SINGAPORE – About $380 million in public funding has been allocated to Mediacorp in each of the past five financial years to help the national broadcaster reach local audiences.
$310 million a year in funding
the Government previously provided to Mediacorp between 2015 and 2019, to support the broadcaster in reaching Singaporeans through television shows in the four official languages.
Replying to parliamentary questions filed by Mr Foo Cexiang (Tanjong Pagar GRC), Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said on Oct 15 that the funding amount is lower than the approximately $750 million allocated to the national broadcasters of Finland and Denmark, which have similar population sizes to Singapore.
Mrs Teo said Mediacorp reached more than 90 per cent of the local population through its platforms, and that more than 75 per cent of its audiences were satisfied with its services.
There is no comparable reach data in earlier years as the focus has moved from tracking solely TV reach to a broader reach metric across all Mediacorp’s platforms and social media platforms, she added.
“This is in keeping with the domestic audience’s changing consumption habits, and Mediacorp’s broader network strategy,” said Mrs Teo.
While Mediacorp’s TV reach dropped by about 10 per cent over the last decade or so, unique video viewers on its online streaming platform meWatch has increased by about 80 per cent in the same period, she noted.
In a follow-up question, Mr Foo asked if the Government is prepared to support Mediacorp in more collaborations with international platforms such as Netflix and Tencent, so that local shows will have a wider reach both at home and overseas.
He cited local Chinese drama series
Emerald Hill – The Little Nyonya Story
, which was Singapore’s most watched series on Netflix, even overtaking the hotly anticipated K-drama When Life Gives You Tangerines.
Mrs Teo agreed that there is a need to support initiatives to widen the reach of Singaporean productions.
She cited the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s International Co-Production Fund, which was launched in 2023 as an avenue to support collaboration between producers of local drama series and international counterparts including scriptwriters, directors and producers.
The $30 million fund, which is open to media companies in Singapore with a track record in long-form content production, supports up to 50 per cent of qualifying expenses for things like manpower, professional services, equipment and local marketing expenses.
Besides tapping into a wider pool of talents, the more important reason for the fund is to create content that potentially has an audience beyond the city-state, even though the themes are anchored on Singapore, said Mrs Teo.
“In this way, we also help the local production houses, including Mediacorp, reach an international audience and tell Singapore stories better,” she added.
Mrs Teo said the Government is committed to continue supporting public service media to deliver high-quality and trusted news and entertainment content to Singaporeans.
“We will continue to ensure that Government funding can sufficiently and effectively support our public service media in achieving their national mission,” she said.
