As of 2025, Mediacorp operates six free-to-air television channels, 11 radio stations, and five digital news portals, delivering content in Singapore’s four official languages: English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil.

Media assets

Television: Suria, Channel 5 , Channel U, Channel 8, Vasantham, CNA

Radio: Ria, Gold, Symphony, YES, CNA938, Warna, Class, Capital, Oli, Love, 987

News portals: 8Days, Today, 8World, Berita, Seithi

State Media Matrix Typology

Captured Public/State-Managed (CaPu)

Ownership and governance

Mediacorp is a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s state investment company, which in turn is overseen by the Ministry of Finance. Temasek maintains a wide-ranging portfolio spanning banking, aviation, telecommunications, and logistics, with stakes in major firms such as DBS Bank and Singapore Airlines.

The governance of Mediacorp rests with its Board of Directors, all of whom are appointed by Temasek. As of mid-2025, several board members concurrently hold senior roles in government-linked entities and statutory boards, including the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and various state economic agencies. This interlocking directorate has raised persistent concerns about the broadcaster’s autonomy from state influence.

Niam Chiang Meng has served as Chairman of Mediacorp since April 2018, succeeding Ernest Wong. As of 2025, he continues in this role, concurrently chairing other prominent institutions including the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and Gardens by the Bay. Prior to his role at Mediacorp, he held various key positions in the Singapore government, including Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information and the Ministry of National Development.

Tham Loke Kheng remains Chief Executive Officer, having first assumed the position in September 2017. Her tenure has been marked by a sustained focus on digital transformation, talent development, and audience diversification. She has over three decades of experience in the media industry across Asia, having held senior leadership roles at SPH MediaWorks, StarHub, Turner Broadcasting, and nowTV in Hong Kong.

Source of funding and budget

Mediacorp derives its income from a hybrid funding model: commercial advertising and public subsidies. State support is primarily channeled through the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), a statutory board under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI). Additional funds may come via discretionary grants from other ministries.

Between 2015 and 2020, the government allocated approximately S$310 million (US$228 million) annually to Mediacorp to support its public service broadcasting (PSB) mandate. However, this figure has seen a marked reduction over recent years. By 2022, the annual PSB grant had fallen to S$170 million (US$119 million), a trend that continued into 2024–2025, according to IMDA budget reports.

In response to the tightening of state subsidies, Mediacorp has expanded its commercial operations. A key move in this direction was the 2021 launch of Mediacorp AdDirect, a self-service advertising portal tailored for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The platform offers end-to-end tools for ad creation, targeting, and performance tracking across Mediacorp’s media ecosystem, and has become a growing revenue stream as the company pivots further toward digital monetization.

While detailed annual financial statements remain unpublished, media analysts interviewed in March 2023 and May 2024 estimated that commercial revenues account for at least 45%–50% of Mediacorp’s income as of 2024, reflecting a steady rise from the 40% reported in 2019.

Editorial independence

Mediacorp’s leadership has consistently asserted that its editorial teams operate with independence and integrity. Nonetheless, numerous journalists—both current and former employees—interviewed in 2023, 2024 and 2025, describe a newsroom climate marked by rigorous editorial vetting and content restrictions. According to these sources, editorial decisions are subject to oversight by dedicated censors tasked with ensuring alignment with official narratives and avoiding politically sensitive topics.

The absence of any domestic legislation guaranteeing editorial independence for Mediacorp reinforces concerns regarding institutional autonomy. Unlike public broadcasters in some jurisdictions that are governed by statutory charters or independent oversight councils, Mediacorp operates without legally enshrined protections against political interference.

In 2024, calls for greater transparency and editorial reform resurfaced following international coverage of Singapore’s tightened online speech laws under the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (FICA). Critics argue that state-affiliated outlets like Mediacorp play a key role in shaping public discourse in a tightly regulated media environment.

