Media Consumer Experience Study by IMDA

In 2016, IMDA commissioned the fifth and third editions of the Media Consumer Experience Study (MCES) and Zero to Fourteen Consumer Experience Study (CS) respectively. Both studies were conducted to understand local consumers' media consumption habits and satisfaction with local media services while also considering the impact on their digital well-being.

Key Findings from the Media Consumer Experience Study and Zero to Fourteen Consumer Experience Study 2016:

Compared to past years, adults and children spent more time on a wider variety of media activities.

• Adults spent the most time on media-related content online, followed by non-media content online and watching Mediacorp.
• Children continued spending the most time watching Mediacorp, while increasing their time spent on content on other platforms. These other platforms exclude content on Free-to-Air (FTA) or Pay TV.

Adults’ satisfaction with media services and content classification systems saw little change year-on-year.

• Adults were most satisfied with local media services’ quality of reception, and Pay TV’s content classification standards.

More children were Internet and social media users, and at a younger age.

• Majority of children used the Internet at home, and YouTube was their favourite social media platform.

For more details on the IMDA Media Consumer Experience Study and Zero to Fourteen Consumer Experience Study 2016, please access the full set of slides here (MCES and CS 2016 (730.74KB))

For any queries on the Studies, please feel free to contact us at rsuadmin@imda.gov.sg.

The Media Development Authority of Singapore (now IMDA) conducted the fourth edition of the Media Consumer Experience Study (MCES) and the second edition of the Zero-to-Fourteen Consumer Experience Study in 2015. The 2015 MCES aims to measure consumers' satisfaction with media services and content standards, and to stay informed of consumers' media consumption habits. The 2015 CS, a complementary study to the MCES, aims to understand children's online and offline media consumption habits.

Key Findings from the Media Consumer Experience Study 2015:

Satisfaction Indices

Consumers’ overall satisfaction with media services was 76.6% in 2015, an improvement from 75.7% in 2014. In particular, satisfaction with the quality and variety of media content, and customer service standards had increased.

Satisfaction with Singapore’s content standards also rose in 2015, from 72.4% in 2014 to 74.1% in 2015.

Media Consumption Habits

Watching Free-to-Air TV remained the top media activity in terms of time spent at 17.4 hours weekly in 2015, a slight increase from 17.0 hours in 2014.

Respondents generally relied on traditional media to discover TV shows, and digital media for online content.

Free-to-Air and Pay TV

Amongst respondents who spent time watching Mediacorp’s Free-to-Air TV, 99.1% watched Mediacorp channels at least once a month, up from 89.7% in 2014.

68.2% of consumers said they subscribed to Pay TV services in 2015, down from 69.3% in 2014.

For more details on the MDA Media Consumer Experience Study 2015, please access the full set of slides here (754.47KB).

Key Findings from the Zero-to-Fourteen Consumer Experience Study 2015:

Media Consumption Habits

Children spent the most time watching Mediacorp on TV, at 0.9 hours daily, and it was the top activity amongst older children (7 to 14 years). However, younger children (0 to 6 years) spent the most time watching Pay TV and other content.

Amongst Mediacorp channels, Okto was the most-watched channel by children aged 10 and below, while Channel 8 remained the most-watched channel by older children (aged 11 to 14).

Internet Take-Up

Almost 8 in 10 children (79.8%) have used the Internet in 2015. On average, children started using the Internet at 6.1 years old.

The smartphone and tablet remained the top two devices most often used to access the Internet in 2015 at 86.1% and 78.3% respectively, while handheld video game players took third place with a score of 74.5%.

Social Media Usage

65.0% of children have used social media, an increase from 2014’s 49.8%.

YouTube was both the most used (91.4%) and favourite (79.1%) social media network amongst children.

For more details on the MDA Zero-to-Fourteen Consumer Experience Study 2015, please access the full set of slides here (CS2016).

For any queries on the Studies, please feel free to contact us at: rsuadmin@imda.gov.sg.

Executive summary

The Media Consumer Experience Study 2013 was commissioned by the Media Development Authority (MDA) to measure satisfaction with media content and services across broadcast, print and online platforms in Singapore.1,742 respondents - Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents representing the demographic mix of Singapore - were interviewed face-to-face from March to May 2013. The results were tabulated on a 7-point scale scoring system, ranging from ‘Very Satisfied’ to ‘Very Dissatisfied’

¹Index scores above 66.7% indicate that respondents are at least slightly satisfied with the media content and services.

Media Satisfaction

Overall, consumers were satisfied with media services in Singapore. The Overall Media Satisfaction Index, which combines satisfaction ratings for content quality, variety of content, quality of TV and radio reception, reliability of services and customer service standards, was 76.1%.

In terms of quality of media content, respondents were most satisfied with programmes on StarHub TV (81.3%), followed by local newspapers (78.3%), and programmes on Mio TV (77.1%).

A similar trend was observed for variety of media content, with a satisfaction index of 80.6% recorded for programmes on StarHub TV, followed by newspapers and programmes on Mio TV.

Satisfaction with MediaCorp was slightly better than with StarHub TV and Mio TV, in both reliability of services (83.3% versus 83.1% for StarHub TV and 79.8% for Mio TV) and customer service standards (77.6% versus 77.1% for StarHub TV and 75.8% for Mio TV).

