S'pore govt allocates S$380 million annually to Mediacorp for overall operations

To support Singapore's media landscape, the government has allocated about S$380 million a year to Singapore's national broadcaster, Mediacorp, for its overall operations over the last five years.

This is lower than the annual funding of approximately S$780 million allocated to national broadcasters of Finland and Denmark, which have similar population sizes to Singapore, said Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo.

"Mediacorp reached more than 90 per cent of the local population through its owned and operated platforms, as well as social media platforms. More than 75 per cent of its audiences were satisfied with its services," Teo added.

She added that the government has moved away from tracking only television reach to a broader reach metric across all Mediacorp platforms.

This aligns with the domestic audience's changing consumption habits and Mediacorp's broader network strategy.

Teo cited that in the last decade, Mediacorp's television reach dropped by 10 per cent while unique video viewers on MeWatch have increased by about 80 per cent in the same period.

"The government is committed to continue supporting our public service media to deliver high-quality and trusted news and entertainment content to Singaporeans. We will continue to ensure that government funding can adequately and effectively support our public service media in achieving their national mission," said Teo.

Supporting collaborations between Mediacorp and international platforms

In a follow-up question, Member of Parliament Foo Cexiang asked if the government is prepared to support Mediacorp in more collaborations with international platforms so Singapore's locally produced dramas and shows will have both an international and local reach.

Foo mentioned the Channel 8 drama Emerald Hill, which is Singapore's most-watched series on Netflix and has garnered over 1.67 million views on MeWatch and Channel 8. It is also slated to premiere on the Chinese streaming platform Tencent at the end of the year.

"I grew up watching Channel 8 and Channel 5, as did many of my classmates. These were hot discussion topics during lunch, but most importantly, these were core, common memories grounded in the local culture and community. And I think it's absolutely critical that we continue to have this for future generations," said Foo.

Teo expressed that she was heartened by Foo's enthusiastic support for creators of local entertainment content.

"I realised that he and I share something in common now, growing up on local TV productions. We probably can hum several tunes together, given the right opportunity," she mused.

Teo added that the government has been supporting local production by collaborating with its international counterparts through the International Co-production Fund launched by IMDA in 2023.

This programme provides funding to local drama series producers to collaborate with their international counterparts, such as script writers, directors, and producers.

"The reason we want to do so is to enable a reach into the wider pool of talent that is available. But more importantly, to create content that has potentially an audience beyond Singapore, even though the themes are very much anchored on Singapore.

In this way, we also help the local production houses, including Mediacorp, reach an international audience and tell Singapore stories better."

Teo shared that there have been productions that received such funds, and the government will assess the extent to which this kind of support can be sustained and expanded in the future.

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