ERA is a Malaysian Malay languageradio 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.
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. 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. On 2 January 2018, Era FM was rebranded to ERA in a move by Astro Radio to integrate multiple platforms under the brand. 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. Frequency In Sabah Is 102.4 MHz Morning Era Sabah To Use FM Transmitter In Sabah From Johara Morning Era In Other States Of Peninsular Malaysia. Frequency In Sarawak Is 96.1 MHz Morning Era Sarawak To Use FM Transmitter In Sarawak From Johara Morning Era In Other States Of Peninsular Malaysia.
