The latest annual Nielsen Media Index shows that two out of three people in Singapore go to at least three media sources, primarily mainstream media, for their daily news and entertainment fix.

Of more than 4,700 people surveyed in the year to June, 31 per cent turn to three media sources daily and 25 per cent manage four sources.

About a fifth (22 per cent) relied on two media sources, and only 9 per cent could find time for just one media outlet.

A particularly 'voracious' group making up 11 per cent somehow find time for all five sources - newspapers, TV, magazines, radio, and the Internet, the index released on Thursday, showed.

These media consumers typically have a higher income and educational levels. Not surprisingly, the survey noted that online users tend to be younger.

Among newspapers, The Straits Times, published by media group Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), continued to 'lead the pack', with a daily readership of 39 per cent of the market share, up from 37.9 per cent last year. This was followed by Today, published by MediaCorp, and SPH's Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao.

Although newspaper readership remains strong, 'the Internet has become an essential space for traditional news media,' said Nielsen's executive director Ms Rebecca Tan, as an increasing number of news junkies go online for their fix.

Nielsen cited the example of The Straits Times' website (straitstimes.com), which reaches 3 per cent of Singaporeans. One third of the site's users 'read exclusively online'.

Besides reading breaking news, checking their e-mail and general surfing, 'the Internet is also satisfying locals' entertainment and social needs, with a quarter of people surveyed watching a video clip, movie or TV programme' within the past month, Nielsen said.

Ms Tan said the Internet 'has clearly established itself in our daily lives ... a sizable proportion of the population now counts online activities as a permanent fixture in their daily media palette along newspaper reading and terrestrial television viewing'.

The survey found that 56 per cent, on average, used the Internet on a daily basis, up from 51 per cent a year earlier.

TV losing popularity

The growing popularity of online entertainment, combined with the onslaught of 'cable television and the newly-introduced paid Internet TV offerings', said Ms Tan, was the likely reason for free-to-air TV's falling popularity.

Daily viewership on free-to-air TV fell from 83 per cent in 2007 to 78 per cent this year.

The most popular channel was Channel 8, with 49 per cent daily viewership, down from 51 per cent. Cable TV viewership held steady at 37 per cent.

Magazines may also take a hit in the long term, Nielsen found.

While readership 'has remained quite consistent ... younger readers who tend to have a shorter attention span are inclined to experiment with alternative sources,' said Ms Tan.

This has already hit 'entertainment and youth targeted titles,' she said.

Just last month, MediaCorp announced that it would be closing down four titles: entertainment magazine Lime, video games magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly, children's title Kids Company and women's lifestyle magazine Vanilla.