Era (radio station)

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]

ERA
CityKuala Lumpur
Kota Kinabalu
Kuching
Broadcast areaMalaysia
Singapore and Indonesia (Era Johor only)
Brunei (Era Sarawak only)
Thailand (Era Kedah only)
Frequency103.3 MHz Era Peninsular Malaysia (Klang Valley)
102.4 MHz Era Sabah (Kota Kinabalu)
96.1 MHz Era Sarawak (Kuching)
Programming
Language(s)Malay
FormatTop 40 (CHR)
AffiliationsAstro Radio
Ownership
OwnerAstro Malaysia Holdings Berhad
Gegar, GoXuan, Hitz, Lite, Melody, MY, Raaga, Sinar and Zayan
History
First air date
1 August 1998 (1998-08-01) (Era Peninsular Malaysia)
25 October 2010 (2010-10-25) (Era Sarawak)
1 December 2010 (2010-12-01) (Era Sabah)
26 April 2017 (2017-04-26) (Era Sabah officially starts broadcasting 24 hours a day)
24 January 2018 (2018-01-24) (Era Sarawak officially starts broadcasting 24 hours a day)
Former names
Era FM (1998-2017)
Links
WebcastSyok
TuneIn (Klang Valley and Kelantan)
WebsiteEra

History

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. 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 by government-owned radio stations. Prior to 2000, like its sister stations, Era FM did not have any frequency in Sabah and Sarawak. The radio station 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. In 2010, Era FM expanded to Kuching and Kota Kinabalu in East Malaysia, with full operation of on air studio and on ground team, with local announcers conversing in local dialects. Era FM Sabah will go completely local on 24 April 2017, which from then all the radio content aired on the Sabah version will be completely different from Peninsular Malaysia's Era FM.[4]

On 2 January 2018, Era FM was rebranded to ERA in a move by Astro Radio to integrate multiple platforms under the brand.[1] A new logo is also unveiled with the rebranding. Era Sarawak goes completely local on 22 January 2018, which from then all the contents aired on Sarawak version will be completely different from Peninsular Malaysia.

Frequency Era Peninsular Malaysia, Era Sabah and Era Sarawak
Frequencies Broadcast area Transmitter site
103.3 MHz Klang Valley Gunung Ulu Kali
Kota Bahru, Kelantan Bukit Panau
103.6 MHz Alor Setar, Kedah & Perlis Gunung Jerai
Penang
Seremban, Negeri Sembilan Gunung Telapak Buruk
103.7 MHz Ipoh, Perak Gunung Kledang
90.3 MHz Malacca & Northern Johor Gunung Ledang
104.5 MHz Southern Johor and Singapore Gunung Pulai
Batam, Indonesia
90.7 MHz Langkawi, Kedah Gunung Raya
Satun, Thailand
95.2 MHz Taiping, Perak Bukit Larut
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
Kuala Belait, Brunei
102.4 MHz Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Bukit Karatong
103.0 MHz Sandakan, Sabah Bukit Trig

Internet radio

Broadcast online on SYOK website and APP

Television satellite

Notes: Era Sabah and Era Sarawak are not available on via satellite TV Astro.

Parody

Era was parodied as Erron in Afdlin Shauki's 2004 film, Buli.

Azan

Azan for this radio station not airing (except Maghrib every month and Subuh every Ramadan) from 2018 until 16 January 2022, Azan every prayer time is now reairing on this radio station.

References
  1. "Astro Radio refreshes 11 brands to deliver better value to fans". Astro. 2 January 2018. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  2. "71% of Malaysians Listen to Astro Radio". Astro. 19 June 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  3. "About AMP". Archived from the original on 16 December 2010. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  4. "Era fm: Full local content from April 24". Daily Express (Malaysia). 15 March 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2017.

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