INTERVIEW-Malaysia Media Prima sees Internet ad growth

By Hsu Chuang Khoo

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Malaysia's biggest listed media group, Media Prima (MPRM.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), expects increased Internet usage to grow online advertising at least ten-fold by 2012.

Nine-tenths of all advertising spending in Malaysia is ploughed into print and television, though that should change as Internet use grows, Media Prima CEO Abdul Rahman Ahmad told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

Asked if he had financial milestones for Internet-based revenues, he said: "We don't have any internal targets and it could be pie in the sky, but it's very important for us to try."

"We are the biggest producer of content in Malaysia. The opportunity to leverage this lies only with us."

The company's Internet strategy includes charging users subscription fees for access to current and archived programs and grabbing a share of the online advertising cake, he said.

About 40 million ringgit ($12.1 million) was spent advertising on the Internet last year, less than 1 percent of the total pie, Abdul Rahman added. Even without growth, that figure could reach 400 million ringgit in 2012, he said.

Media Prima's assets include four free-to-air TV networks, two radio stations, 43 percent of listed English-language daily the New Straits Times (NSTP.KL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and three outdoor advertising firms.