Harian Metro

It is Malaysia's first Malay daily afternoon tabloid in the Klang Valley, in contrast to morning tabloids in other part of Malaysia. The Harian Metro was established in March 1991 and is the first and oldest Malay-language tabloid newspaper in the country. It is now Malaysia's largest circulating newspaper in any language.

Harian Metro

Front page on 19 March 2018.
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Tabloid
Publisher	The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad
Editor	Mustapa Omar
Deputy editor	Ahmad @ Salim Bachok
Associate editor	Noorsham Md Saleh Husain Jahit
Managing editor	Shariffudin Mohamed Othman Mamat
News editor	Manan Samad Mohd Safar Ahmad Yusri Abdul Malek Ahmad Shahrul Nizam Muhammad
Sports editor	Mohd Radzi Wahab
Photo editor	Khairil Shahriman Maarup
Founded	25 March 1991; 33 years ago (1991-03-25)
Language	Malay
Headquarters	Balai Berita 31, Jalan Riong, 59100 Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Circulation	179,231 (daily) 207,119 (Metro Ahad) 1,743 (daily E-paper) 1,741 (Metro Ahad E-paper) *Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations, Malaysia - July to December 2015
Website	www.hmetro.com.my

The change in the demographics of urbanites resulted in a growing audience of young people who were looking for entertainment, shopping news, lifestyle features and current news. Harian Metro set out to meet those needs.

On 17 July 2006, the newspaper underwent a layout revamp to remain fresh and relevant for its readers. New pullouts were introduced, such as "Rap" and "Variasi".

On 11 April 2009, Harian Metro increased its cover price with the introduction of new pullouts such as "GIGS" and "EKSTRA".

Harian Metro's rise has steadily gained momentum over the past few years. For 2011, Harian Metro remained the No. 1 daily Bahasa Melayu newspaper for the fifth time as declared by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. However, it later lost the status to its rival, Mingguan Malaysia [ms], in the second quarter of 2013, largely due to increased access and availability of internet news sources and subsequent growth in their audience.

Despite pride itself as a "reader's choice newspaper", Harian Metro seems to have things that it far left behind, unlike or since the presence of its rival newspaper, Kosmo!.

1990s

1991

• On 26 March, Harian Metro, the country's first afternoon Bahasa newspaper, was launched. The price was RM0.50.
• Mior Kamarul Shahid was appointed the first news editor.
• On 26 June, Harian Metro first revamped.

1992

• Ahmad Puah Onah was appointed editor.
• On 25 March, the southern edition of Harian Metro was launched in Johor Bahru.

1994

• On 1 April, Zian Johari was appointed editor.
• On 16 May, Harian Metro Edisi Timur was launched.
• On 1 August, Harian Metro Edisi Utara was launched.

1995

• On 29 August, Metro Ahad was launched.

2000s

2000

• On 17 July, Harian Metro was revamped with a new tag line 'Kini, Sini, Terkini'.
• On 23 July, Metro Ahad was revamped.

2001

• On 26 March, Harian Metro celebrated its tenth anniversary

2003

• Metro Ahad achieved 1,068,000 readers for the fourth quarter of 2003.

2004

• On 27 January, a new official web page for Harian Metro and Metro Ahad at www.hmetro.com.my was launched in Balai Berita, Kuala Lumpur.
• On 1 June, Berita Harian Sdn Bhd appointed Hafifi Hafidz as the new executive editor of Harian Metro and Metro Ahad, replacing Zian Johari, who was appointed executive editor of Berita Minggu.
• On 27 July, Harian Metro launched its weekly column called "Liku-liku Niaga". The column publishes every Tuesday in Harian Metro's "Business" section.
• On 23 August, a new pullout of Harian Metro called "Bintang and Variasi Metro" (V-Met) was launched.

2005

• On 1 January, the cover price of Harian Metro increased to RM1.20. In Sabah and Sarawak, Harian Metro was sold for RM2.00 each, however, and the cover price of Metro Ahad was increased to RM1.50. In Sabah and Sarawak, the newspaper was sold at RM2.00.

2006

• On 6 June, i-Metro, an interactive portal providing readers a chance to be the eyes and ears of their community, was launched.
• On 15 July, Harian Metro launched a more stylish, colourful and reader-friendly layout, as well as new sections focusing on celebrities, lifestyle, health and fashion. Among the changes made are new nameplates for Harian Metro and Metro Ahad, replacing Metro Ahad's "Meta" with "Ekspresi" and renaming Harian Metro's "Bintang" to "Rentak Artis Popular" (RAP) and "V-Met" to "Variasi".
• On 16 July, Metro Ahad was revamped.

2008

• On 1 March, Abdul Ghafar Ismail was appointed executive editor of Harian Metro/Metro Ahad.

2009

• On 12 April, Metro Ahad launched a new pullout titled "GIGS – Gema Informasi Generasi Semasa". The pullout is inserted into Metro Ahad every Sunday.
• On 13 April, the cover price of Harian Metro increased to RM1.50. In Sabah and Sarawak, the newspaper was sold at RM2.30. The "RAP" and "Variasi" pullouts introduced a new nameplate.
• On 1 July, Abdul Ghafar Ismail was re-designated Deputy Group Editor of Harian Metro.
• On 17 August, Datuk Mustapa Omar was appointed Group Editor, Harian Metro.
• On 9 October, Harian Metro launched a new pullout, "AYU".

2010s

2010

• On 3 May, Harian Metro became available in Sabah and Sarawak.
• On 23 May, Harian Metro's Sarawak and Sabah edition was officially launched in Kuching. The 64-page Sarawak and Sabah edition is priced at RM1.50 each, provides readers with coverage of sports, education, and community.

2013

• On 7 January, Harian Metro's weekday entertainment pullout, "Rentak Artis Popular" was shortened to simply "RAP".

2019

• On October, Harian Metro was revamped. Its weekend entertainment section, "Bling" renamed to "RapXtra".

2020s

2021

• On 25 March, Harian Metro celebrates its 30th anniversary.

• Other Malay language newspapers in Malaysia:
  • Berita Harian
  • Kosmo!
  • Utusan Malaysia
  • Utusan Borneo, a newspaper publication for the state of Sabah and Sarawak
  • Sinar Harian