Public Service Broadcast (PSB) Funding and Viewership

Ms Janice Koh asked the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts in 2010 and 2011 respectively (a) how much Public Service Broadcast (PSB) funding was allocated to independent production houses; (b) how many television shows were supported and what was the total number of content hours produced by independent production houses with PSB funds; and (c) what was the breakdown of those content hours, by genre, for drama; info-entertainment programmes; information programmes; children's programmes; arts, culture and heritage programmes; and sports programmes.

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Ms Janice Koh asked the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts of the 4.3 million television viewers who watched locally-produced Public Service Broadcast (PSB) programmes last year, what is the breakdown of the viewership by programme genre, in terms of drama; info-entertainment programmes; information programmes; children's programmes; arts, culture and heritage programmes; and sports programmes, excluding the news.

Assoc Prof Dr Yaacob Ibrahim: In the Financial Years (FY) 2010 and 2011, Public Service Broadcast (PSB) funding catered for the provision of over 2,000 hours of local productions 11 each year, broadcast across MediaCorp's seven free-to-air (FTA) TV channels. This amounted to over 200 programme titles each year.

In each of the two years, about 40% of local PSB programme hours and funding for such programmes were allocated for outsourcing by MediaCorp to independent production companies. The requirement for MediaCorp to outsource PSB hours is an integral part of the PSB framework, as it: (i) ensures the selection of concepts for quality PSB productions from a larger pool of creative ideas from the industry; and (ii) contributes to the development of the local production sector.

In terms of the genre composition of PSB-funded local programme hours, about 60% comprise news 12 and information programmes, which includes current affairs, documentaries and info-education programmes. This reflects the emphasis placed on PSB in serving the Singapore public's information and educational needs via a variety of PSB programmes. The remaining 40% of local PSB programme hours cover a range of genres to serve the diverse viewing needs of the Singapore public. These include children's, arts and cultural, and sports programming, dramas and programmes for the elderly. Other than news and current affairs programmes, which are generally managed by MediaCorp's in-house production teams, independent production companies undertake productions for a variety of programme genres.

The Media Development Authority's (MDA) PSB performance management framework tracks PSB viewership 13 by the seven FTA TV channels, each serving a different target audience demographic. In FY2011, among the English-language channels, the funded PSB programmes garnered the following viewership among their respective target demographics: (i) about 60% (about 2.9 million) of viewers aged four and above for Channel 5 ; (ii) about 60% of PMEBs 14 (about 110,000) for Channel NewsAsia Singapore ; (iii) about 70% (about 340,000) of viewers aged four to 12 for Okto' s children's programme belt; and about 15% (about 600,000) of viewers aged 15 and above for Okto 's arts and culture programme belt.

On Vasantham and Suria , local PSB programmes were watched by about 80% (about 370,000) of Indian viewers aged four and above and about 90% (about 560,000) of Malay viewers aged four and above, respectively. As for Channel 8 and Channel U , local PSB programmes were viewed by about 70% (about 3.3 million) of viewers aged four and above, and about 55% (about 2.3 million) of viewers aged 15 and above respectively.

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In assessing PSB viewership performance by channel, it is important to consider factors that influence each channel's ability to reach its target audience. These include the nature of the FTA TV channel – whether it is a mass or niche channel – and the degree of audience fragmentation among the channel's target demographic. For instance, with the wide availability of foreign English-language programmes from competing sources, audience fragmentation among the English-speaking audience tends to be higher.

It should also be noted that while viewership is a basic form of performance measurement for PSB programmes, it is not the sole indicator that MDA uses to assess the effectiveness of these programmes. MDA's PSB performance management framework takes a holistic view of PSB effectiveness by including other indicators, such as the level of public satisfaction with PSB programmes and qualitative feedback from community and industry stakeholders. The information on performance gathered is subsequently used during regular engagements between MDA and MediaCorp to discuss improvements that could be made to PSB programming and delivery.

While the viewership information indicates a reasonable level of performance, we must continue to engage and grow viewership and audience appreciation for PSB programmes by enhancing the quality of our PSB programmes to meet the public's expectations. We will also need to exploit the full potential of reaching audiences through multi-screen programme offerings and via Internet platforms. These are issues which MDA will continue to work on, together with our local industry partners, to raise the bar for PSB programmes, as guided by the recently accepted PSB Review Panel's recommendations.