PAGE 1 000 B000000 07/31/2008 000 C000000 0000827773 000 D000000 N 000 E000000 NF 000 F000000 Y 000 G000000 N 000 H000000 N 000 I000000 6.1 000 J000000 A 001 A000000 PUTNAM PREMIER INCOME TRUST 001 B000000 811-5452 001 C000000 6172921000 002 A000000 ONE POST OFFICE SQUARE 002 B000000 BOSTON 002 C000000 MA 002 D010000 02109 003 000000 N 004 000000 N 005 000000 N 006 000000 N 007 A000000 N 007 B000000 0 007 C010100 1 007 C010200 2 007 C010300 3 007 C010400 4 007 C010500 5 007 C010600 6 007 C010700 7 007 C010800 8 007 C010900 9 007 C011000 10 007 C011100 11 007 C011200 12 007 C011300 13 007 C011400 14 007 C011500 15 007 C011600 16 007 C011700 17 007 C011800 18 007 C011900 19 007 C012000 20 007 C012100 21 007 C012200 22 007 C012300 23 007 C012400 24 007 C012500 25 007 C012600 26 007 C012700 27 007 C012800 28 007 C012900 29 PAGE 2 007 C013000 30 007 C013100 31 007 C013200 32 007 C013300 33 007 C013400 34 007 C013500 35 007 C013600 36 007 C013700 37 007 C013800 38 007 C013900 39 007 C014000 40 007 C014100 41 007 C014200 42 007 C014300 43 007 C014400 44 007 C014500 45 007 C014600 46 007 C014700 47 007 C014800 48 007 C014900 49 007 C015000 50 008 A000001 PUTNAM INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, LLC 008 B000001 A 008 C000001 801-7974 008 D010001 BOSTON 008 D020001 MA 008 D030001 02109 008 A000002 PUTNAM INVESTMENTS LIMITED 008 B000002 S 008 C000002 801-61441 008 D010002 LONDON 008 D050002 ENGLAND 008 D060002 SW1A 1LD 011 A000001 DELETE 012 A000001 PUTNAM INVESTOR SERVICES 012 B000001 84-401299 012 C010001 BOSTON 012 C020001 MA 012 C030001 02109 013 A000001 KPMG LLP 013 B010001 BOSTON 013 B020001 MA 013 B030001 02110 015 A000001 STATE STREET BANK AND TRUST COMPANY 015 B000001 C 015 C010001 BOSTON 015 C020001 MA 015 C030001 02111 015 E010001 X 015 A000002 DELETE 015 A000003 DELETE PAGE 3 015 A000004 DELETE 015 A000005 DELETE 015 A000006 DELETE 015 A000007 DELETE 018 000000 Y 019 A000000 Y 019 B000000 99 019 C000000 PUTNAMFUND 020 A000001 MORGAN STANLEY & CO. 020 B000001 13-2655998 020 C000001 342 020 A000002 LEHMAN BROTHERS 020 B000002 13-2518466 020 C000002 290 020 A000003 CREDIT SUISSE FIRST BOSTON 020 B000003 13-5659485 020 C000003 56 020 A000004 CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS HOLDINGS, INC. 020 B000004 11-2418191 020 C000004 24 020 A000005 JPMORGAN SECURITIES, INC. 020 B000005 13-3379014 020 C000005 17 020 A000006 GOLDMAN SACHS & CO. 020 B000006 13-5108880 020 C000006 1 020 A000007 BANC OF AMERICA SECURITIES, LLC 020 B000007 56-2058405 020 C000007 1 020 C000008 0 020 C000009 0 020 C000010 0 021 000000 731 022 A000001 LEHMAN BROTHERS 022 B000001 13-2518466 022 C000001 4176542 022 D000001 2805235 022 A000002 MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH, INC. 022 B000002 13-5674085 022 C000002 1611701 022 D000002 1317801 022 A000003 BANC OF AMERICA SECURITIES, LLC 022 B000003 56-2058405 022 C000003 1509873 022 D000003 1281829 022 A000004 CREDIT SUISSE FIRST BOSTON 022 B000004 