Starcom named top agency at radio awards

Malaysia - Starcom Mediavest has won the Radio Agency of the Year accolade awarded at the recent Radio Fest, beating Zenithoptimedia, Mindshare, Carat, Media Elements and McCann.

Radio Advertiser of the Year (private) was won by Digi, a client of Starcom, Radio Advertiser of the Year (government) was picked up by the Ministry of Transport, and the New Client of Year award went to Medklin Technology.

"The rising popularity of podcasting and satellite radio channels have cast doubts over the staying power of radio as questions were raised of its importance. Allow me to assure you, however, that despite these developments, the media landscape here will not change vastly, and radio is set to remain as the most intimate medium," Dato' Borhanuddin Osman, president of the Malaysian Association of Commercial Radio Operators (MACRO) and organiser of Radio Fest, said.

According to MACRO, radio reaches two million Malaysians on an average of 15 minutes and average listening time is approximately 25 hours a week. It reportedly reaches 92% of Malaysians from the age of 10 and above.

Radio Adex for Q3 2007 was approximately RM145 million, an increase of 4.2% over the same period last year. Adex share rose to 4% in 2006 compared to 2-3% during the boom times in the early 1990s.

At the Radio Fest gala dinner award presentation, Lim Cheng Hee, VP of MACRO, also announced MACRO will change its name to Commercial Radio Malaysia (CRM).