Malaysian television broadcasting was introduced on 28 December 1963. Colour television was introduced on 28 December 1978. Full-time colour transmissions were officially inaugurated on New Year's Day 1982. There are currently 16 national free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Malaysia and 3 national pay subscription television operators in Malaysia.
Commercial broadcasting is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model of radio during the 1920s, in contrast with the public television model during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, which prevailed worldwide, except in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil, until the 1980s.
Radio Televisyen Malaysia, also known as the Department of Broadcasting, Malaysia is the national public broadcaster of Malaysia, headquartered at Angkasapuri, Kuala Lumpur. Established on 1 April 1946 as Radio Malaya, it is the first and the oldest broadcaster in the country.
THR is a defunct radio channel in Malaysia. It was the first private commercial radio station in the country, having based in the capital of Kuala Lumpur.
The mass media in Brunei are strictly controlled by the government under Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, which has effectively imposed martial law in the country since the Brunei Revolt of 1962. News coverage consists of police-beat reporting, lifestyle features, and community events, with little in the way of diverse viewpoints. Reporters Without Borders reports there is "virtually no criticism of the government". The liberal democracy watchdog Freedom House lists Brunei's media as "not free".
Astro Radio is a Malaysian radio network company which operates radio broadcasting services and more since 1996. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad. Astro Radio owns and manages 13 private radio stations which are transmitted through the FM radio spectrum. As of November 2021, Astro Radio still remains the number one and largest radio network company in Malaysia, with 77.7% of Peninsular Malaysians and 15.6 million listeners tuning in to its stations weekly, together with its Media Prima counterpart, Media Prima Audio, according to the GfK Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) Wave 1 in October 2021. Era being at top of the list with the most audience reach estimated at 6,000,000 listeners, followed by Sinar and Gegar.
Hitz is a Malaysian national radio station managed by Astro Radio, a subsidiary of Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad. The radio station name was changed from Hitz.FM to Hitz FM in 2014. In 2015, as according to Nielsen RAM Survey Wave #1, Hitz FM maintained its position as Malaysia's leading English-language station with over 1.2 million listeners. Hitz FM has a weekly audience of more than 2.2M listeners on radio. It targets listeners between the age of 10 to 29, according to Astro Radio. The radio station's slogan is "Malaysia's #1 Hit Music Station."
Sarawak FM is a Malay language radio station operated by Radio Televisyen Malaysia serving as the main radio station of the state of Sarawak. The Station was launched on 8 June 1954 and became part of the Radio Malaysia network on 16 September 1963, when Sarawak formed the Federation of Malaysia with Malaya, Sabah and Singapore. The station covers all of Sarawak with a 24 hours broadcast which airs Malaysian and international music.
Mix is a Malaysian national radio station managed by Astro Radio, a subsidiary of Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad. The station plays adult contemporary music from the 90s and now, targeting listeners between the ages of 25 and 39. In 2015, as according to Nielsen RAM Survey Wave #2, Mix FM recorded an average weekly audience of 245,000.
Red FM is a defunct Malaysian English language-private radio station that used to broadcast across Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. It was managed by Star Media Radio Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Star Publications (M) Bhd. Red FM began broadcasting on 1 September 2001 and was one of Malaysia's top five English radio stations.
Era is a Malaysian Malay-language radio station operated by Astro Radio. 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. Radio stations in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching will be moved back to Kuala Lumpur following Astro Radio closure of operations in Sabah and Sarawak since 30 September 2023. 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.
2012 in Malaysia is Malaysia's 55th anniversary of Malaysia's independence.
988 FM is a Malaysian Chinese-language radio station. The stations broadcast area covers West Malaysia and Singapore. The station is managed by Star Media Radio Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Star Media Group Berhad. 988 FM began broadcasting in 1996 as a trilingual radio station, with 50% Chinese content and became a fully-fledged radio station in December 1997. The station aims to reflect and cater to the different Chinese-speaking cultures of Malaysia.
Lite is one of Malaysia's English-language radio stations managed by Astro Radio, a subsidiary of Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad. The station mostly plays Classic hits from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s which targeting listeners between the age of 35 to 49. Unlike any other stations by Astro Radio, Lite have the lowest weekly listeners based on GfK Radio Audience Measurement (RAM), Wave 1 in June 2019, Lite dropped by 0.24% to 831k weekly listeners.
Sinar is a Malaysian Malay-language radio station operated by Astro Radio. The radio station began broadcasting on 1 March 2004. The radio station focused on mature listeners and plays classic music from both local and foreign artists, compared to its sister station, Era, Gegar and Zayan), which target younger and East Coast listeners, respectively. In 2015, as according to Nielsen RAM Survey Wave #1, Sinar maintained its position as Malaysia's second leading Malay-language station with over 3.7 million listeners.
Melody is a Malaysian Chinese-language radio station. It is managed by Astro Radio, a subsidiary of Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad. Melody FM was launched since 15 August 2012. Its frequencies were formerly used by radio station XFM (Xfresh). It was the second Astro Chinese radio station in Malaysia after My FM. In addition, Melody FM was the fifth Chinese radio station in Malaysia. The radio plays the Retro Chinese hits and some new easy listening music. Its music selections and content target mature audience which ages between 25–49 years old. In 2015, as according to Nielsen RAM Survey Wave #1, Melody FM had reach 398k listeners.
TEA FM is an East Malaysian Chinese and English language radio station. TEA FM is Sarawak's first Mandarin Chinese and English local private radio station.
Raaga is a Malaysian Tamil-language radio station operated by Astro Radio. In 2015, as according to Nielsen RAM Survey Wave #1, THR Raaga maintained its position as Malaysia's leading Tamil-language station with over two million listeners. It also emerged as South East Asia's No.1 Tamil radio station by beating state-owned Minnal FM and Singapore-based Oli 96.8FM.
RTM TV Okey is a Malaysian free-to-air television channel operated by Radio Televisyen Malaysia dedicated to East Malaysians and urban youths. It was launched on 21 March 2018 and airs programmes in English, Malay, and East Malaysian languages such as Bajau, Dusun, Kadazan (Sabah) and Iban (Sarawak).
