Media Prima Audio CEO Nazri Noran shared insights into the power of disruption in his presentation at RadioDays Asia.

Radio has faced many challenges and continues to do so as new technologies try to put it out of business, but radio continues to adapt.

“The pandemic was the biggest challenge recently. Isolation, working from home, the rise of delivery services, content creators grew like mushrooms to entertain themselves, and the question was raised if people were still listening to radio… Radio is still alive because we have the ability to adapt and be hyper-local.”

Noran pointed out that music is “no longer the denominator for radio,” saying the future success of radio lies in “seizing the moment in big events, topical content and trendspotting.”

The company has five broadcast brands – Hot FM, Kool 101, Molek FM, Fly FM and 8FM, plus Audio+, an app that supports all five radio stations, podcasts and other engaging content.

He gave three examples of how his stations are seizing the moment, trendspotting and embracing topical content.

When the smash hit girl group Black Pink came to Malaysia, the station jumped on the hype with welcome billboards, a mapped arrival route for fans, pink drinks, activations and concert sponsorship. “We took ownership of the event which grew engagement and audience for Fly FM.”

Fly FM has also introduced the first Malaysian A.I. DJ. While the announcer is artificial, the program that she presents is fully produced by a team of real people behind the A.I DJ to gain good publicity while still broadcasting a quality program using a combination of live and artificial content.

The third example was grabbing the “sassy political heart-throb figure” KJ, a former Cabinet Minister with a huge following and turning him into a radio icon. When the station put him on air “socials blew up, it got huge attention to our brand.”

The former Health Minister KJ was sacked from the government in January this year. When he was offered a radio shift, suddenly everyone was tuning in and everyone became aware of Hot FM. “This is the power of disruption,” said Noran.

_{Photo: Media Prima on air teams}