KUCHING: Nielsen, a global, independent measurement and data company, has extended its panel coverage to East Malaysia, including Kuching.
Backed by MYTV Broadcasting, this expansion is set to revolutionise the free-to-air (FTA) TV broadcasting landscape in Malaysia by providing TV broadcasters and advertisers with a comprehensive understanding of their audiences beyond Peninsular Malaysia.
The inclusion of Kuching alongside Kota Kinabalu and Peninsular Malaysia will empower broadcasters to better comprehend viewership patterns and preferences in diverse regions.
This increased measurement gives greater oversight into national digital terrestrial television coverage (100 per cent of the Malaysian population by MYTV, complemented by direct-to-home satellite TV) without the need for a high-speed broadband connection.
MYTV chief operating officer (CEO) Azlina Mohd Yusof 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,” she said.
The addition of Kuching and Kota Kinabalu sees the TV audience sample size in Malaysia increases by more than 27 per cent, encompassing some 1,400 households.
Meanwhile, Nielsen Asia president (Commercial) Arnaud Frade said that this collaboration between Nielsen and MYTV in Malaysia demonstrates Nielsen’s continued commitment to growing and supporting the Malaysian media industry.
“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,” he said.
While enabling broadcasters to better show the true scale of their audiences, Nielsen Asia Lead (Broadcasters and Publishers), Catherine Zhao, said that improved audience measurement coverage will also greatly benefit advertisers.
“Using this data and insight to help MYTV and other public and private broadcasters ensure that the service and content provided help 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,” she added.
MYTV is now available to almost 132,000 people in Kota Kinabalu and more than 273,000 in Kuching.
From April 1 to May 9, FTA was enjoyed by over 110,000 people (or 84 per cent of all viewers) in Kota Kinabalu and roughly 208,000 people (76 per cent of all viewers) here.
Since the migration from analogue to digital services, audience numbers in Peninsular Malaysia have 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.
