Astro Radio ups the ante

Malaysia - Astro Radio made headlines recently following a change in its popular Hitz.FM morning crew, which saw the departure of JJ who moved to Red FM.Apart from the change in its radio personalities, all its radio station websites also had a revamp, a change that Astro Radio chief commercial officer TH Chong (pictured) said was necessary in moving with its listeners viewing patterns.Within six to eight weeks starting late last year, the roll-out of the revamped websites took place."We found ourselves trying to do too much visually in the past. At the end of the day, it was difficult to know where the eyeballs are going. So now we are going back to basics. We want to make sure the website is easy on the eyes."People who log onto radio websites are very purposeful, whether it is to access a contest that is running or a DJ's blog site. With that in mind, we designed the websites to be more simplistic and navigation-friendly. It also makes selling advertising space more clear-cut now," says Chong.Chong believes that radio has evolved to more than just voices coming out of speakers. Since the Astro group rebranded all its properties, Chong says its radio property is seeing more integration today in giving more options to listeners and clients alike."Radio today can be supplemented with all the other platforms available, evolving itself with other mediums as well. The two main objectives we have in mind are making sure we provide the best entertainment content to listeners and that communication solutions are being offered to advertisers and clients," he adds.Astro isn't the only one ramping up the frequency these days.Star RFM recently announced a new line-up across its stations, followed by revamps of its radio stations.Whether the changes are part of a trend Chong sees within the radio industry, he says that increased radio ad spend is the cause for the aggression today."According to Nielsen, radio ad spend last year reached RM450 million, about a 5% increase from the previous year. Malaysia also has a 91% penetration among listeners aged 10 and above, making up 16.64 million people."And I believe radio ad spend will only grow again next year. That in itself gives clients the confidence within the market and if we can see it, our competition can see it too. More want a slice of the pie, knowing the pie is getting bigger," adds Chong.Other plans in Astro Radio's pipeline are expansions to East Malaysia."We have been there for two years now. During our first year, the market there wasn't ready for someone like us. It's not until the last 18 months that we are getting them to understand radio more," said Chong.With three stations in Kuching and Kota Kinabalu-Hitz.FM, Era and MY FM-it is looking to expand the geographical coverage of these stations."The market is not huge, thus we don't see it necessary to have local products across the island. What we are doing more of is playing local content and chart shows."Amidst these expansions, Chong also notes that radio will be consumed by more and more people today, but the device through which it is consumed will change."Every station of ours has an app today. We were the first in Malaysia to create radio apps, first via iPhone in July 2009, and then the Android versions early last year."As of January this year, Astro Radio recorded an average of 3.2 million listeners access its radio stations via online and mobile platforms combined.Since the app introductions, it recorded a total of 1.6 million iPhone app downloads and 880,000 Android app downloads."As media owners, we have to change along with this dynamics of listener behaviour. That's why we have gotten more aggressive on digital platforms, which allow our listeners to choose."