CYBERJAYA: Malaysia's media and advertising industry has launched a joint effort to develop a single audience measurement framework, aimed at creating a common standard for tracking audiences across television, radio, digital platforms and streaming services.
The initiative is being led by the Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (CMCF) through a Joint Industry Committee (JIC) that brings together broadcasters, advertisers, agencies, digital platforms and streaming providers.
The move comes as media consumption becomes increasingly fragmented, with audiences shifting between traditional broadcasting, social media, websites, mobile applications and on-demand streaming platforms.
CMCF Chairman Datuk Rafiq Razali said the industry needed a measurement system that reflects modern content consumption habits.
"The media industry cannot make tomorrow's decisions using a fragmented picture of today's audience," he said in a statement on Tuesday.
Rafiq said the goal was to establish a trusted "common currency" that could be used by media owners, advertisers and agencies when making decisions on content, advertising and investment.
The proposed Single Audience Measurement (SAM) framework is envisioned as a unified and de-duplicated view of audiences across platforms, allowing industry players to better assess reach and effectiveness.
Industry participants say the lack of a common measurement system has made it difficult to compare audiences and evaluate advertising performance across different media channels.
Henry Tan, Astro's interim Group Chief Executive Officer, said audience measurement needed to evolve to reflect changing viewing habits.
"Today's viewing is beyond linear, to include on-demand, on-the-go and on multi-devices," he said.
Sheila Shanmugam, president of the Media Specialists Association, said agencies often relied on separate datasets that were not designed to work together, making it difficult to determine whether campaigns were reaching new audiences or the same consumers across multiple platforms.
As part of the initiative, the JIC has launched an industry-wide Request for Information (RFI), inviting audience measurement firms, research companies and subject matter experts to submit information on global SAM models, methodologies and business practices.
CMCF said the exercise was intended to help the industry evaluate international approaches and determine how they could be adapted to Malaysia's media landscape. It added that the RFI does not represent a commitment to appoint a provider or adopt a specific solution.
The submission period runs from Aug. 17 to Sept. 14, 2026.
