Media sites on WordPress: 14 of 28 (50%) (Source: WebPulse regional scans. Rappler, Inquirer, Philippine Star, RTE Ireland, Malaysian media.)
The Split
Who Moved and Who Didn't
The pattern is clear: well-funded media organizations with engineering teams migrated. BBC moved to Next.js. Sky moved to Next.js. RTL Germany moved to Next.js. Media organizations that rely on freelancers or small agency teams stayed on WordPress. The dividing line isn't technology awareness — it's engineering capacity.
The Performance Gap
Media sites live and die by speed. Ad revenue correlates directly with page load time. Our TTFB data shows WordPress media sites at 800-2,000ms. Next.js media sites at 50-200ms. For a publisher serving millions of page views, that's a measurable revenue difference.
The ASEAN Media Story
In Southeast Asia, the split follows economic lines. Singapore's Channel NewsAsia modernized. Philippines' Rappler and Inquirer stayed on WordPress. Malaysia's MalayMail chose Remix — the most surprising framework choice in our entire scan. Thailand's Sanook chose Next.js. The framework map mirrors the media investment map.
