Over 20 Million Malaysians Tune in to Radio Weekly for an Average of 13 Hours and 23 Minutes
You’ll be forgiven for thinking that radio listenership is on the the decline. I mean, it’s 2019! Who wants to listen 2 minutes of ads for every two songs played when we’ve got Spotify right? Wrong. As it turns out, radio listenership in Peninsular Malaysia remains high, with over 20 million listeners tuning in for an average of 13 hours and 23 minutes weekly.
The Radio Audience Measurement 2019, which was conducted over six weeks from March to April 27 by GfK, in partnership with Commercial Radio Malaysia (CRM), polled 6,000 individuals aged 10 years and above. GfK utilized 4,500 paper diaries and 1,500 e-diaries to collect valuable insights on the strength and scope of radio listening across the country.
Results revealed that weekday breakfast shows (Monday to Friday, 6am to 10am) continue to be a hit attracting 14.6 million listeners every week, while the drive time shows (Monday to Friday, 4pm to 8pm) comes a close second, reaching 14.5 million listeners in a week.
Believe it or not, there’s also been an increase in listenership across a majority of the key segments, with an astounding growth in listenership for the afternoon segments (Monday to Friday, 1pm to 4pm). I get why people would tune in for the breakfast shows and drive time shows, you’re stuck in the care anyway, and radio DJ’s can be entertaining, but afternoon segments? Are radio DJ’s really that entertaining?
What’s even more surprising is that radio continues to appeal to the younger population as well, with the number of listeners aged 20-29 rising to 4.6 million weekly. It’s worth noting that perhaps it’s the teenagers of today that rely heavily on Spotify, so maybe the results of the survey will reflect that in 5 years or so.
If you’ve always wondered which language has the most listenership, we’ve got you covered. According to the survey, BM stations are the most popular, with 13.5 million listeners. Chinese stations come in second, with 4.6 million listeners, followed by English and tamil stations, with 3.8 million and 1.8 million listeners respectively.
Listenership in cars registered a double-digit growth, with an increase of 11%. Radio listenership in cars remains high with 16.2 million Malaysians choosing to listen to the radio during their car rides, followed by 13.6 million listeners tuning in to the radio at home and 2.3 million listening to radio at work.
To be honest, i’m still baffled that anyone would tune in to the radio anywhere other than in their cars. But what would a 20 something millennial who grew up on Spotify know about the significance of radio, right? Whatever it is, it’s evident that the radio continues to be a powerful and influential medium, with an impact on people’s daily lives and routines. Perhaps I should start tuning in too.