13-5659485 022 C000004 1450499 022 D000004 1104296 022 A000005 BEAR STEARNS & CO. 022 B000005 13-3604093 PAGE 4 022 C000005 631614 022 D000005 767675 022 A000006 GOLDMAN SACHS & CO. 022 B000006 13-5108880 022 C000006 561231 022 D000006 598081 022 A000007 DEUTSCHE BANK SECURITIES, INC. 022 B000007 13-2730828 022 C000007 502086 022 D000007 456075 022 A000008 JPMORGAN SECURITIES, INC. 022 B000008 13-3379014 022 C000008 349808 022 D000008 241621 022 A000009 CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS HOLDINGS, INC. 022 B000009 11-2418191 022 C000009 176025 022 D000009 398733 022 A000010 MORGAN STNALEY & CO., INC. 022 B000010 13-2655998 022 C000010 165280 022 D000010 189804 023 C000000 11415391 023 D000000 9232118 024 000000 Y 025 A000001 GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC. (THE) 025 B000001 13-4019460 025 C000001 D 025 D000001 584 025 A000002 MORGAN STANLEY & CO. 025 B000002 36-3145972 025 C000002 D 025 D000002 1709 025 A000003 BEAR STEARNS & CO., INC. (THE) 025 B000003 13-3286161 025 C000003 D 025 D000003 2448 025 A000004 MERRILL LYNCH & CO. 025 B000004 13-2740599 025 C000004 D 025 D000004 2187 025 A000005 LEHMAN BROTHERS HOLDINGS, INC. 025 B000005 13-3216325 025 C000005 D 025 D000005 960 025 A000006 JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. 025 B000006 13-2624428 025 C000006 D 025 D000006 4435 025 D000007 0 025 D000008 0 PAGE 5 026 A000000 N 026 B000000 Y 026 C000000 Y 026 D000000 Y 026 E000000 N 026 F000000 N 026 G010000 Y 026 G020000 Y 026 H000000 N 027 000000 N 028 A010000 0 028 A020000 0 028 A030000 0 028 A040000 0 028 B010000 0 028 B020000 0 028 B030000 0 028 B040000 0 028 C010000 0 028 C020000 0 028 C030000 0 028 C040000 0 028 D010000 0 028 D020000 0 028 D030000 0 028 D040000 0 028 E010000 0 028 E020000 0 028 E030000 0 028 E040000 0 028 F010000 0 028 F020000 0 028 F030000 0 028 F040000 0 028 G010000 0 028 G020000 0 028 G030000 0 028 G040000 0 028 H000000 0 030 A000000 0 030 B000000 0.00 030 C000000 0.00 031 A000000 0 031 B000000 0 032 000000 0 033 000000 0 035 000000 0 036 B000000 0 038 000000 0 042 A000000 0 042 B000000 0 PAGE 6 042 C000000 0 042 D000000 0 042 E000000 0 042 F000000 0 042 G000000 0 042 H000000 0 043 000000 0 044 000000 0 045 000000 Y 046 000000 N 047 000000 Y 048 000000 0.000 048 A010000 500000 048 A020000 0.750 048 B010000 500000 048 B020000 0.650 048 C010000 500000 048 C020000 0.600 048 D010000 5000000 048 D020000 0.550 048 E010000 5000000 048 E020000 0.525 048 F010000 5000000 048 F020000 0.505 048 G010000 5000000 048 G020000 0.490 048 H010000 5000000 048 H020000 0.480 048 I010000 5000000 048 I020000 0.470 048 J010000 5000000 048 J020000 0.460 048 K010000 55000000 048 K020000 0.420 049 000000 N 050 000000 N 051 000000 N 052 000000 N 053 A000000 Y 053 B000000 N 053 C000000 N 054 A000000 Y 054 B000000 Y 054 C000000 Y 054 D000000 N 054 E000000 N 054 F000000 N 054 G000000 N 054 H000000 N 054 I000000 N 054 J000000 Y PAGE 7 054 K000000 N 054 L000000 Y 054 M000000 Y 054 