Mountain of evidence reveals readers shifting to digital media

Will print media be wiped out?

According to Nielsen’s latest Media Index Report 2012, an upswing in digital media consumption is revealed; more than four in 10 (42.7%) aged 15+ in Singapore 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.

Here's more from Nielsen:

“We’ve seen major shifts in the media landscape in Singapore and globally in recent years due to rapid technological developments, high-speed internet access, WiFi, and increasing ownership of connected devices such as smartphones and tablets,” said Rebecca Tan, Managing Director of Nielsen’s Media business in Singapore and Malaysia.

“As new technologies continue to emerge, consumers are becoming more and more demanding of anywhere, anytime access to media via an ever-expanding array of devices and screens.”

Combined readership of print and online newspapers reached almost three quarters of the population here, with 72.1 percent having read a daily newspaper - on an average daily basis.

On an average weekly level, 85.3 percent read either a hardcopy or digital paper in Singapore (down 1.5% points). 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).

Up-take of digital editions of local newspapers conversely saw solid gains in the past year, with 11.3 percent having read a digital paper – on an average daily basis (up 1.6% points).

Growth in digital newspaper readership was across all age groups. While seven in 10 digital newspaper readers usually access digital editions on their personal computers or notebooks, mobile usage is gaining ground with four in 10 reading the paper via their mobile/tablet devices.

“The way Singaporeans read the newspaper has changed and now takes varied forms,” observed Tan. “With increased smartphone and tablet ownership, together with the availability of Apps from papers like Straits Times, Today and the newly launched Business Times, it is no surprise that we are seeing growth in digital newspaper readership.”