SPH Media fails to meet several KPI targets for FY2023, has 'considerable catch-up' to do: Josephine Teo

SINGAPORE — SPH Media failed to meet its key performance indicator (KPI) targets in digital reach, youth reach and vernacular reach for FY2023, said Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo in Parliament on Friday (1 March).

The media organisation also did not manage to meet another KPI target of maintaining the average time spent on its websites and apps.

Speaking during her ministry's Committee of Supply budget debate, she said that the SPH Media Trust - which receives government funding support of up to S$900 million for five years starting from 2022 - still has "considerable catch-up" to do in its digital transformation.

"Accordingly, it did not receive the full funding that was committed. SPH Media will need to do more to maintain its relevance in this challenging media environment and will need continued support as it strives to get onto firmer footing," Teo said.

Public service media 'a critical public pillar': Teo

Despite not making some of its KPI, SPH Media was nonetheless commended by Teo on other improvements, such as strengthening its digital systems to improve outreach and making extensive efforts to improve retention and quality of its newsrooms.

She said that, in an information landscape where truths have to compete with falsehoods, public service media is a “critical public pillar in our society's infrastructure of fact".

“On matters deserving public attention, such as community news in the vernacular, or indeed parliamentary proceedings, profit-driven platforms may have no interest except to sensationalise or add their own ‘spin’," Teo said.

"We need public service media to tell Singapore stories and project Singapore’s voice. We cannot expect media organisations elsewhere to do so for us."

S$260 million funding for SPH Media in FY2024

Teo was responding to Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh, who asked about updates to the government’s funding to SPH Media, which Teo had said in 2022 was for the media organisation to make “essential investments" to transit into the digital era.

Thus far, Teo said that around S$320 million has been disbursed to SPH Media across FY2022 and FY2023. MCI has also budgeted to provide SPH Media with around S$260 million in funding in FY2024.

In 2022, the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) had announced it would provide up to S$900 million in funding support for SPH Media Trust over the next five years, a year after SPH announced its plans to restructure its media business as a company limited by guarantee, allowing it to receive funding from private and public sources.

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