The Straits Times continues to be the most read daily newspaper in Singapore, with a readership of 1.23 million across both its print and digital platforms.
It reaches out to about 29 per cent of the population aged 15 and older, the annual Nielsen 2016 Media Index Report revealed yesterday.
Despite a falling print readership for Singapore Press Holdings' (SPH) flagship English paper, its online offering made gains in audience figures.
The report polled about 4,660 respondents between July last year and this July, through face-to-face interviews. It found that the print edition of ST had a reach of 22 per cent, slipping from 23.8 per cent in the previous year's study. But the online audience grew from a reach of 9.52 per cent to 10.4 per cent. On the whole, the combined reach dipped by 1 percentage point from 30 per cent.
ST editor Warren Fernandez said that the report reflects the ever-changing landscape of how news is consumed across platforms, adding that readers "want news, views, updates and videos as and when they want it".
Mr Fernandez, who is also editor-in-chief of SPH's English/ Malay/Tamil Media group, added: "We have transformed the newsroom to meet this changing pattern in how people consume news and share information. Readers are engaging with our content and journalists throughout the day, and in more ways than ever before.
"We are happy to stay connected with them and are constantly looking for new ways to do so."
In terms of reader demographic, ST is primarily consumed by higher- income groups, with three-quarters (74.7 per cent) of its readers registering a monthly household income of $5,000 and above. Close to half, or 48.1 per cent, of its readers were professionals, managers, executives and businessmen (PMEBs), the Nielsen report showed.
The Business Times, another SPH product, improved its print and digital audience, increasing in readership from 61,000 to 90,000.
PMEBs formed the majority of BT's readers at 71.1 per cent. About 87.8 per cent of its readers have a monthly household income in excess of $5,000.
SPH's The New Paper yielded an average daily readership of 6.4 per cent, but it is the local paper with the highest proportion of young readers, with a quarter (25.8 per cent) of them aged 15 to 29.
The daily tabloid will merge with freesheet My Paper to form a revamped TNP which will be distributed free from Dec 1. The new product will have a circulation of up to 300,000 and will be a Monday to Saturday product. It will also be available online.
Today, a freesheet produced by Mediacorp, registered an average daily readership of 12.9 per cent, improving from 12.6 per cent.
SPH's Lianhe Zaobao was Singapore's top Chinese-language paper, drawing 14.1 per cent among the Chinese audience. Evening papers Shin Min Daily News had a daily readership of 10.6 per cent among the Chinese, while Lianhe Wanbao reached 8.2 per cent.
Malay daily Berita Harian and Tamil paper Tamil Murasu respectively accounted for 3.7 per cent and 1.4 per cent of the readership.
