Declining Popularity
Audiences are now increasingly consuming television via diverse platforms such as cable and the Internet, which can offer TV audiences a wider variety of programmes and genres than free-to-air channels
Pressure from Cable and Pay TV
Cable television was first introduced in Singapore in the 1990s when Singapore Cable Vision (later renamed Starhub Cable Vision after merging with Starhub in 2002) offered some 40 channels of programming, including Cable News Network, Home Box Office, Discovery, MTV and others. It successfull draw audiences away from free-to-air television as subscription prices are lower than before, and Cable TV is able to offer the latest Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and Korean TV dramas through video-on-demand channels, whereas the dramas from those countries acquired by Mediacorp are usually several years old.
While consumer satisfaction was the highest with local programmes on Channel U at 75.1% , on any given night, about two thirds or 64% of households with cable television are tuned to a cable programme instead of a Free To Air channel. Two years later, statistics have not changed. In 2011 viewership ratings for StarHub Cable TV's VV Drama, which airs dramas from Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and Korea, has grown significantly.
In addition with the rising penetration of pay TV, it has certainly eaten into the market share of broadcast televisions resulting in lower ratings for local TV dramas. In 2007, viewership for FTA channels fell across the board, according to figures released by TNS. Channel U’s reach fell 6.9 points to 34.6% while subscribers of pay TV has been steadily increasing over the past decade from 255,000 in 2000 to 802,000 in 2010.
With an abundance of choice and people's increasing lack of patience and concentration, it is thus imperative for Free To Air channels to find a way around Cable TV and Pay TV which offers a lot more variety and appeal more to the people. This is necessary for them to suvive in the market.
Singapore producers face intense competition from Hong Kong, Korean and Taiwanese dramas
While ratings for domestic Mandarin TV dramas have declined, viewership has increased for Starhub Cable Vision’s Mandarin channel offering Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and mainland Chinese drama. According to one of the largest video chains in Singapore, Hong Kong dramas account for one-third of their total sales, while another third goes to Korean drama.
Due to the preference for Hong Kong, Korean and Taiwanese dramas, Channel U tends to broadcast more imported dramas and variety programmes rather than local drama productions. Also, locally produced variety programmes tend to mimic successful foreign variety programmes (e.g. Finding U/ Running Man (Korea), Smart@Work/Work..(Taiwan), IN女皇/流行in HOUSE(Taiwan)). This can be seen when Dae Jang Geum (Jewel in the Palace) was a huge success that it was shown again on Channel U from 9 September 2006 onwards, weekends at 7.30 p.m., barely three months after the original broadcast ended. Dae Jang Geum became the first foreign drama in MediaCorp's history to have a repeat telecast during prime time.
In addition, Channel U tend to move away from the typical family drama and have newer content so as to attract the target audience of youth aged 15 and above, overseas actors (e.g. Tender Huang in Secret Garden, Huang Jinglun (Singaporean but based in Taiwan) for Jump!) and newer, fresher faces (e.g. Ian Fang), (明星志工隊 featured Taiwanese artiste 楊一展 and Huang Jinglun). Locally produced dramas which were more successful were largely produced by Wawa pictures, providing an alternative to Singapore audience apart from the typical Mediacorp dramas.
An edge that cable TV and the Internet have over local FTA channels is that audience can watch the latest episodes as soon as they are released. In response to this, Channel U has been buying the broadcasting rights for various Taiwanese dramas, where they are broadcasted on the same weekend as the Taiwan broadcast. (In particular, dramas from GTV.)
Changes in the way audiences perceive the quality of local TV drama production
Often, complaints include the failure of local mandarin TV dramas to depict the complex linguistic reality of Singapore, the lack of creativity in storylines and the narrow range of genres. From the video, one can understand that to attract people to watch local TV, it really needs to be more interesting, refreshing, "not just about food" and it definitely needs to have better acting skills in order to compete with Korean and Taiwanese dramas.
In addition, the characters in Mandarin TV dramas are made to speak in standard Mandarin, despite the fact that most ethnic Chinese in Singapore use a mixture of English and Mandarin. With the success of My Home Affairs (2000), Viva Le Famille (2002) and Portrait of Home (2005), it appears that Mediacorp producers are sticking to a tried-and-tested formula that emphasizes family problems, family values and kinship ties. In the long-term, free-to-air broadcasters need to give viewers 'unique and interesting content that they cannot get elsewhere, like Singapore Idol - the same thing other media like newspapers are trying to give their audiences'.
"It's not diverse, it's not interesting, it's the same thing everytime." - a local's comment on local TV