N000000 N 054 O000000 N 055 A000000 N 055 B000000 N 056 000000 Y 057 000000 N 058 A000000 N 059 000000 Y 060 A000000 N 060 B000000 N 061 000000 0 062 A000000 Y 062 B000000 2.1 062 C000000 0.0 062 D000000 0.0 062 E000000 0.0 062 F000000 0.0 062 G000000 0.0 062 H000000 0.0 062 I000000 0.0 062 J000000 0.0 062 K000000 0.0 062 L000000 4.4 062 M000000 2.2 062 N000000 61.8 062 O000000 0.0 062 P000000 20.6 062 Q000000 77.9 062 R000000 1.5 063 A000000 0 063 B000000 12.5 064 A000000 Y 064 B000000 N 066 A000000 N 067 000000 N 068 A000000 N 068 B000000 N 069 000000 N 070 A010000 Y 070 A020000 Y 070 B010000 Y 070 B020000 N 070 C010000 Y 070 C020000 N 070 D010000 Y 070 D020000 N 070 E010000 Y 070 E020000 Y PAGE 8 070 F010000 Y 070 F020000 N 070 G010000 Y 070 G020000 N 070 H010000 Y 070 H020000 N 070 I010000 N 070 I020000 N 070 J010000 Y 070 J020000 Y 070 K010000 Y 070 K020000 Y 070 L010000 Y 070 L020000 Y 070 M010000 Y 070 M020000 Y 070 N010000 Y 070 N020000 Y 070 O010000 Y 070 O020000 N 070 P010000 Y 070 P020000 N 070 Q010000 N 070 Q020000 N 070 R010000 Y 070 R020000 Y 071 A000000 1556433 071 B000000 1595346 071 C000000 1158354 071 D000000 134 072 A000000 12 072 B000000 85901 072 C000000 15 072 D000000 0 072 E000000 38 072 F000000 7461 072 G000000 34 072 H000000 0 072 I000000 536 072 J000000 -280 072 K000000 138 072 L000000 85 072 M000000 50 072 N000000 0 072 O000000 0 072 P000000 9 072 Q000000 0 072 R000000 124 072 S000000 201 072 T000000 0 072 U000000 0 PAGE 9 072 V000000 0 072 W000000 235 072 X000000 8593 072 Y000000 16 072 Z000000 77377 072AA000000 0 072BB000000 15198 072CC010000 0 072CC020000 89357 072DD010000 64435 072DD020000 0 072EE000000 0 073 A010000 0.4190 073 A020000 0.0000 073 B000000 0.0000 073 C000000 0.0000 074 A000000 3459 074 B000000 0 074 C000000 37436 074 D000000 1011524 074 E000000 1074 074 F000000 180 074 G000000 0 074 H000000 0 074 I000000 593612 074 J000000 275378 074 K000000 0 074 L000000 139977 074 M000000 30818 074 N000000 2093458 074 O000000 585873 074 P000000 2041 074 Q000000 0 074 R010000 0 074 R020000 272942 074 R030000 6811 074 R040000 246214 074 S000000 0 074 T000000 979577 074 U010000 149514 074 U020000 0 074 V010000 6.55 074 V020000 0.00 074 W000000 0.0000 074 X000000 8537 074 Y000000 31949 075 A000000 0 075 B000000 1075019 076 000000 5.97 077 A000000 Y 077 B000000 Y PAGE 10 077 C000000 Y 077 L000000 Y 077 Q030000 Y 078 000000 N 080 A000000 NATL UNION FIRE/ACE AMER/GREAT AMER/FID&DEP 080 B000000 FEDERAL INSURANCE COMPANY 080 C000000 80000 081 A000000 Y 081 B000000 98 082 A000000 N 082 B000000 0 083 A000000 N 083 B000000 0 084 A000000 N 084 B000000 0 085 A000000 Y 085 B000000 N 086 A010000 0 086 A020000 0 086 B010000 11398 086 B020000 70807 086 C010000 0 086 C020000 0 086 D010000 0 086 D020000 0 086 E010000 0 086 E020000 0 086 F010000 0 086 F020000 0 087 A010000 COMMON 087 A020000 746853100 087 A030000 PPT 088 A000000 N 088 B000000 N 088 C000000 N 088 D000000 N SIGNATURE JANET C. SMITH TITLE PRINC. ACCT. OFFICER