About BFM
02-Sep-08 16:13
BFM’s Positioning
BFM launched in September 2008, and is a 24‐hour independent radio station focused on business news and current affairs. Core programmes include the latest business news and stock market reports from Malaysia and other financial centres, interviews with business personalities, financial analysts, entrepreneurs, technologists and marketers.
BFM also offers business education programmes spanning areas like marketing, finance, technology and business productivity to raise the management proficiency of the Malaysian business and professional community.
BFM targets business executives, business owners, investors and people who aspire to personal and professional success. There is no specific age target as this audience spans all adult age groups. It is their interest in success that defines the listenership, not their age.
As part of its programming, BFM provides its listeners with a timeless music experience, which has rapidly gained a growing fan base. BFM is also embarking on meeting the lifestyle, as well as business, needs of its target group, including health, the arts and sports.
BFM can be received on frequency 89.9 in Wilayah Persekutuan, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and parts of Melaka.
BFM has a positive bias towards supporting start-ups, new technology, ethical business practices and equal opportunities.
The BFM Team
The BFM team is made up of several cells of producer and presenter groups who make programming and content decisions based on the positioning of their cells. The programming cells are as follows:
The Morning Run (6am-10am)
The Morning Run team kicks off the day's programming for BFM by preparing working professionals for their business day with stock market commentaries on Market Watch at 7am and 9am, and discussions on socio-economic issues on Current Affairs at 7:30am. Past guests of Current Affairs have included: Khairy Jamaluddin, Farish Noor, Malik Imtiaz, Karim Raslan, Ong Kian Ming, Uma Sambanthan, Saleem Faruqi and many more.
At 8am, BFM's marquee show The Breakfast Grille feature industry stalwarts and politicians - Idris Jala, Azlan Zainol, Nazir Razak, Francis Yeoh, Tony Fernandes, as well as international personalities like Martin Sorrell, Jim Rogers, Joseph Stiglitz, and Muhammad Yunus.
The Morning Run team combines journalism, business and finance experience from Khoo Hsu Chuang (ex-Reuters), Noelle Lim (ex-OSK Securities), Khoo Hsien Chun (ex-Ming KH PR), and Melisa Idris (ex-Bernama), and radio experience of the host, David Chew (ex-Red FM).
Any enquiries on interview opportunities should be directed to morningrun@bfm.my.
Enterprise (10am to 2pm)
Enterprise aims to equip business owners and entrepreneurs with the tools to succeed in business. Freda Liu presents the show, and is supported by producer Azura Rahman. Open For Business (10am weekdays) publicises interesting start-ups, Raise Your Game (11am weekdays) offers personal development opportunities, Techtalk (weekday noons) helps to demystify technology and harness it for business owners and The Resource Centre (1pm weekdays) provides all kinds of valuable resources for businesses from marketing to HR. Interviews or offers of content contribution can be directed to enterprise@bfm.my.
The Bigger Picture (2pm-5pm)
The heart and soul of BFM is on the shoulders of Meera Sivasothy, Shazmin Shamsuddin, Angelene Chong and Juliet Jacobs, presenters and producers of The Bigger Picture. All that money created from all that business will mean nought if we did not have a heart, or if we did not have a soul. The Bigger Picture firmly ensures that we do not lose sight of the bigger picture, and highlights issues that allow us to give back to our families and our community. The Bigger Picture cell can be contact at bigpicture@bfm.my.
The Evening Edition (5pm to 9pm)
Presenter Caroline Oh, supported by producer Sonia Zubeir, aims to transition working professionals from the work place to the home with The Evening Edition, a variety programme that unwinds and destresses. The Evening Edition start with informingyou of what happened in the world whilst you were at work (5.30pm-7pm) with opinions from listeners through call-ins. Then the serious business of unwinding commences with In Conversation, a casual conversation with interesting Malaysian and international personalities (7pm weekdays). Zack Yusoff also looks at BFM's unique song playlist and tries to distill the culture, times and environment surrounding those songs on 33RPM (8.30pm weekdays).