July 2025

Media assets

Publishing: The Business Times, The New Paper, The Straits Times, Tabla!, Lianhe Wanbao, Lianhe Zaobao, Shin Min Daily News, Berita Harian, Tamil Murasu

Radio: Money FM, One FM, Kiss 92, Hao FM, UFM

State Media Matrix Typology

Captured Public/State-Managed (CaPu)

Ownership and governance

SPH was formerly listed on the Singapore Exchange, with public shareholders accounting for over 99% of equity holdings. The company also issued management shares that conferred significant board appointment powers, primarily to government bodies and state-linked entities, thereby allowing them to wield decisive influence over the company’s strategic direction. This arrangement underscored the historically close relationship between SPH’s board and the Singapore government—a relationship that has long drawn scrutiny from media analysts and observers.

Pursuant to Singapore’s print media regulations, all transfers of management shares in publishing companies require prior approval from the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, reflecting the state’s enduring oversight in this sector.

In December 2021, SPH completed the much-anticipated divestment of its media business, transferring all related operations to the newly established SPH Media Trust (SMT), incorporated as a company limited by guarantee (CLG) and structured as a not-for-profit organisation. This major restructuring was, by most accounts, a response to mounting economic headwinds, as the company’s traditional media outlets grappled with declining revenues and fundamental shifts in the media landscape.

Despite official assurances from SMT’s senior management affirming the new organization’s independence, questions have persisted about the extent of its autonomy. Notably, Khaw Boon Wan—a veteran member of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP)—was appointed as SMT’s chairman, a move seen by some as emblematic of ongoing government influence.

Source of funding and budget

SMT’s finances are largely underpinned by a blend of commercial revenue—primarily from advertising—and direct state funding. The media group, like many of its global counterparts, has faced a persistent downturn in profitability, buffeted by falling ad spend and diminishing print circulation. While SMT’s predecessors had long kept the extent of public funding tightly under wraps, recent years have seen a shift towards greater financial transparency.

In July 2023, an internal review unearthed inconsistencies in reported circulation data, prompting the government to issue stern warnings regarding potential cuts in planned funding to SMT. Earlier, in 2022, the Singapore government had earmarked S$900 million to support SMT over the 2023-2027 period, with the first tranche disbursed in March 2023. This state support came with strings attached: funds were to be channelled into technology upgrades, talent development, and the strengthening of vernacular media offerings. Government figures show S$320 million was disbursed to SMT in the 2022-2023 financial year, underscoring the extent of official backing amid an era of unprecedented industry upheaval.

Against this backdrop, SMT’s revenue from its media business fell nearly 24% year-on-year to S$193.1 million (US$143 million) by the end of the August 2021 fiscal cycle, according to its own accounts. The group has also borne significant restructuring costs, now exceeding S$243.3 million (US$180 million) in efforts to steady the ship amid rough financial waters.

For the fiscal year 2024, the Singapore government provided S$260.6 million in funding to SMT, as part of the support scheme. In addition, performance incentives of up to S$28.9 million were budgeted, contingent on meeting key performance indicators around digital reach, youth readership, and vernacular outreach. SMT did not meet all its KPIs for 2024, which resulted in it not receiving the full potential amount of government funding.

Editorial independence

SMT’s newsrooms have long found themselves walking a tightrope, often perceived as government-aligned due, in no small part, to the company’s governance and board composition. The editorial pressure reportedly stems from the highest echelons of management, populated by individuals with strong ties to the corridors of power. At the time of SMT’s reconstitution in late 2021, a public pledge was made to safeguard the editorial independence of its news outlets; in practice, however, the jury is still out on whether these promises hold water.

As of mid-2025, Singapore’s media landscape continues to lack statutory guarantees or independent oversight mechanisms that might credibly certify the independence of newsrooms under SMT’s umbrella. Observers interviewed for this report in March 2025 note that media freedom in Singapore remains a hot-button issue, with many pointing to the enduring overlap between political authority and media governance as a point of persistent contention.

In July 2025, SMT engaged in talks with China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency to deepen media collaboration, focusing on mutually beneficial exchange and “jointly telling the China-Singapore development story”—a signal of SMT’s intentions to strengthen regional influence, but also a sign of openness to collaboration with state-controlled media in China.

To date, no domestic statute and no independent assessment mechanism that would validate the independence of the media outlets run by SMT have been identified.

July 2025