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

City	Kuala Lumpur Kota Kinabalu Kuching
Broadcast area	Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Southern Thailand
Frequency	103.3 MHz Era Peninsular Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) 102.4 MHz Era Sabah (Kota Kinabalu) 96.1 MHz Era Sarawak (Kuching)
Slogan	Muzik Hit Terbaik (The Best Hit Music)
Programming
Language(s)	Malay
Format	Talk, contemporary hit radio
Affiliations	Zayan
Ownership
Owner	Astro Holdings Sdn Bhd, under Astro Radio
Sister stations	Hitz, Lite, Mix, My, Melody, goXuan, Sinar, Gegar, Zayan and Raaga
History
First air date	1 August 1998 (Era Peninsular Malaysia) 25 October 2010 (Era Sarawak) 1 December 2010 (Era Sabah) 1 August 1998 (Era Peninsular Malaysia officially starts broadcasting 24 hours a day) 26 April 2017 (Era Sabah officially starts broadcasting 24 hours a day) 24 January 2018 (Era Sarawak officially starts broadcasting 24 hours a day)
Links
Webcast	eAAC+
Website	era.je

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 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.

Radio Presenter

Era Peninsular Malaysia Announcers

• Johan
• Haniff Hamzah
• Ray
• Munabella
• Isha Norsham
• Danial Zaini
• Radin Amir Affendy
• Nabil Ahmad
• Zahier Yusoff

Era Sabah Announcers

• Skye Judith
• Lopz Wala
• Kim
• Adnan
• Emma
• Mijul

Era Sarawak Announcers

• Afick Wazai
• Fir Affandi
• Elya
• Napio Hatta
• Chopie Cakap
• Ezri Mukriz
• Jonathan Ding

Former Era Sabah Announcers

• Mat Sabah
• Ily
• Beebey
• Samantha
• Jay Jay
• Chris

Former Era Announcers

• Halim Othman
• Linda Onn
• Faizal Ismail
• Nana Mahazan
• Khairil Rashid (Kril)
• Fara Fauzana
• Aznil Nawawi
• Din Beramboi (died in 2010)
• Ira
• Aril
• Zahid
• Shac
• Shahrol Shiro
• Tauke Jambu
• Adi Fashla
• Fad Bocey
• Hani Fadzil
• Dina Nadzir

Frequency Era Peninsular Malaysia, Era Sabah and Era Sarawak

Frequencies	Broadcast area	Transmitter site
103.3 MHz	Klang Valley	Gunung Ulu Kali
103.6 MHz	Alor Setar, Kedah and Perlis	Gunung Jerai
	Penang
103.6 MHz	Ipoh, Perak	Gunung Kledang
	Seremban, Negeri Sembilan	Gunung Telapak Buruk
90.3 MHz	Malacca and North Johor	Gunung Ledang
104.5 MHz	Johor Bahru, Johor and Singapore	Gunung Pulai
	Batam, Indonesia
90.7 MHz	Langkawi, Kedah	Gunung Raya
	Satun, Thailand
95.2 MHz	Taiping, Perak	Bukit Larut
102.0 MHz	Tapah, Bidor, Chenderiang and Trolak, Perak	Changkat Rembian
98.0 MHz	Kuantan, Pahang	Bukit Pelindung
102.8 MHz	Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu	Bukit Besar
103.3 MHz	Kota Bahru, Kelantan	Bukit Panau
96.1 MHz	Kuching, Sarawak	Bukit Djin
101.3 MHz	Miri, Sarawak	Bukit Lambir
	Kuala Belait, Brunei
96.3 MHz	Sibu, Sarawak	Bukit Lima
102.4 MHz	Kota Kinabalu, Sabah	Bukit Karatong
103.0 MHz	Sandakan, Sabah	Bukit Trig

(Via satellite TV)

• Astro (television): Channel 856

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

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.

External links

• Official website