Digital push drives Media Prima’s growth

Media Prima Berhad has seen its revenue double for the first nine months of 2017, from digital, non-traditional advertising and commerce.
Combined revenues from digital advertising, home shopping, e-commerce and subscription-based OTT service grew from RM50 million to RM123 million for YTD17.
Tan Sri Ismee Ismail, Group Chairman of Media Prima, announced, “The Group has adapted to the competitive operating environment and works around its business transformation plan which delivers new revenue streams.”
Datuk Kamal Khalid (picture), Group Managing Director of Media Prima, added, “The Group has made key structural changes within the organization that includes restructuring, manpower rightsizing, and investing in digital publishing through the strategic acquisition of Rev Asia in August this year.”
The Group has extended services such as tonton into Singapore and Brunei while Primeworks Studios has been selling video content to global OTT providers such as Netflix and iflix.
Datuk Kamal added that home shopping has caught the popular imagination. Launched in April 2016, CJ Wow Shop is a significant contributor to Media Prima’s revenue.
Another significant growth segment is in the digital advertising space wherein The New Straits Times Press and Media Prima Radio Networks recorded over 100% growth in digital revenue for YTD17 compared to the previous year.
“Our reach has never been higher as audiences and advertisers move towards the digital content provided by our media platforms. Media Prima’s Harian Metro portal, for instance, recorded 3.7 million unique visitors in August 2017 via mobile devices,” added Datuk Kamal.
Consumer-based services like tonton have added to the revenue basket of the Group. There are over 7 million registered users of tonton.
Media Prima reported a 12% decrease in revenue for the third quarter of 2017 ended 30 September 2017 to RM288.5 million, as compared to the previous quarter. It also incurred a Loss After Tax of RM105.2 million for Q3 2017 due to the decline trend of core advertising revenue.