Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Around 97% of Malaysians living in Peninsula Malaysia still listen to radio, averaging to 21,573,000 radio listeners every week. This was according to the latest data from data intelligence company Growth from Knowledge (GfK) in partnership with Commercial Radio Malaysia (CRM).
The data reveals that there are 6,694,000 listeners in a week amongst people aged 25 to 39 years old. It indicated an increase of 123,000 listeners as compared to the previous wave.
Moreover, the data notes that the highest radio listening location is in cars with 15,104,000 weekly listeners, followed closely by 14,755,000 of home listeners in a week. Workplace listeners accounted for 2,004,000 of weekly listeners.
Among the key languages in Malaysia, Bahasa Malaysia stations are the most popular with 14,047,000 listeners every week. They are trailed by the Chinese stations with 4,949,000 listeners, followed by English stations at 4,320,000 listeners and Tamil stations at 1,831,000 listeners.
In terms of scheduling, the study also showed that the weekday breakfast shows (Monday to Friday, 6 am to 10 am) continue to be a hit attracting 15,378,000 listeners every week, while the weekday drive time shows (Monday to Friday, 4 pm to 8 pm) trailing closely behind, reaching 14,954,000 listeners in a week.
Loy Ekzan, vice president at Commercial Radio Malaysia, said, “As the country opens up, radio listening has come back stronger than ever. Its accessibility to drive a mass pool of listeners to on-ground events, radio broadcasters’ websites, mobile apps and social media pages has allowed it to grow and has proven itself to be quite a resilient medium. With a wide reach and immediate delivery, it is an effective medium for advertisers to get their message in front of across to their target consumers.”
Meanwhile, June Pang, media measurement lead for Malaysia at GfK, commented, “The Radio Audience Measurement Study conducted by GfK reveals that radio remains an influential and strong medium in Malaysia. With more people listening to the radio in the morning, it is evident that people across all age groups choose radio for their daily dose of music, relaxation and news updates during their commute to school and work.”