MYTV Broadcasting and Nielsen roll out TV audience measurement in East Malaysia

MYTV Broadcasting and Nielsen collaborate to roll out TV audience measurement in East Malaysia, covering Kota Kinabalu and Kuching

MALAYSIA — A win for all stakeholders, the expansion of Nielsen panel coverage into East Malaysia, notably the cities of Kota Kinabalu and Kuching, will enable TV broadcasters and advertisers to better understand their audiences outside of Peninsular Malaysia – a first for free-to-air (FTA) TV broadcasting in Malaysia.

Consistent with existing TV audience measurement (TAM) in Peninsular Malaysia, all FTA channels aired via the MYTV platform in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching will be reported into the TAM database, using the same methodology and “Nano Meters” – the devices used by viewers in selected households to share their viewing selections.

This increased measurement gives greater oversight into national digital terrestrial television coverage (100% of the Malaysian population by MYTV complemented by Direct-To-Home Satellite TV) without the need for a high-speed broadband connection.

Puan Azlina Mohd Yusof, Chief Operating Officer of MYTV, hailed the collaboration, saying, “It’s a new era of viewership analytics, which will help Malaysian FTA broadcasters better serve the nation with high-quality content and entertainment. MYTV is proud of this collaboration with Nielsen, which will glean new insights into FTA television viewership in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. It’s a breakthrough in the Malaysian FTA broadcast industry, which will increase the ability to grow Adex and deliver more accurate analytics for all parties.” The addition of Kota Kinabalu and Kuching sees the TV audience sample size in Malaysia increased by more than 27%, encompassing some 1,400 households.

This collaboration between Nielsen and MYTV in Malaysia demonstrates Nielsen’s continued commitment to growing and supporting the Malaysian media industry, says Nielsen Asia President (Commercial), Arnaud Frade: “It’s crucial for broadcasters to be able to demonstrate the power and value of their reach across a wider range of audiences and population centres, and we’re excited to help them do that”.

While enabling broadcasters to better show the true scale of their audiences, improved audience measurement coverage will also greatly benefit advertisers, says Nielsen Asia Lead (Broadcasters & Publishers), Catherine Zhao: “Using this data and insight to help MYTV, public and private broadcasters ensure that the service and content provided helps meet the needs of Malaysian consumers. Advertisers can now be more certain than ever that their messaging reaches the right audiences, in the right places, at the right time, greatly improving ROI and overall confidence in the industry.”

MYTV is now available to almost 132,000 people in Kota Kinabalu and more than 273,000 in Kuching. From 1 April to 9 May, FTA was enjoyed by over 110,000 people (or 84% of all viewers) in Kota Kinabalu, and roughly 208,000 people (76% of all viewers) in Kuching.

Since the migration from analog to digital services, audience numbers in Peninsular Malaysia has grown from 4.9 million in 2019 to more than 6 million to date, this is on par with the increased total number of viewers who have access to MYTV in Peninsular Malaysia, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.

* Source: TAM data period from 1 April 2023 to 9 May 2023 – Total unique and unduplicated viewers aged 4+ who watched FTA channels using MYTV decoder/Digital TV only