Mediacorp

Mediacorp is Singapore’s national public broadcaster and the country’s largest media conglomerate by asset size and reach. Its origins date back to 1936, when the British Malaya Broadcasting Corporation was granted a royal charter by the British Crown to operate a radio network. Over the decades, it has evolved into a multi-platform media company with a dominant footprint across broadcast and digital media.

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.

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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

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State Media Matrix Typology

Captured Public/State-Managed (CaPu)

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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.

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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.

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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