are the
most popular.
In terms of search, Google is still the
dominant player which takes about 84% of
the total search enquiries. The second player
is Yahoo! which has less than 6% share.
[6]
As a mature market, Singapore is moving towards a more digital and mobile
environment in a steady growth rate where readers are consuming rich content via
multi-screens, though traditional media brands (e.g. Print and Broadcasting) are
the primary premium content creator to cater this consumption habit change.
Conclusion

Overview
Malaysia has had a stiﬂing relationship with the
digital media since the year of electronic gadgets
had taken place. The media tools in Malaysia include
the traditional, new and social media which has the
increasing usage of mobile devices such as smart
phones and tablets. Consumers are now able to
instantly connect to the internet and be constantly
updated on the latest news and gossip. Information is
in real-time, unlike having to wait for the next day for
the physical newspaper.
The newspapers in the country have done admirably
expanding online and are among the most accessed
Malaysian sites. But the perception is that traditional
media is losing ground to alternative new portals as
the latter are deemed less biased and censored.
Print Media
1
Broadcast
Media
2
New Media
3

1
Many media outlets are either owned directly by the government of Malaysia (e.g.
Bernama) or owned by component parties of the Barisan Nasional coalition government
(e.g. the Media Prima group, which is owned by the United Malays National Organization).
The Utusan Group is Umno-owned and is now widely regarded as pro-government news
provider. The main print newspaper for this group is known as Utusan Malaysia which has
an online platform.
Malaysia's largest media group Media Prima Berhad is controlled by Umno proxies which is
a company that is listed on the main stock exchange market Bursa Malaysia, is Malaysia's
leading fully-integrated media group. The Group is also one of Malaysia's Top 100 largest
listed companies by revenue. The Group has equity interests in TV3, 8TV, ntv7 and TV9.
In addition, the Group also owns more than 98 percent equity interest in The New Straits
Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad (NSTP), Malaysia's largest publisher with three national
newspapers, New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Harian Metro.

The main media assets within Media Prima Berhad (MPB) group

Emas is the ﬁrst classic channel in Malaysia showcasing Media
Prima's production of popular TV programmes via Internet
Protocol TV (IPTV) on HyppTV and Uniﬁ TM. The Group also
owns three radio stations, Fly FM, Hot FM and One FM.
Leading English daily, The Star is a member of the Asia News
Network and is owned by Malaysia Chinese Association (MCA). Its major
competitors are the New Straits Times and The Sun. Malaysia Indian Congress
(MIC) owns the top three national Tamil newspapers, Malaysia Nanban, Tamil
Nesan and Makkal Osai.
The nation's Chinese publication industry is mostly owned by Chinese Media
International Ltd and the main top titles among the local Chinese readers
would be Sin Chew Jit Poh ( 星洲日報 ). Followed by other Chinese print media
publishers are China Press ( 中國報 ), Guang Ming ( 光明日報 ), Kwong Wah Yit
Poh ( 光日 ), Nanyang Siang Pau ( 南洋商報 ) and also Oriental Daily News
( 東方日報 ).

2
The old/traditional media is still relevant and strong, and the
most reliable sources and common television news channel
that the public would choose would still be the national
broadcaster RTM (Radio Television Malaysia) and also TV3
(which falls under the umbrella of Media Prima Berhad). TV
would also still remain to be a popular media for a while yet,
with increasingly bigger screens and high-deﬁnition (HD)
content to bring the best viewing experience.
Traditional broadcasters are also evolving to provide content in other formats. Malaysia's
ﬁrst lifestyle portal was gua.com.my then followed by tonton.com.my and murai.
com.my which falls under the umbrella of Astro (a Pay TV direct broadcast service in
Malaysia). Throughout Southeast Asia, deep changes are taking place with respect to how
consumers watch and interact with various forms of media. These changes have been
brought about by rapid technological development. From high speed Internet access and
WiFi to smartphones and tablets, it's easier now for consumers to get online than it has
ever been.
Broadcast Media

3
Since conventional media is tightly controlled by the government, Malaysia has a lively alternative
media scene, characterized by such news portals as Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider which
takes advantage of the government's pledge not to censor the Internet, though the Malaysian
media landscape is considered as not as open, and govern by the ruling government. While the
news site runs multiple sections from business to entertainment, political news and commentaries
dominate attention. With the advent of this new media in Malaysia, it was mainly used to enhanced
the national development and beneﬁcial mainly for the entrepreneurs and business owners locally
by doing everything possible to maximize the use and reap the advantages.
While digital platforms are growing at astonishing rates among youths in Malaysia, traditional
media still dominates the reach. Despite the presence of mobile devices, internet and social
media, Gen Y remains heavily engaged with traditional media in terms of time spent. Nielsen's
new Southeast Asia Digital Consumer Report examined the digital media habits and attitudes of
consumers in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Respectively,
most Malaysians spend at least 21.5 hours and 19.8 hours a week online.
The most common news websites to search on news for English mainstream would still be TheStar.
com.my and also TheMalayMailOnline.com.my, as for Bahasa Malaysia news websites would be
kosmo.com.my.
New Media

Contrary to popular belief, Gen Y's consumption of traditional media such as newspapers and
television does not differ much from the general population. Malaysia was 124th on the world
press freedom index 2012. It had 17.7 million Internet users at 31 December, 2011 and 12.3
Facebook users at 31 March, 2012.
The advancement of technology has transformed the Malaysian society. In the same case, the
media landscape in general has made some changes meeting the needs of the society. In Malaysia,
we can foresee changes being made through mainstream media especially those from the
powerhouses. Taken for instance, The Star recently revamped Star Online logo and revamp their
brand with its effort which shows The Star placing important in its digital platform. New Straits
Times too came up with its iPad version encouraging readers to subscribe to the iPad newspaper
with great discounts. Even The Edge came up with its own digital magazine which can be
downloaded on Apple Store.
There are rooms for improvement within the industry to serve difference set of audience. The Edge
which has been serving the corporate and elite segment found a new competitor in its segment
just a year ago – Focus Malaysia. Two new Tamil mainstream newspapers were founded in the
last 1.5 years which brings to 5 Tamil newspapers serving the Indian community. In a nutshell,
the trends in Malaysia may be in a progressing level but it is still considered at an infant stage of
providing honest valuable stories to the society. No doubt that the media publishers will have to
cater for the needs but they will still have to diversify the nature of sharing the news in order to
sustain the traditional media, which is still considered as an important daily essentials and is still a
major source of information provider.

Additional Resources:
y Navigating China’s Complex Media Landscape
http://misc.prnasia.com/atd/custeventreg.php?event_id=77
y eBook: New School Press Release Tactics
http://misc.prnasia.com/atd/custeventreg.php?event_id=91
y PR Newswire Publishes Survey: Companies in China Assess Content
Marketing Trends, ROI Impact
http://en.prnasia.com/p/lightnews-0-80-9674.shtml

About PR Newswire
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Having pioneered the commercial news distribution industry
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