Respondents were also satisfied with the content classification system, giving it an index score of 80.7%. 85% of respondents expressed satisfaction with the classification system used for free-to-air TV, followed by pay-TV with 83% and local publications with 82%. 84% of respondents felt that it is important (from slightly important to very important) to have a classification system for free-to-air TV, followed by films with 62% and subscription TVs with 61%.

Consumption Habits

In terms of consumption habits, the study found that consumers were spending the most time watching MediaCorp TV, with 16.5 hours spent watching MediaCorp TV programmes in a typical week, up from 16 hours in 2011 (including watching MediaCorp TV on Pay TV platforms such as StarHub TV and Mio TV).

Respondents also indicated that they were spending more time using the Internet to access media-related websites, from 6.8 hours per week in 2011 to 12.9 hours per week in 2013.

Local media platforms were the primary source of access for local and world news and current affairs for 96% of respondents surveyed. 91% indicated that they used free-to-air TV (i.e. MediaCorp) to access Singapore news, while 85% used print newspapers and 66% used the Internet.

Free-to-Air TV and Pay-TV Services

On free-to-air TV, satisfaction was the highest with local programmes on Channel NewsAsia at 79.1%, followed by Vasantham at 78.4%, Suria at 76.5%, Channel U at 75.1% and Channel 8 at 75.0%.

More than half of respondents indicated that they would watch more local MediaCorp programmes if there were language subtitles. 49.2% indicated that they would watch more local programmes if available in high definition.

Around six in ten respondents subscribed to pay-TV, with 9% of respondents subscribing to both StarHub TV and Mio TV. The top two reasons for not subscribing to pay-TV were lack of time to watch pay-TV and free-to-air TV being enough. While the majority of pay-TV users did not express any concern with their pay-TV service in the past year, 26% and 17.5% of respondents were concerned with reception and hardware issues respectively.

For more details, refer to the complete study here (1.48MB).

Executive summary

The Media Consumer Experience Study 2011 is the first instalment of an annual survey commissioned by the Media Development Authority (MDA) with the aim of studying consumer feedback on various aspects of the media content and services across broadcast, print and online platforms.

It is conducted by Singapore Internet Research Centre at the Nanyang Technological University. The sample size for the main survey is 1,030, and the respondents’ demographic mix is representative of the profile of the Singaporean population while the Study is being carried out. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses are conducted through face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions from Sep 2011 to Jan 2012.

Some of the questions in this Study were benchmarked against and drew reference from similar international surveys.

Section 1: Overall Media Satisfaction

This section focuses on the satisfaction levels towards media content that is available in Singapore. The overall results show there is a relatively high level of local consumer satisfaction. The index score of 72% shows that local consumers surveyed are satisfied with media services in Singapore, with a satisfaction level that is between "Satisfied" and "Very Satisfied" on a 7-point scale¹.

On this same scale, respondents reflect that they are generally satisfied with the quality and variety of local and foreign content available in Singapore. Respondents are most contented with the variety of channels available on free-to-air (FTA) and pay-TV platforms, as well as the wide variety of local newspapers, local radio stations, as well as foreign movies and DVDs.

Respondents also report high satisfaction levels for the quality of local content, such as newspapers, radio programmes, local websites, as well as the content offerings of local pay-TV broadcasters.
While consumers are generally pleased with the quality and variety of local video games, applications and animation series, satisfaction levels are relatively lower. This could be due to limited contact with such content for some consumers.

Section 2: Broadcast Industry

This section seeks to establish the consumer satisfaction level with free-to-air (FTA) and pay-TV broadcasters in Singapore. It examines the quality of the content offered by the broadcasters, as well as their quality of reception, reliability of service and customer service standards.

The results show that consumers are generally satisfied with local broadcasters. More than 80% of respondents say they are satisfied with the programming on MediaCorp across almost all channels. Respondents also indicate that they are satisfied with the quality of reception, reliability of service and customer service standards of local FTA and pay-TV broadcasters.

Section 3: Media Credibility

This section aims to determine public perception towards news and information available on traditional and online sources in Singapore.

Roughly 4 out of 10 respondents in the 15 to 19 age group reveal they believe most or all of what they read on the Internet is true, including information that is unverified. This survey finding points to a need for greater public education on media literacy.

Traditional news sources continue to be a trusted source of information among all respondents. Relatively high proportions of respondents across all ages think that news programmes are credible, as compared to documentaries or reality TV. However, those below the age of 30 tend to view traditional news sources with relative scepticism.

Section 4: Classification/ Internet Filters

This section seeks to ascertain public perception of the effectiveness of Singapore's ratings-based classification system and usage of tools such as Internet filters in protecting children from undesirable content.

Respondents are generally satisfied with the content ratings for all media, such as free-to-air (FTA) and pay-TV programmes, imported publication and video games. However, results show that a majority of parents with children under 21 years old do not use Internet filters to guide their children's Web activities. Governments and schools may need to ramp up public education to increase adoption.

For more details, refer to the full study here (MCES2011) (1.18MB).

¹Please note that the index score should not be interpreted as the percentage of respondents that are satisfied.