Newspaper Advertising Cost Malaysia: Print and ePaper Rates

2. How Much Does a Newspaper Ad Cost in Malaysia?

Quick Answer: Published rate cards put a full-colour quarter page at about RM 5,200 in a Klang Valley edition and RM 17,000 nationally. A national full-colour broadsheet page lists at RM 55,000. Supplement packages are cheaper: The Star’s 2025 education supplements start at RM 7,500 for a quarter page plus editorial content. Service tax is extra.

Very few Malaysian publishers post prices online, but two do. Sin Chew Daily’s 2020 rate card lists fixed prices for its recommended ad sizes by edition. The Star’s 2025 Higher Education rate card lists supplement packages. Together they show the realistic range.

Three things stand out from these published rates:

• Edition decides the price. A Sin Chew quarter page in colour costs RM 17,000 nationally but RM 5,200 in the KL and Selangor edition alone. Buy only the regions where your customers live.
• Supplements are the cheaper door. The Star’s supplement packages bundle a full-colour ad with free editorial content, at a lower price than the main paper.
• Language matters. English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil dailies price separately, so a three-language campaign means three bookings. Our guide to multilingual campaign costs covers the translation side.

3. How Are Newspaper Ad Rates Calculated per Column-Centimetre?

Quick Answer: Malaysian newspapers price display ads by column-centimetre: the number of columns wide multiplied by the height in centimetres, multiplied by the rate. The Star’s main paper lists RM 78 per col-cm in black and white. Sin Chew’s national rate was RM 82 casual or RM 67 on contract. Recommended sizes cost less than the formula.

A broadsheet page is 10 columns wide and 53 cm tall, so a full page is 530 col-cm. At Sin Chew’s national casual rate of RM 82, that page would cost RM 43,460 in black and white. Yet the same card sells the “recommended size” full page for RM 35,000, about 20% less. Odd sizes are charged at the full per-col-cm rate.

The chart shows why a regional booking is so much cheaper. To check a newspaper ad quote yourself, follow these steps:

1. Get the column count and height. For example, a 5 col x 20 cm ad is 100 col-cm.
2. Multiply by the edition rate. At the Metro rate of RM 41, that ad lists at RM 4,100 in black and white.
3. Add colour and position charges. Colour has its own higher per col-cm rate, and position loadings are covered in the next section.
4. Add service tax. The Star’s 2025 cards add 8% service tax on top of every rate.

Contract rates reward commitment. Sin Chew’s national contract rate of RM 67 is about 18% below its casual rate, so a series of ads booked together can cost less per insertion than one-off bookings.

4. What Extra Charges Push Up the Price of a Newspaper Ad?

Quick Answer: Position loadings are the biggest extra. Sin Chew’s 2020 card adds 100% for the front page, 55% for page 3 and 15% even for a run-of-paper slot you choose. Other add-ons include advertorial writing fees, facing-page loadings and service tax. Late cancellation can cost the full ad price.

The base rate assumes the publisher places your ad wherever space is free. The moment you ask for a specific page, the price climbs. These are the published surcharges:

These extras can double your newspaper advertising cost in Malaysia. A national full-colour quarter page at RM 17,000 doubles to RM 34,000 on the front page, before tax. Two smaller points from the terms are worth knowing:

• Ads that look like news get labelled. Sin Chew reserves the right to print “advertisement” above any ad styled like editorial.
• Late artwork still gets billed. If your file misses the copy deadline, you pay for the space anyway.

5. Print vs ePaper: Where Will Readers Actually See Your Ad?

Quick Answer: Mostly on the ePaper. The Star reports 5.361 million past-week readers, and 49.7% of them read only the ePaper, against 30.1% who read only the printed paper. Across Malaysia, print news use fell from 45% in 2017 to 18% in 2025. Check that your ad runs in the ePaper too.

The Star’s 2025 rate card quotes Nielsen Consumer and Media View data for January to December 2023. It shows how its audience splits between the printed paper and the ePaper replica:

So about seven in ten of The Star’s readers can see an ad in the ePaper, while about half would see it in print. The wider market tells the same story. The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025 found print news use in Malaysia dropped to 18% of respondents, from 45% in 2017. Ad budgets have followed: Kenanga Research estimated that digital took about 77% of Malaysian adex in 2024, as reported by Bernama.

Circulation figures are now mostly self-reported. The Edge reported in 2019 that major publishers planned to leave the Audit Bureau of Circulations, ending the independent audit of their sales. Ask which readership survey a figure comes from and what period it covers. Our guide to measuring brand awareness shows how to check the lift yourself.

