PETALING JAYA: Media Prima Audio (MPA) has maintained its position as one of the most well-known and listened-to radio networks in the country.
Its new talents, creative activations, innovative campaigns and fresh content were proven successful in the first quarter of this year.
This was determined based on a survey by official radio audience measurement service Gfk Radio Audience Measurement (RAM), conducted between February and March 2023 with a sample size of 6,356 participants.
A mixed methodological approach was used to accurately determine radio listenership numbers in Peninsular Malaysia. The survey also showed that radio listenership reached over 97 per cent of the population.
MPA's radio stations consist of Hot FM, Buletin FM, Molek FM, Fly FM and 8FM. These stations garnered an average weekly listenership of 5.36 million people or 25 per cent of 21.4 million weekly listeners in Peninsular Malaysia.
MALAY RADIO STATIONS: HOT FM, BULETIN FM AND MOLEK FM
Hot FM, MPA's popular Malay radio station, continues to rank among the top three radio stations in the country with 3.67 million weekly listeners, which shows an increase of 320,000 listeners from the previous RAM survey.
Under the station's umbrella are the Bekpes Hot and Hot Squad radio programmes, both of which saw an increase in listenership by 207,000 and 117,000 respectively.
Hot FM also has former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin as its new DJ.
Khairy's involvement in Bekpes Hot led to a staggering 75 per cent surge in digital live streams on Hot FM's website and Audio+ application, and a 139 per cent increase in unique pageviews for its site articles.
On the digital front, Hot FM also continued to shine by having the highest followings on Twitter (1.8 million followers) and TikTok (1.3 million followers) for a radio station in Malaysia.
Hot FM ran campaigns such as Hot Selebriti and Hot Hulur Wang Sama Pendengar (HWSP), which gave out RM300,000 to one lucky listener.
The HWSP campaign was a success, generating a reach of six million and 4.3 million engagements on social media, as well as receiving over 19,000 submissions from listeners, 29 of which were selected to compete in the finale.
All these campaigns were led by radio DJs Johan, Fara Fauzana, AG, Keymi, Fizi Ali, Aisha, Imran Aqil and Ayu.
Meanwhile, Malay news and business-focused channel Buletin FMrecorded 133,000 weekly listeners with 50 per cent of them earning a household income of RM3,000 and below.
Buletin FM also recorded a 55 per cent increase in listenership for people aged 35 to 39 years.
Masterclass Buletin FM, Buletin FM's main campaign, is an ongoing webinar that is available on its Facebook page and Audio+. This campaign was led by Buletin FM announcers, Izwan Azir, Muaz, Marsila Hassan, Haiza and Hanif Miswan.
Another Malay radio station, MPA radio brand Molek FM, focuses on the East Coast states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang, with announcers speaking in the local dialects of the East Coast.
The station gained 542,000 weekly listeners, an increase of 12 per cent or 58,000 listeners, according to the RAM conducted in November 2022.
Molek FM also saw a significant increase of 446 per cent of listeners who only listen to the radio station, while maintaining the highest time-spent listening (TSL) for a Malay radio station, from one hour 31 minutes to eight hours 35 minutes.
The radio station also planned campaigns for the East Coast community, such as Oghe Molek, and Bekwoh Meriah Molek.
The latter campaign provided listeners the opportunity to engage and invite the star-studded Molek FM lineup, like Mek Zura, Fizie, Mek Yan, DJ Nazz, Mat Dan, or Kai Hassan to attend their wedding.
ENGLISH RADIO STATION: FLY FM
MPA's English radio station Fly FM placed second in Malaysia's top English Radio stations ranking.
Fly FM recorded a total of 1,055,000 weekly listeners and is the only station that has an increase in TSL in the English language market.
The station's JoKeRs in the Morning programme is now the number two breakfast show in the English language market, recording a growth of 16,000 listeners. The core target for Fly FM also recorded an increase of 52,000 listeners.
Fly FM began running campaigns in February 2023, such as Find The JoKeRs, Code Breaker, Fly FM Summer Vibes Pool Party and the return of the Fly Nite Club.
Find The JoKeRs was an innovative campaign that involved listeners searching throughout the nation for the Joker card within a one-hour time frame. Over a three-week period, cash prizes worth up to RM50,000 were given away.
Meanwhile, the Code Breaker campaign challenged listeners to guess a six-digit code in the correct sequence to win an Appollen A1 Electric Vehicle worth RM136,000. Within three days, the code was broken by a listener named Hanafie.
For on-ground activation, the station saw an increase of 163 per cent in the number of video views and a 202 per cent increase in social media engagement during its BLACKPINK activation, which gave out a beverage called Black Pink Bandung Cincau.
The Fly FM Summer Vibes Pool Party and Fly Nite Club allowed listeners to interact and party with Fly FM announcers, including Juanita, Kavin Jay, Ryan Howlett, Natalie, Ryan, Elysha and Fifi.
CHINESE RADIO STATION: 8FM
MPA's Chinese radio station 8FM recorded 423,000 weekly listeners. Its overall TSL also saw an increase of one hour 51 minutes.
The Breakfast Show's (8FM日日好精神) listenership for its broad and core target increased by 12,000 and 17,000 listeners respectively.
Moreover, the Drive Show's (8FM放工吃FUN团) listenership for its core target gained 21,000 listeners.
The Chinese radio station also organised innovative campaigns such as 8FM In Between, 8FM Most Wanted (8FM 揾到你) and 8FM Most Wanted Music Show (8FM 揾到你 Music Show), all of which were led by Royce, Angeline, Rickman, Orange, Hana, Kyann and Chia Yong, bringing more engagement and entertainment to listeners on-air and on-ground.
8FM Most Wanted Music Show was the station's final campaign that was an on-ground activation at Sia Boey, Penang, with listeners gathering to catch performances by Firdhaus (菲道尔), Yise (罗忆诗) and Uriah (徐凯).
To access all of MPA's radio stations, head over to Audio+, a one-stop centre for live radio, podcasts, videos and more.