ERA and H** FM both claim to be Malaysia's #1 radio station. So who's lying?

You’re stuck in traffic, fiddling between radio stations. An announcer’s voice proudly proclaims you’re listening to ERA, the “#1 radio station in Malaysia”.

The traffic moves for a bit.

You fiddle with the stations again. Another announcer says you’re listening to H** FM, the “#1 radio station in Malaysia”.

It’s not deja vu, and your radio’s not broken. This is what Malaysians are noticing between ERA and another top Malay language radio station. 

Now, you might be wondering, how come we can name drop ERA, but not the other station? Welp, that’s because we reached out to both stations for comments and got very different responses:

So, because we don’t want to get sued totally respect their request, we’re assigning them a totally random name that has absolutely no association with a Bahasa Malaysia radio station for the rest of this article: Huat FM.

This also leads to our disclaimer: This article will feel and sound berat sebelah towards ERA because well… you’re only hearing one side of the story. The other side speaker rosak. 

We also spoke to industry folks and an independent consultant to piece everything together as much as we can. And let’s just say… the radio tea is hot panas.

It starts with how Malaysian radio stations measure who’s the #1 radio station

There wouldn’t be much drama if both radio stations were owned by the same company. But that’s not the case here – ERA and Huat FM are owned by different companies.

ERA is owned by Astro Audio. Since we also can’t name Huat FM’s owner, we’ll just call them “Media Pro Max”.  

So how can both claim to be #1? Does this mean that one of them isn’t just spinning music but also… LIES?

On the surface, the explanation is obvious. Both radio stations must be using different measurements. And you’re right – they are!

Radio listenership is measured through surveys, and there are two research companies in question:

Thing is, both companies have very different ways of running their surveys. Here’s a rough overview of the differences:

GfK’s RAM method:

Nielsen’s CMV method:

The thing about surveys is that it all comes down to the methodology and objectives. To sum it up, RAM is focused specifically on radio while CMV has a broader focus on lifestyle and media consumption. Both are perfectly valid surveys done by reputable companies with years of experience in the business.

The only problem is, the perfectly valid RAM says ERA is #1, while the perfectly valid CMV says Huat FM is #1.

So yes, neither side is lying. They’re both the #1 radio station and they both have the receipts to prove it!

Now you might be thinking, okay, why not just one-two-jus and see which survey method to follow? Well, this is where it gets awkward.fm  

Malaysian radio stations had an agreement to use GfK’s RAM

This is where we introduce Commercial Radio Malaysia (CRM). Basically, CRM is an association of Malaysian radio stations and counts most of your main radio channel operators as its members. This includes ERA’s parent company (Astro Audio) and Huat FM’s parent company (“Media Pro Max”).

Up til 2016, many radio stations were using Nielsen’s RAM to measure their listenership. Then, CRM stepped in and made GfK’s RAM the official industry standard.

Right now, 17 out of the 21 CRM member radio stations use GfK’s RAM. The remaining 4 stations use Nielsen’s CMV… and all 4 are owned by Media Pro Max.

So now it’s crystal-clear right? ERA is real #1 and Huat FM is fake #1 because of CRM’s rules.

Except… there aren’t actually any enforceable rules. Unlike the Malaysian Bar for lawyers, CRM isn’t a regulatory body. Rather, it’s closer to something like a friend group where you have bro code or girls code. So when some members of the radio community saw Huat FM releasing stats from a different survey provider…

In other words, what CRM has are guidelines or best practices that would be nice for everybody to follow… please?

Now, it wouldn’t be fair to paint CRM as a toothless buaya without talking to them. However, just like Media Pro Max, CRM also declined to be included in this article. You may chalk it up to, as Sabrina Carpenter puts it…

But here’s where things get a little spicy. The CRM presidency usually goes to someone from within the radio industry, and it’s normal for leaders of member stations to wear multiple hats. Coincidentally, the current CRM president also happens to be the CEO of…?? 

There are different opinions on what’s “best for Malaysia’s radio industry”

You guessed it. CRM’s top gun also wears another hat in Media Pro Max. Now, before anyone accuses anyone of nepotism, we’d like to emphasise that leadership at CRM tends to rotate among industry bigwigs, like a game of musical chair. In fact, that the other major player in this drama, Astro Audio, also held the CRM presidency from 2021 to 2022. 

