988 FM streams Chinese-language hits and entertainment live from Kuala Lumpur, commanding the largest audience of any Chinese radio station in Malaysia. Press play on Radio Shuffle and it streams free, instantly, wherever you are.
Roots in Malaysia's First Cable Radio Service
The station's lineage stretches back to August 4, 1949, when Rediffusion launched as Malaysia's first commercial cable-transmitted radio service, piping programming directly into subscribers' homes over wires rather than broadcasting over the air. Arab-Malaysian Corporation, a company owned by Tan Sri Azman Hashim, acquired a 49 percent stake in Rediffusion in 1989, and the operation was renamed Rediffusion Radio Sdn. Bhd. in July 1991 as it moved toward conventional broadcasting.
Ending a Government Monopoly
The station first moved onto FM in 1996 as a trilingual service with roughly half its content in Chinese, before fully relaunching in December 1997 as REDI-FM 98.8, a dedicated 24-hour Chinese station. That relaunch ended the monopoly the government-owned Radio 5, now known as Ai FM, had held as Malaysia's only Chinese-language station up to that point.
Malaysia's Biggest Chinese-Language Audience
That first-mover advantage in commercial Chinese radio has held. GfK survey data from the first half of 2022 put 988 FM's weekly listenership at 2.17 million, representing 42 percent of the entire Malaysian Chinese radio audience, a dominant share in a market with several competing stations.
Tune In
From a 1949 cable radio service to Malaysia's leading Chinese-language station, 988 FM carries one of the country's longest broadcasting lineages. Stream it free on Radio Shuffle anytime.