RADIN SRI GHAZALI finds out how two of the top radio stations are maintaining their pole positions.

Seelan (far right) hopes that both stations will increase their momentum and performance to be the No.1 in Malaysia.

MEDIA Prima’s Radio Networks, Hot FM and Fly FM, are growing in terms of listenership.

After three years, both radio stations have sealed their position as the No. 2 radio stations.

“Who would have figured that within three years we would have made such a gigantic leap,” said Hot FM and Fly FM general manager Seelan Paul in Karambunai, Sabah, recently.

“The key to our success is that we cater to the needs of our listeners by playing what they want. Our emphasis is content that is refreshing,” he said.
Hot FM has recorded 4.3 million listenership, a figure that is up by more than 300,000 from last year.

The station’s AM Crew is ranked No. 1 among the morning shows in Malaysia.

“As a new radio station, our main goal is to conquer the morning show. That is the most important slot for any radio station. We are indeed overwhelmed that the collaboration between Farah Fauzana and Faizal Ismail has brought Hot FM to the No. 1 slot,” he said.

The success of the show is also due to the exposure given by the station through other mediums, including hosting television programmes and acting.

“Both Faizal and Farah started off as deejays. They are experienced and are able to juggle their jobs,” he added.

After enjoying the success achieved by AM Crew, Seelan plans to apply the same method to promote the station’s other deejays and slots such as Jam, Zone and Tiga Puluh.

“We encourage our deejays to take on emceeing and acting gigs,” he said.

When asked if he feels that Farah is receiving too much publicity and has a heavy workload, Seelan expressed confidence in the TV3’s Melodi host’s abilities.

“Farah is not burdened with a lot of work or being over publicised. She is at the peak of her career. We have no plans to curb her development as it is good for both the station and her,” he said.

“She is not overrated. Look at Ryan Seacrest. He has his own talk show, and hosts music chart (American Top 40), E! and American Idol. He even runs his own production company. People don’t see him as being overrated but people see him as someone who is good at his job. The same goes for Farah,” he explained.

As for Fly FM, the English station is taking baby steps in establishing itself as a household name among its listeners.

The station now has almost 650,000 listeners which has seen a steady growth since last year.

“We have to understand that Hot caters to the masses while Fly is targeted to a niche market. The population of English radio listeners is far smaller than the Malay market,” said Seelan.

“The station has its plans to deal with this. There are strategies that we used with Hot which will be implemented in Fly though Fly is a strong station in its own right.”

In order to strengthen it, Fly’s morning show is now airing on television.

“We are pleased that ntv7 has given us a slot in its Breakfast Show for Fly’s Pagi Show. This has indeed been great exposure for the station and deejays,” he said.

Seelan also plans to air other shows and highlight other deejays as television personalities.

“We will also be having another programme that will be aired on television soon. It will be conducted by siblings, Hafiz and Hunny. Details are under wraps for the time being. Let it be a surprise,” he offered.