Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 
 
DESPITE a sluggish economy, Malaysian radio stations continued to draw strong advertising support. The latest Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) study conducted by the Nielsen Company found radio registered the highest year-on-year growth at 9.2 per cent in advertising sales for a total market share of 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

Free-to-air television, the only other medium to register a growth, increased its advertising revenue by 3.7 per cent.

An increasingly fragmented audience not with standing, the study found that 90 per cent of the Malaysian population aged 10 years formed the mainstream majority tuning in to listen to radio on a weekly basis.

According to the RAM study, radio attracts 12 per cent (1.97 million) of people in any given 15-minute slot throughout the day.

The study also found that the average radio listener tunes in for 22 hours per week, topping Malaysia with the highest time spent listening to the radio in Asia Pacific at par with Indonesia with 21 hours, and overshooting other countries like Australia, India, and China.

“The mobile, upscale market lends itself to a portable medium such as radio,” said Borhanuddin.

“More people today listen to the radio while commuting or during breaks in the office. Listening to the radio has become a Malaysian way of life.”

AMP Radio Networks maintained its pole position with two Malay channels, ERA and SINAR, in the top two positions overall. ERA and SINAR combined attracted 7.8 million listeners.

Among the Chinese channels, MY FM was the clear leader with 2.17 million listeners followed by 998 in the second spot 1.5 million listeners.

New comer one FM made its entry with 270,000 weekly listeners. The top spot among English channels was hitz.fm with a weekly reach of 1.29 million listeners while second-placed Fly FM expanded its listenership by 30 per cent for a weekly average of 800,000.

THR Raaga is the number one Tamil channel. Among the regional stations, KELANTANfm leads with 777,000 followed by KEDAHfm with 700,000 listeners per week.

“The entry of new players like BFM, Capital FM, and one FM lends credibility to the fact that radio is a refreshed source of news and entertainment,” adds Borhan.

Advertising revenue more than tripled from year-to-date March 2000 to first quarter 2009 to reach RM66.8 million. Leading sectors that contributed to the increase include fast food, tourism, health food drinks, and electronic goods.

AMP Radio Networks controlled more than half the market with 54 per cent share. Media Prima came in second with 13.3 per cent and RTM Regional with 10.6 per cent

Source: http://www.mmail.com.my/content/13930-radio-ads-stay-strong