Astro Radio

Astro Radio Sdn Bhd

Type	Broadcast radio network
Country	Malaysia
Availability	National
Owner	Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd
Launch date	1997
Former names	Airtime Management & Programming Sdn Bhd (AMP Radio Networks)
Official website	www.astroradio.com.my

Astro Radio Sdn Bhd (formerly known as Airtime Management and Programming Sdn Bhd or AMP Radio Networks) is a Malaysian radio network company owned by Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd that is owned by Astro Holdings Sdn Bhd.

Company background

Airtime Management & Programming Radio Network Sdn Bhd (AMP Radio Network) has revolutionised Malaysian airwaves since 1996, introducing format-specific programming; a new concept to commercial radio in Malaysia. It operates eight high-ranking terrestrial FM networks, namely ERA fm, MY FM, hitz.fm, MIX fm, LiteFM, SINAR fm, Melody FM & THR (Raaga and Gegar). AMP is South-East Asia’s furthest-reaching and most successful multi-lingual broadcaster, broadcasting in four languages and with 11.5 million Malaysians tuning in weekly.

Now into its 15th year of operation, AMP has many milestones as part of its dynamic history. In little more than a decade, AMP has chalked up many achievements as Malaysia’s pioneer for format radio, the sole provider of 19 satellite radio services (which include the nine FM services and are available to all ASTRO subscribers in Malaysia and Brunei), the pioneering South-East Asian broadcaster to utilise LIU (local insertion units) for local or regional advertisers and in utilising Dynamic RDS (Radio Data System) as a commercial tool. Internationally, AMP has also had a strong involvement in the growth of the radio industries in India, Indonesia and China.

AMP continues to be one of the most advanced radio broadcast facilities in Asia and is a constant award-winner in various categories of creativity and technology. AMP develops complimentary platforms to extend the value of radio including on-air, on-ground, on-line and mobile technologies. For businesses, this highly effective combination allows multi-platform communication directly to a particular target audience.

Stations

Station	Explanation	Language	Year of launch	Astro channel
Hitz FM	The latest English songs, focused on younger listeners. Rebranded, with a dot, in 2001. One of the first radio channels by AMP to be launched in 1997	English	1997	852
MIX fm	The oldest and latest English songs, focused on mature listeners. One of the first radio channels by AMP to be launched in 1997	English	1997	855
LiteFM	The oldest and latest songs for mature listeners. It was previously known as Light & Easy. One of the first radio channels by AMP to be launched in 1997	English	1997	854
Era	The oldest and latest songs from domestic and international repertoire, focused on younger listeners. The radio station is the first private radio station, to be broadcast completely in Malay language, after being dominated by government-owned radio station for years	Malay	1997 (as an Astro-only audio channel), 1998 (as an FM radio station)	856
SINAR fm	The oldest and latest songs from domestic and international repertoire, focused on mature listeners	Malay	2004	857
Melody FM	The oldest and latest songs, focused on mature listeners	Chinese	1997 (as an Astro-only audio channel), 2012 (as an FM radio station)	858
THR Raaga	The Raaga station plays Tamil songs for the West Coast	Tamil	1994 (original), 2005 (acquisition)	859
THR Gegar	The Gegar station plays Malay songs for the East Coast	Malay	1994 (original), 2005 (acquisition)	863
My FM	Chinese songs for all ages. Formerly known as Chuan Zhen Xin Qu Tai or 傳真心曲台	Chinese	1997 (as an Astro-only audio channel), 1998 (as an FM radio station)	853

Defunct radio stations

Both radio stations, were originally two of the five first radio stations, when it was launched in 1997. Over the one-year period, demand grew for radio content in Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese, as radio 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, and swapping two of its English FM brands, namely Classic Rock and TalkRadio, for ERA FM (Bahasa Malaysia) and MY FM (Chinese), respectively. Later, due to a high demand that Chinese listeners who have a need of a channel that focuses to older listeners like Lite FM and Sinar FM, but mostly has been the current format. Melody FM was lanuched on 15 August 2012 to replace XFM on FM and Astro.

Station	Explanation
Classic Rock	The oldest and latest songs from rock music. However, it continues to be broadcast as Astro-only radio station
TalkRadio	News and talk radio show; ceased broadcasting in 1998
XFM	Songs from Malaysian artists only, focused on younger listeners. However, it continues to be broadcast as an online station

External links

• Corporate information from Astro Radio website
• ERA website
• MY FM website
• hitz.fm website
• MIX fm website
• LiteFM website
• SINAR website
• XFM website
• THR website
• Melody FM website