KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 15): Media Prima Television Networks' (MPTN) combined audience share for its four channels — TV3, ntv7, 8TV, and TV9 — increased from 34% to 37% in January 2019 after TV3 and 8TV viewership rose in recent years, Media Prima Bhd said today, quoting research company Nielsen.

Media Prima Bhd said in a statement today Nielsen's research showed that MPTN secured its pole position in the Malaysian television industry in January 2019.

"TV3's share alone increased to 27% in 2018 from 22%, while 8TV achieved 29% from 27% in 2017. In broadcast news, TV3's flagship programme, Buletin Utama, recorded 5.3 million in daily viewership reach — an uptrend since the first quarter of 2018. The strong performance indicates that it has remained the preferred choice for television news among Malaysians. The month of the 14th Malaysian General Election in 2018 saw MPTN's news programmes garner a total 400 million viewership — this reflects a frequency of an average of 23.5 times viewership by 17 million people.

"MPTN's drama slots Akasia, Samarinda, Seramedi, and Lestary, continue to attract large audience numbers. Nur was among the most followed dramas of 2018 commanding over 11 million television viewers in 2018. Akasia's latest offering, Pujaan Hati Kanda, which features Remy Ishak and Mira Filzah, garnered 12 million views since it aired in December 2018. The last episode recorded 4.5 million viewers, and reached 30 million views on YouTube's @TV3Malaysia," Media Prima Bhd said.

In digital, Media Prima Bhd said MPTN's democratisation of its content on various platforms has significantly fuelled audience growth. The group said TV3's YouTube page @TV3Malaysia recorded 1.4 million subscribers and was awarded the YouTube Gold Award for being one of 16 YouTubers in Malaysia to reach one million subscribers with 120 million video views monthly in December 2018.

MPTN chief executive officer Johan Ishak said in the statement: "We recognise the need to appeal to our loyal viewers across multiple platforms. We have transitioned successfully into the digital realm, while securing our dominance in traditional television. Our traditional viewership and digital numbers continue to grow, which indicates the potential for advertisers to reach the mass audience across different tools."

"This is also a testament that MPTN is on the right track to support Media Prima's mission to enrich lives through informing, entertaining, and engaging content across platforms. Contrary to some opinions, TV3 actually has a very strong millennial following, as evident in its YouTube viewers' profile that shows the age group '13-24 years old' as the largest audience segment," Johan said.