According to one source, The Star is shopping for an afternoon edition and - barring a price negotiation - a deal is in the making.
In a country where traditional media are largely influenced by the Government, media agencies are less than enthused at the prospect of yet another monopoly. Could the newlyweds come to resemble Media Prima, which already dominates Malaysia’s television market and embarked on a pacman-style acquisition spree in the outdoor media market last year.
A Star-Sun alignment would give the two newspapers 78 per cent of Malaysia’s English-language newspaper advertising market (The Star has 70 per cent of it, The Sun, eight per cent share) and, conveniently, 78 per cent share of the country’s English-language newspaper readers (The Star has 65 per cent, or 1.2 million readers, The Sun has 13 per cent).
Manjiri Kamat, the MD of MEC Malaysia, expects to see bundled packages for advertisers. But, of course, there lurks the threat of price hikes that often accompany media owner hegemony.
Andreas Vogiatzakis, MD of OMD Malaysia, observes: “It’s not a monopoly yet, although if the deal goes through we stand to lose a vehicle that reaches a valuable, alternative group of readers.”
The politics of the deal is significant too. The takeover speculation followed news of a US$43 million acquisition of a majority stake in The Sun led by Vincent Tan, the CEO of conglomerate Berjaya Group.
This has, in turn, spurred rumours that Tan’s move was a response to political pressure. The Sun is famously critical of the Government, while The Star tends to toe the party line.
“It will be tough for The Star to change The Sun editorially and position it differently without risking alienating its readers. It could kill the paper,” cautions Vogiatzakis.
And if the papers were more closely aligned, Vogiatzakis wonders, why would advertisers buy both unless for frequency?
Management changes are also expected to play a key role in the future of both titles. Tan launched The Sun in 1993. In 2003, he partnered with Tong Kooi Ong, a recognised media steward with The Edge, to revive the paper’s fortunes. Together with Ho Kay Tat, a seasoned journalist at the time, the new team revamped the daily and saw reader numbers recover.
But Ho has left his position of MD and editor-in-chief of The Sun to become MD of The Edge. Without his wily stewardship, The Sun could lose some of its political cache, although Chan Kien Sing, Ho’s successor at The Sun, maintains that the paper will maintain its editorial stance.
However, Carat media services director Esther Chan remains sceptical. “We have assurances that the paper will remain the same editorially, no matter what. But we can’t be certain how things will change further down the line - especially as general elections are just around the corner.”
