SINGAPORE - The Straits Times remains the most-read English news daily in Singapore, with its combined print and digital versions reaching about a third (30 per cent) of the population every day.
The print version is read by 23.8 per cent of the adult population, and the digital version by 9.5 per cent.
The Straits Times, which is published by media group Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), is primarily read by higher-income groups, with 75 per cent of its readers coming from homes with a monthly household income of $5,000 and above
Half (49.9 per cent) of its readers are professionals, managers, executives and businessmen (PMEBs), according to this year's Nielsen Singapore Media Index Report.
The study, conducted between July last year and June this year, surveyed 4,683 people aged 15 and above on their media consumption. Results were weighted by age, sex and race to be representative of the population, said the global performance management company.
The report said that the consumption of daily news remained a "predominant part in the lives of the adult population", with the combined readership of print and online newspapers reaching more than six in 10 adults in Singapore or 61.8 per cent of them.
It added that printed newspapers continue to be a staple read for most Singapore adults, or about 54.6 per cent of the population, while digital newspapers were also well perceived.
The New Paper (TNP), another SPH English publication, has a combined average daily readership of 7.4 per cent, with the hardcopy read by 6.7 per cent and its digital version reaching 0.7 per cent.
TNP continues to be the local paper with the highest proportion of its readers aged 15 to 29 (27.7 per cent).
SPH's other English title, The Business Times (BT), has a print and digital readership of 1.5 per cent. The paper's hardcopy readership is 1 per cent.
PMEBs comprise 77 per cent of its aggregate readers. More than nine in 10 BT readers have a monthly household income exceeding $5,000.
MediaCorp's freesheet Today had a combined average daily readership of 12.6 per cent, with its print edition reaching 11.2 per cent and digital version 1.9 per cent.
In the Chinese-language dailies category, SPH's Lianhe ZaoBao came out tops with a combined daily readership of 11.4 per cent. The hard copy and digital edition obtained a reach of 10.5 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively.
This was followed by Shin Min Daily (combined readership 8.8 per cent) and Lianhe WanBao (8.5 per cent).
Combined, the Chinese papers were read by a third (30.5 per cent) of the ethnic Chinese population in Singapore.
Bilingual My Paper, also published by SPH and distributed free, had a combined readership of 5.7 per cent. SPH's Malay-language Berita Harian had a combined readership of 4.3 per cent, and Tamil-language Tamil Murasu had 0.9 per cent. The latter was read by 9.3 per cent of Indians in Singapore.
