Introduction
The media landscape in Malaysia as it is in most parts of the world today is going through rapid changes. With the emergence of new media / alternative media like: CNN, Al-Jazeera, Malaysia Kini, Malaysia Today, Yahoo, YouTube, Google, MySpace, Friendster etc, media consumption patterns of Malaysians has changed tremendously. Whilst developed markets like North America, Western Europe, Japan etc have witnessed stagnation / contraction of circulation base of major newspapers, developing markets like Malaysia is still growing, albeit at a slower pace than what it was in the 1990s.
Another new phenomenon is the success of the free newspaper business model that targets distributions in big towns / cities around the world. Modelled after The Metro (originally from Sweden), its relative growth around the world has been nothing short of remarkable - at least in the past decade or so. Also worth mentioning is the irreversible trend that's happening globally, i.e. migration of consumers towards new media that's both interactive and content that's user generated. Case in point: video sharing and social networking sites like YouTube, MySpace, Friendster etc.
Company Overview
With the tagline "The people's paper", it's the leading English daily in Malaysia today. The Star Publications (Malaysia) Berhad is listed in the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia. Principal activities of the Company are the publications, printing and distribution of newspapers & magazines. Since 2002, the group has also progressively diversified into broadcasting of radio as well as education (particularly in the area of organizing public forums and talks).
The Group's flagship newspapers are The Star daily and Sunday Star. The Star (Daily) currently commands a readership of 1.031 million and Sunday Star a readership of 1.015 million as at 4th Quarter of 2007 (Source: Nielsen Media Research, Jan 07 - Dec 07). The Star has been the market leader in the English daily segment for...