The Evening Edition is also the place to get an off-the-wall review of the previous weekends action on the Barclays Premier League (Life's A Pitch 7.30pm Mondays) as well as a preview of upcoming weekends games (Thank Friday It's Football 7.30pm Fridays) with the help of our resident Londoner, Ross Yusoff and a panel of weird and wonderful guests.
For enquiries on programming or interview opportunities on The Evening Edition, please email eveningedition@bfm.my
The News Team
Our general, business and sports news bulletins air half-hourly during peak driving hours (6 a.m. to 10 a.m., 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.) and hourly (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.). We strive to tell you everything you need to know about what is happening in Malaysia and the world, presented in a fair and balanced way. Our newscasts are produced, written and presented by our tireless news team, consisting of Audrey Raj, Keith Kam, Nadiah Abdul Aziz, Melisa Melina and Melani Delilkan. We use the combined resources, among others, of Bernama, Reuters and Bloomberg. Press releases, feedback, press invitations (and leaks) can be sent to: editor@bfm.my.
In addition to the programming cells, the following also work across cells to ensure programming is consistent with BFM's overall programming direction as well as performing other functional roles:
Malek Ali
Malek is the founder of BFM. A common theme for Malek is his passion for bringing new media products to market. He was a key member of the pioneer team of JobStreet Corporation Bhd, Malaysia’s most successful internet company, which brought online recruitment to Malaysia and other regional markets. His theme of bringing new products to market continued with Maxis and Yahoo! as head of mobile content and head of mobile operations for South-East Asia respectively.
Malek has also significant corporate experience as a management consultant with The Boston Consulting Group and as a corporate lawyer with Allen & Overy. He is an MBA graduate of the Harvard Business School and a law graduate of Bristol University.
Diana Blackburn
Among many hats that Diana puts on at BFM, the one she is most known for is the one as music director. BFM's bold and unique playlist is due to her strong music convictions, which is consistent with BFM"s independent positioning. Diana also leads the training of presenters at BFM, and is the custodian of the overall station format,
Noelle Lim
BFM"s employee number 1, and now producer and presenter of the Morning Run programme. From an initial behind-the-scenes role at BFM, Noelle now is responsible for the content and delivery of BFM"s key morning show, together with fellow producers and presenters Caroline Oh, Khoo Hsu Chuang and Khoo Hsien Chun. A former auditor and Securities Commission analyst, Noelle is known for her subtle but penetrative questions on The Breakfast Grille programme.
Other Cells
The BFM team is also supported by other cells working behind the scenes.The tech ops team for example ensures that the programming goes on air without hitches, the production team ensures client radio ads are created with a dose of creativity, and the account management team manages BFM client relationships to ensure their marketing objectives are met. BFM's podcast and online operations are led by Jon Yap.
How It All Began
It was year 1983 and a young Malaysian arrived in London to pursue his further studies. That was where he first found great radio. Capital Radio 95.8, London's most popular contemporary hit station and LBC, UK's leading talk radio station, were leaders in their respective niches and provided rich inspiration.
Malek Ali kept track of the Malaysian radio scene ever since, watching the birth of Time Highway Radio in 1994, arguably Malaysia's first attempt at a contemporary hit station. The following year, MEASAT Broadcast Networks (now Astro) announced the launch of six brand new FM stations, bringing to our shores what is known as format radio or radio stations designed for specific demographics.
Fast forward to 2008. Malaysian listeners have responded enthusiastically to format radio, Astro achieved tremendous success through the strict application of format radio, its 8 stations then having 67% revenue market share. Media Prima is hot on Astro's heels with HotFM and Fly FM, whereas Star has made inroads in the radio market with RFM98.8, Red104.9 and Suria. Time Highway Radio, the format pioneer, was pummeled by Astro and retreated to the Indian-language format and is now itself owned by Astro.
But format radio, really now in its 14th year, has taken a toll on the quality of the radio conversation. Radio DJs commonly talk down to their audience and breakfast show topics are reduced to trivial, inconsequential topics. Even music programming retreats to the lowest common denominator of mass market music. Many mature listeners wish for the return of quality conversation and discerning music.
And this is where BFM steps in.
