The masses will still need to consume goods, the marketers will need to continue to remain competitive above others to ensure that their products and services are heard and seen in the market. In tough times, media buyers and advertisers will just need to be more selective of their marketing methods. In its latest annual survey of 690 public listed companies, the Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG) ranked Media Prima Berhad (MPB) 7th for best corporate governance.
In a similar survey conducted last year, MPB was also ranked 7th underlining the sustainability of the Group’s efforts to increase the quality of governance and shareholder value. The survey is an annual initiative undertaken by MSWG together with Nottingham University Business School to promote and highlight good corporate governance amongst public listed companies in Malaysia. In this year’s survey, Public Bank Berhad was ranked highest in corporate governance, with Bursa Malaysia Berhad and Telekom Malaysia Berhad coming in second and third respectively.
“We are again extremely proud and pleased to be ranked amongst Malaysia’s top ten companies for best corporate governance. The achievement is a result of the company’s policy to incorporate governance and accountability as part and parcel of our business operations, and testimony to the commitment and effort made by all employees, management and Board of Directors of MPB to ensure that shareholder interests are always safeguarded,” said MPB’s Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Abdul Rahman Ahmad. “This recognition together with our recent award as the Best Managed Mid Cap Company for 2008 in Malaysia by Finance Asia is a fair reflection of the quality of governance in Media Prima and the significant value that we have created for our shareholders,” added Abdul Rahman. Furthermore, Datuk Seri Farid Ridzuan Media Prima Television Networks, Group Chief Executive Officer, said that the company will spend RM250 million next year on local and foreign content for all its television networks, regardless of type and genre. He added that Malaysians spent more than 3 hours or 50% of their leisure time watching TV compared with less than 10% for print media.
“While TV3 is by far the most watched station with 22% lead over its nearest competitor, TV9 has emerged as the second most watched channel among the Malaysia with 12% share,” he said. Farid added that the combination of NTV7 and 8TV made number one and number two for chinese netwroks with 21% and 17% market share respectively. The four stations collectively have 50% share in all TV audiences aged 4 years and above. Malays make up 58% of this TV audience. Farid elaborated that online TV had also emerged as an important vehicle for the 4 TV stations with over 20 million videos viewed monthly.
Abdul Rahman Ahmad, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer