WORLD PRESS TRENDS - World Association of Newspapers

MALAYSIA
Commentary – Macomm
The Malaysian economy improved in 2002, growing 4.2%. After
a slow start, the economy picked up in the second half of the
year, combining improved exports with continued growth in
domestic demand.
The big event of 2002 was the football World Cup. This helped
drive the ad market up 8% to RM 3.5 billion. Newspapers
increased their share of the market to 62%, their highest share
since 1980.
POPULATION
2003 will be the first year without ad expenditure from tobacco
companies ‘trade diversification’ campaigns. These accounted
for 2.5% of ad expenditure in 2002. This is likely to restrain
growth in ad expenditure, though telecommunications and the
public sector should fill some of the vacuum.
In 2002 many dailies underwent revamps, and increased their
ad rates and cover prices. The first free national English daily
was launched in April 2002, and a sixth national Chinese daily
launched in January 2003.
Adult population by age and sex
Adults Male Female Households
000 % 000 % 000 % 000
15-24 3,597 29 1,815 29 1,782 28 4,800
25-34 2,830 22 1,407 22 1,423 23
35-39 1,362 11 678 11 684 11
40-49 2,223 18 1,127 18 1,096 17
50+ 2,590 21 1,280 20 1,310 21
Total 12,602 100 6,307 100 6,295 100
Source: AC Nielsen
Adult population by sex and social class
Adults Male Female
000 % 000 % 000 %
P/B 692 5 477 8 215 3
OWC 2,108 17 1,221 19 887 14
BC 3,600 29 2,778 44 822 13
NW 6,203 49 1,832 29 4,371 69
Total 12,603 100 6,308 100 6,295 100
Source: AC Nielsen
P/B = professionals/businessmen
OWC = other white collar
BC = blue collar
NW = not working
Newspaper reach (%)
Daily Weekly
Adults 51 64
Men 57 68
Women 45 60
Source: AC Nielsen
Head of household
Head
000
under 25 186
25-34 729
35-39 441
40-49 697
50+ 906
Total 2,959
Households
Adults
000
without children 4,653
with children 7,950
with children aged under 3 2,009
with children aged 4-14 4,311
Total 12,603
Age structure of readership
% of % reach within
Age readership age group
15-19 14 48
20-24 13 52
25-29 12 53
30-34 11 54
35-39 12 57
40-49 20 57
50+ 18 39
NUMBER OF TITLES AND CIRCULATION
Change (%)
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 98/2002 2001/02
Number of titles
Total dailies 33 - 31 34 32 -3.03 -5.88
National dailies 15 - 14 15 14 -6.67 -6.67
Regional dailies 18 - 17 18 18 0.00 0.00
Local dailies - - - 1 - - -
Non-dailies 1 - 1 2 2 100.00 0.00
Sundays 30 - 30 14 14 -53.33 0.00
Free papers - - - - 1 - -
Circulation (000)
Total dailies 2,487 - 2,191 2,399 2,334 -6.15 -2.71
National dailies 2,015 - 1,862 1,938 1,941 -3.67 0.15
Regional dailies 472 - 329 391 393 -16.74 0.51
Local dailies - - - 70 - - -
Non-dailies 11 - 17 40 120 990.91 200.00
Sundays 2,845 - 2,548 2,384 2,395 -15.82 0.46
Free papers - - - - 140 - -
Total annual sales (millions of copies)
Dailies 746 - 657 720 700 -6.18 -2.78
Non-dailies 1 - - - - - -
Sundays 148 - 132 124 125 -15.48 0.81
Titles
35
34
34
33
33
32
32
31
31
30
30
Number of daily titles and circulation
Titles
Circulation
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
2,550
2,500
2,450
2,400
2,350
2,300
2,250
2,200
2,150
2,100
2,050
2,000
Circulation (000s)
WORLD ASSOCIATION OF NEWSPAPERS - WORLD PRESS TRENDS 2003 187