Singapore, 28th August 2002 - The Board of Directors of Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SPH) has approved a cash injection of up to S$40 million into its broadcasting arm, SPH MediaWorks, to finance its operations.

The first S$15 million will be made in the form of a shareholder's loan.

SPH Executive Chairman Mr Lim Kim San said of the extra funding: "The cash injection is to help sustain MediaWorks until market conditions improve. We are encouraged to note that MediaWorks is capturing a bigger audience share and would be in a strong position to compete for advertising dollars when the economy recovers.''

MediaWorks' Chief Executive Officer Lee Cheok Yew added: "Since the launch of the TV channels in May 2001, MediaWorks has been capturing audience share through its innovative programming. We are encouraged by SPH's endorsement of our achievements and its commitment and confidence in us.''

SPH has to date invested S$88.8 million in MediaWorks, which launched two free-to-air TV channels in May 2001.

According to AC Nielsen's figures, MediaWorks' Channel U has raced ahead to become the most-watched TV channel in Singapore, overtaking incumbent MediaCorp's Channel 8. Its prime time audience share of adult Mandarin viewers for July was 53 per cent compared with Channel 8's 47 per cent.

Against Channel 5, prime time rating share for the English language Channel i also climbed to 25 per cent in July, compared with the former's 75 per cent. Overall for the entertainment channels, the combined prime time audience share of Channels U and i is 48 per cent, compared with MediaCorp's 52 per cent for Channels 5 and 8.

Issued by: Singapore Press Holdings

For more information, please contact:

Ms Irene Ngoo
Singapore Press Holdings
Tel: 6319 1216
Fax: 6319 8150
E-Mail: ingoo@sph.com.sg

Main board listed Singapore Press Holdings Limited is the leading news and information provider, offering quality content for print, Internet, TV and radio. It is licensed to publish 11 newspapers in the four official languages and six lifestyle periodicals. Everyday, SPH newspapers reach 2.68 million individuals or 89 percent of persons above 15 years old in Singapore while online publication of its six main dailies enjoy some 120 million pageviews a month. SPH has ventured into the broadcast medium and operates two popular free-to-air TV channels, Channel U in Chinese and Channel i in English.