Singapore Scraps TV License Fee

SINGAPORE: Singaporean residents will no longer have to shell out a radio and television license fee, with the Media Development Authority (MDA) now due to receive government funding to finance public-service broadcast content.

The fee, payable annually by homes, hotels, offices and restaurants and bars that have TV and radio sets, has been in place since 1963. In 2009, the MDA received S$132.5 million ($104 million) from the S$110 radio and television license fee. Singaporean Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that the government would forgo about S$120 million ($94.1 million) from nixing the license. The cancellation was announced by the government as part of Singapore’s new budget.

"The licence fees are losing their relevance," Shanmugaratnam said in his budget speech. "First, ownership of TVs is no longer limited to the middle- and higher-income groups. Today, most households—including 99 percent of lower-income households—own TVs. Second, with increasing media convergence, Singaporeans can now receive broadcast content over the Internet and mobile devices, which do not attract a licence fee."

The MDA will now support PSB content with government financing, said MDA CEO Aubeck Kam. "MDA will work closely with the industry to continuously improve the quality and reach of PSB content, including making them available on new platforms, in step with Singaporeans’ changing media habits."

The MDA says that about 3,000 hours of PSB content are produced each year for broadcast on seven free-to-air networks in Singapore. Examples include Channel 5’s Fighting Spiders, okto’s Club M.A.G.I.C., Vasantham’s Sollameley and Suria’s Gerimis Di Hati.