6. Is Newspaper Advertising Still Worth It in Malaysia?

Quick Answer: It can be, for the right buyer. Newspapers still suit older, high-income and Chinese-language audiences, big-ticket launches, education intakes and legal or public notices. For cheap, trackable enquiries, digital ads usually win. Judge any newspaper ad on cost per enquiry, not on its circulation claim.

Newspaper ads work best when trust and timing matter more than targeting. Good fits include:

• Property and big-ticket launches. A full page signals that the developer is established and can afford national exposure.
• Education intakes. Supplements such as The Star’s education series exist because parents read them before choosing a college.
• Chinese-language and older readers. These groups still read the printed paper, often at home or in coffee shops.
• Notices with a formal tone. Corporate announcements, tenders and public notices still expect print.

To see whether the newspaper advertising cost in Malaysia pays off for you, do the maths first. Take an illustrative Metro quarter page in colour at RM 5,200. If it brings 5 enquiries, each one costs RM 1,040. At 15 enquiries, RM 347. At 30, about RM 173. Compare those numbers with our lead generation cost guide by channel. These enquiry counts are a planning scenario, not measured results.

7. How Do You Book and Track a Newspaper Ad?

Quick Answer: Request the current rate card, pick the edition and language, choose a recommended size and confirm the all-in price in writing. Send artwork before the deadline: Sin Chew asks for two to five clear days. Then track response with a QR code, a dedicated WhatsApp number or a promo code.

1. Get the current rate card. Email the publisher’s advertising desk and ask for print, ePaper and supplement rates for this year.
2. Choose edition and language. Match the paper’s language and region to your buyers, and skip editions where you don’t deliver.
3. Pick a recommended size. Standard sizes are cheaper than custom ones, as section 3 showed.
4. Confirm the all-in quote. Get position loading, colour, tax and cancellation terms in writing.
5. Meet the artwork deadline. Sin Chew’s card asks for two clear days for black-and-white ads, three for colour and five for supplements.
6. Add a trackable response path. Use a QR code with UTM tags, a unique WhatsApp number or an offer code used only in this ad.
7. Measure for 30 days. Count enquiries and sales from that path, then work out your cost per enquiry.

Our guide to QR code marketing in Malaysia covers trackable codes, and setting up UTM tracking shows how to tag the link. To connect print response to actual sales, read how to measure marketing that drives offline sales.

8. How Do Newspaper Ads Fit With Google Ads, Meta Ads and SEO?

Quick Answer: A newspaper ad builds awareness, but readers usually search your brand name before they act. SEO makes sure they find you, Google Ads catches people searching for your service, and Meta Ads retarget visitors who came from the ad. Print starts the interest and your digital channels close the sale.

• SEO. Branded searches often rise after a print run, and ZenWeb’s SEO services make sure your site ranks for them.
• Google Ads. Search ads capture buyers who are ready to act, through Google Ads management.
• Meta Ads. Retarget people who scanned your QR code with an offer through Meta Ads campaigns.

Newspapers are one of many offline and paid channels. Here is how they compare with other options we cover:

9. Conclusion

Quick Answer: Newspaper advertising cost in Malaysia ranges from a few thousand ringgit for a regional quarter page to RM 55,000 or more for a national colour page, before loadings and tax. It is worth it for trust-led, audience-specific campaigns that are tracked and backed by digital follow-up.

Ask for the current rate card, book a recommended size in the editions your buyers read, and confirm every loading in writing. Then give the ad a tracking path so you can compare it fairly. A clear digital marketing pricing plan helps you decide how much of your budget belongs in print.

10. Frequently Asked Questions

1. How much is a full-page newspaper ad in Malaysia?

Published rates put a national full-colour broadsheet page at about RM 55,000 (Sin Chew, 2020) and a full-colour supplement page at RM 31,500 (The Star, 2025). Regional editions cost far less, from about RM 5,300 to RM 21,000. Service tax is extra.

2. What does “per column-centimetre” mean?

It is the pricing unit for newspaper space: the ad’s width in columns multiplied by its height in centimetres. A 5 col x 20 cm ad is 100 col-cm. Multiply that by the edition’s rate to get the base price.

3. Is an ePaper ad included when I buy a print ad?

Often, because the ePaper is a digital copy of the printed edition, but terms differ by publisher. Ask in writing whether your ad appears in the ePaper and whether it links to your website.

4. What is the cheapest way to advertise in a newspaper?

Book a recommended size in a single regional edition, avoid position loadings, and look at supplement packages or classifieds. Classified display rates on Sin Chew’s 2020 card start from a few ringgit per col-cm in some regions.