Astro Radio Sabah goes off the air
Published on: Monday, October 02, 2023
By: Kazalinah Kamaludin
Ily with Era Sabah presenters and staff.
Kota Kinabalu: Astro Radio Sabah ceased operations in the State effective Saturday (Sept 30).
Former Content and Digital Head of Astro Radio Sabah, Ily Lia Affiqah, however, said Era Sabah’s radio broadcasts would continue.
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She said the decision was reached in August. Astro Radio Sarawak office operations were also stopped effective Saturday.
The English language radio channel Hitz Sabah and My Sabah for Chinese also returned their broadcasts to Kuala Lumpur.
“Astro Radio Sabah office operations are closed from Sept 30. There are no more operational employees and all were given VSS (Voluntary Separation Scheme).
“But fans can still listen to Era Sabah broadcasts as usual. It is just that it will be broadcast from Bukit Jalil.
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“All presenters will be broadcasting from Kota Kinabalu until Dec 31 before operations are fully transferred to Bukit Jalil (Astro headquarters) in Kuala Lumpur on Jan. 1, 2024.
“Hitz Sabah and My Sabah broadcasts will also be returned to KL. There will be no more presenters or local content for these two channels starting Sept 30,” she said, when contacted.
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Ily does not disregard the possibility of a change in Era Sabah presenters since not all would move to Kuala Lumpur next year.
On whether the move was due to a decrease in the number of listeners, Ily said based on the three latest surveys, the number of listeners for the Astro Radio Sabah channels recorded an upward trend.
“Era Sabah, from only 30,000 listeners, we managed to increase it to almost 130,000 listeners today. We worked hard to achieve it, which took a long time.
“But this figure may not be enough for Astro Radio Sabah to sustain its operations in Sabah,” said Ily, who was with Astro Radio for 13 years.
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