Malaysia’s nine-station Astro Radio has recorded its highest share of listenership in nine years (16 consecutive surveys). according to the recent Nielsen Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) survey results.

Achieving a 55 percent share of voice, the company says it achieved a weekly listener base on 12.54 million in the first sweep of 2014 in April/May this year, up from 12.2 million in the last survey.

Bahasa Malaysian station ERA strenghened its number one position, achieving 5.2 million listeners, up from 4.7 million.

Another Malay language station SINAR attracted 3.4 million listeners, taking the number two spot.

Regional Malay station THR Gegar, which serves the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, including the states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang has 1.6 million listeners, and THR Raaga also maintains its stronghold as the No.1 Tamil station with 1.8 million listeners.

ERA fm, hitz fm, MY FM and THR Raaga continue their reign as the No.1 radio stations in the Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil language respectively.

Commenting on the results, Dr Jake Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer of Astro Radio said “The radio scene has evolved tremendously over the past decade , it’s no longer just about music played over various radio frequencies. We have to be more localized, implement aggressive content and marketing strategies and constantly research our audience to deliver on needs of the evolving audience of today.”

“We have moved from being just a radio station to a content provider and aggregator, delivering content-rich experience wherever and whenever our audience wants it. . Our listeners are always of importance to us, therefore we will go the extra mile just to ensure we please our listeners and move with the times,” he added.