But regardless of who’s leading CRM, the organisation is supposed to be that uniting voice between all radio stations. So when the current president happens to also be running the network that’s breaking the bro code, some people are bound to question it.

However, all this plays out against a backdrop of a radio industry that’s been facing static. While radio listenership hasn’t dropped, revenues have. Back in the day, radio and TV were the best ways for brands to advertise. But these days, radio has to work extra hard to get a smaller slice of that advertising Ringgit pie.

We don’t know for sure what Media Pro Max’s motivations are, but one thing’s for certain. It allows both sides to Bring Forth Money.

ERA’s business could benefit from this “#1 radio station” drama

Here’s the thing, the whole “we’re Malaysia’s #1 radio station” thing isn’t about convincing you, the listener, that this is the best station. It’s also about impressing advertisers and building credibility with international music labels.

Astro’s English Network Brand Manager, Navin Rishal, told us that being able to say “we’re number one” helps when negotiating with music labels flying artists in from overseas. Apparently, it gives them credibility, and lets them share data to back up that claim.

So, weirdly enough… all this drama over who’s #1 might actually benefit the people involved. As you might have noticed from celebrities, drama generates attention. And attention generates opportunities.

It also gave ERA a reason to turun padang and see firsthand how to make their content and messaging hit harder with businesses. When life gives you lemons, don’t just make lemonade. Make the best #1 lemona…oh wait. 

But at the same time, Priya points out that this isn’t necessarily healthy for the industry as a whole. When two giants fight and make a ton of noise, it can affect the smaller stations who will find themselves drowned out like a Temu speaker next to a Marshall amp. 

For Astro Audio, it’s about ethics, principles and showing a united front

So yea, Astro Audio’s position is that they just want things to be done fair and square. To Priya, the purpose of having a tender process and choosing a standard survey is to show a united front among the radio stations.

Besides, all this radio ga-ga and goo-goo also makes life harder for media agencies. These are the people who handle ad campaigns for clients, including the responsibility of deciding where their client’s advertising money goes. Being forced to navigate two different sets of data mean they have to do twice the work to plan and measure campaigns. 

Which is why, if they had a choice, they would rather see a unified standard.

So when even the media agencies don’t know who’s #1, where does that leave us?

Does a #1 radio station in Malaysia even exist? 

This isn’t a philosophical question. Of course a #1 radio station exists. Officially, it’s based on statistics and surveys. But as you now know, the problem isn’t the numbers… it’s what people do with them. It’s a people problem.

It’s not a unique problem either. Billboard has been changing how they calculate album sales and streams in order to determine which song is actually the top of the charts. The DJ Khaled energy drink drama is probably the best example of this.  

Our interviewees gave some suggestions to resolve the issue, such as hiring an impartial third party to run the CRM or agreeing to change survey providers. But these require all the radio stations (and their owners) to actually work together and follow the new rules. And here’s the catch – if that happened in the first place, then this drama wouldn’t exist at all.  

We have to point out again that it’s very easy to paint Media Pro Max/Huat FM as the bad guy based on this article. And again, it’s because we are only able to present Astro Audio’s point of view. Or maybe you’re fully on team Huat FM and think Astro Audio are just being salty. That’s fine too.

Anyway, let’s answer the real question you came here for…

Who’s the real #1 radio station? 

So, is there a true #1 radio station in Malaysia? On paper, yes. In practice, not really. When the industry can’t agree on a scoreboard, everyone gets to hold their own trophy.

ERA uses GfK’s RAM. Huat FM uses Nielsen’s CMV. Both surveys are legit, but they’re not measuring the same thing. Technically, both can claim to be #1… depending on which benchmark you’re looking at.

This isn’t just a numbers game, it’s a narrative war. Two radio giants, two different surveys, one guideline that’s not being followed, and an industry that looks a little messy from the outside.

And while the stats may be up for debate, your listening habits probably aren’t. So maybe the real winner is… the station you’re still tuning into tomorrow morning.

...