Viewership fell across the board, according to figures released by research firm The Nielsen Company last Friday.

Channel 8's reach of the Singapore population dropped 6.3 percentage points to 51.3 per cent, Channel U fell 6.9 points to 34.6 per cent, and Channel 5 crashed 7.8 points to 30.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, MediaCorp TV's 2007 financial year results, filed with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, showed that TV channels 5, 8, and U chalked up a $7.7 million loss - their fifth straight year in the red.

These three channels are Singapore's most popular free-to-air stations and MediaCorp's biggest revenue source, at $236 million.

And its TV12 service, comprising channels like Suria and Arts Central, dipped into the red for the first time in five years, posting a $5.9 million loss on the back of $61 million in revenue.

Channel News Asia's (CNA's) viewership fell by 6.1 points to 24 per cent. But surprisingly, the news channel was MediaCorp's biggest profit engine, generating earnings of $15 million on the back of $77 million in revenue.

The CNA profit allowed MediaCorp's broadcast division to stay in the black with a $1.4 million profit for this year, compared with $7.1 million last year.

By comparison, pay-TV operator StarHub's fortunes have been on the rise, with both customer base and revenue growing over the years. StarHub does not give a profit breakdown between its mobile, Internet and cable-TV operations in its annual reports.

And SingTel's new pay-TV service, mio TV, has already picked up 30,000 subscribers since its July launch.

Nielsen spokesman Rebecca Tan said in its report last week that she expected 'more adjustments in the viewing patterns and habits of people in Singapore in the near future' arising from cable TV developments.

Pay-TV is not the only threat to free-to-air TV.

Free time has become a rare commodity in fast-paced Singapore, said Ms Tan, and consumers will increasingly turn to 'time-zapping devices like DVD recorders and websites like RecordTV' so they can get their TV fix efficiently and on their own terms.

And online piracy, long the bane of the music and movie industries, could also be affecting broadcasters like MediaCorp, said Credit Suisse analyst Sean Quek.

'If someone can download the show he wants to watch now, he most likely won't watch it when it is shown later, whether by the pay-TV or free-to-air TV operator,' he said.

This is clearly already happening here. Internet users on popular forums like HardwareZone discuss the latest episodes of popular serials such as Prison Break the same day they are shown overseas, not months later when they finally appear on local TV.

Once viewership slips, warned Mr Quek, 'advertisers will act accordingly'.

For now though, said Ms Tan, 'with 96 per cent average weekly viewership and 83 per cent average daily viewership, we cannot disregard' free-to-air TV.

In the long-term, said Mr Quek, free-to-air broadcasters need to give viewers 'unique and interesting content that they cannot get elsewhere, like Singapore Idol - the same thing other media like newspapers are trying to give their audiences'.

Ms Tan concurs: 'Local audiences...identify with the local stars and programming.' Unfortunately for MediaCorp, its hold on unique content has just taken a hit.

Last month, the Media Development Authority of Singapore took away, over MediaCorp protests, the company's exclusive right to 'events of national significance' like National Day Parades. Other media players will be able to cover these events.