Era (radio station) – Wikipedia
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Radio station in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching
ERA (formerly Era FM)[1] is a Malaysian Malay-language radio station operated by Astro Radio Sdn. Bhd. The radio station broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The radio station went on air on 1 August 1998. In the past few years, this station played a wider mixture of music from the 1980s to current-day, but now it plays Malaysian and international hit songs, including Korean songs. It is also has regional stations in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. In 2015, as according to Nielsen RAM Survey Wave #1, Era FM maintained its position as Malaysia’s leading Malay-language station with over 4.8 million listeners.[2]
History[edit]
The frequency slot, which is 103.3 FM in Klang Valley was originally known as Classic Rock and was one of the five radio stations first introduced by AMP Radio Networks along with Hitz FM, Mix FM, Light & Easy and TalkRadio (frequency taken over by My FM, which also began broadcasting on 1 August of that year). It launched on the Malaysian FM airwaves in January 1997 after being one of Astro’s audio-only channels since the launch of the satellite network in October the year before. Over the one-year period, demand grew for radio content in Bahasa Malaysia, as listeners who were exposed to AMP’s English brands wanted the same formats but in other major local languages. This compelled AMP to make changes to its line-up, swapping Classic Rock to Era FM, leaving Classic Rock as an Astro-only radio station.[3]
On 1 August 1998, Era FM went on air as the first private radio station to be broadcast completely in the Malay language, with “Hijau” by Zainal Abidin, which is a trademark for the radio station, being the first song to be played on the radio station, ending the monopoly of Malay-language radio stations run by state-run Radio RTM.
Era FM was once the leader in Malay-language FM radio stations, but has lost its popularity to its sister station, Sinar FM. In 2012, Era FM regained the top spot as the most popular radio station in Malaysia with close to 5 million listeners. Era FM is the first radio station in Malaysia to hold three records in the Malaysia Book Of Records since 1998.
On 2 January 2018, Era FM was rebranded to ERA in a move by Astro Radio to integrate multiple platforms beyond traditional radio.[1] At the same time, a new logo was also unveiled with the rebranding.
Era in East Malaysia[edit]
Prior to 2000, like its main sister stations, Era FM did not have any stations in Sabah and Sarawak.
In 2010, Era FM began opt-out programming for Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia, with their own studio and on-the-ground team in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching, respctively; as well as local announcers and DJs conversing in Malay and different East Malaysian languages.
Between 2017 and 2018, Sabah and Sarawak opt-outs were upgraded to full-fledged local outlets, with all content originating from their respective capital cities 24 hours a day, and ending reliance with its Kuala Lumpur flagship during off-peak hours. Era FM Sabah became fully-local on 24 April 2017;[4] Era Sarawak followed suit on 22 January 2018.
Frequencies and Availability[edit]
| Frequencies | Area | Transmitter |
|---|---|---|
| 103.3 MHz | Klang Valley | Gunung Ulu Kali |
| Kota Bahru, Kelantan | Bukit Panau | |
| 103.6 MHz | Alor Setar, Kedah and Perlis | Mount Jerai |
| Penang | ||
| Seremban, Negeri Sembilan | Gunung Telapak Buruk | |
| 90.7 MHz | Langkawi, Kedah | Gunung Raya |
| 95.2 MHz | Taiping, Perak | Bukit Larut |
| 103.7 MHz | Ipoh, Perak | Gunung Kledang |
| 90.3 MHz | Malacca and Northern Johor | Mount Ledang |
| 104.5 MHz | Johor Bahru, Johor and Singapore | Mount Pulai |
| 98.0 MHz | Kuantan, Pahang | Bukit Pelindung |
| 102.8 MHz | Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu | Bukit Jerung |
| 96.1 MHz | Kuching, Sarawak | Bukit Djin |
| 101.3 MHz | Miri, Sarawak | Bukit Lambir |
| 102.4 MHz | Kota Kinabalu, Sabah | Bukit Karatong |
| 103.0 MHz | Sandakan, Sabah | Bukit Trig |
Internet radio[edit]
Broadcast online on SYOK website and APP
Television satellite[edit]
Notes: Era Sabah and Era Sarawak are not available on via satellite TV Astro.
Era was parodied as Erron in Afdlin Shauki’s 2004 film, Buli.
References[edit]
External links[edit]
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