Prices of The Straits Times (ST) and The Sunday Times have increased by 10 cents, from 70 cents and 80 cents previously, and a bumper Saturday edition now costs 20 cents more. Meanwhile, the Business Times, Chinese-language dailies Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao and Shin Min Daily, and Malay daily Berita Harian, now cost five to 10 cents more.
SPH’s last price adjustment was in 2004. SPH chief executive officer Alan Chan said: “This is only the third price revision in 23 years. We have tried to contain costs, but expenses have gone up steeply, in particular the US dollar price of newsprint has almost doubled since 2004”.
A spokesperson at SPH maintained that the advertising ratecards of the affected newspapers will remain unchanged.
In Thailand, the Bangkok Post and magazines including OK! and Seventeen have raised cover prices by as much as 10 per cent.
According to Sunee Paripunna, managing director of MEC Thailand, although these increases are unlikely to hurt circulation, adspend and readership will fall as advertisers and consumers shift their budgets and attention towards “emerging and cheaper media online and in mobile”.
The latest figures in the Kingdom revealed a four per cent drop in adspend for magazines. Newspapers have showed no growth.
