“Wag mo sabihing radyo—sabihin mo LOVE para STAR ka at mapapaWOW ang TAMBAYAN mo sa BARANGAY! WINNER di ba? TSUGTSUGAN NA! YES na YES—BIG time ka na!!!”
It’s all over frequency modulation! FM radio has churned out a huge WAVE of stations that spell MAGIC, spewing music JAMs, talk, and laughter that have CROSSEDOVER traditional formats to give listeners a new kind of RADIO HIGH! FM radio is now a MONSTER, be it a MASTER’S TOUCH, or THE GREATEST AND THE LATEST, or THE BEST MUSIC IN THE PLANET. It may be MELLOW or EASY or serve up a barrelful of NEWS—it is the quintessential sound of 21st century Philippine radio.
There was a time not too long ago when FM radio was THE music medium. It provided a less stressful alternative to AM News Talk. I remember the Middle of the Road formats of DZFX 101.1 and ABS CBN’s DZYK 101.9—the elevator music outlets when FM was in its infancy in the early 70s. Pleasant memories linger in my mind whenever I recall the Album Oriented sound of WKFM 101.9 before it spawned jazz awareness in 1973. I recall calling stations for their MRS or Most Requested Song or its Mellow Touch. It was More Music and Less Talk. And then, in 1977 the iconic 99.5RT barged into the collective awareness of Metro Manila’s upscale youth and launched the careers of many excellent disc jockeys, aside from being first with the hits. FM radio had gone Pop. 102.7 WXB transformed from being a Christian station to Magic Disco 102, and eventually spearheaded the New Wave revolution. GMAs 97.1 WLS, a namesake of the Chicago broadcast giant, followed suit and brought FM pop to the masses. Sensing a gold mine, Mike Enriquez and his band of remarkable talents launched 93.9WKC in the early 80s, mixing the unthinkable—Top40 music and jokes. And it became a sensation in no time at all! 89DMZ transformed radio into a veritable dance music zone. 101.1KISSFM came from out of the blue in ‘85 to unveil an all-star Air Force—unimaginable during those times. Magic 89.9, Monster Radio, Citylite88.3, and all rock NU107 joined the bandwagon for a share of the advertising and audience pie—in the process, jumpstarting the careers of Joe d’ Mango, Jun Banaag, and many more. DWBM dared to play all OPM with Super Tunog Pinoy when everyone else thought it was a crazy idea. Adult Contemporary rock came by way of 96.3 WROCK and K-Lite. Amidst all these, the Mellow Touch, MRS, and Love Radio; they with their Easy Listening formats withstood the onslaught and still came out on top of the radio surveys. And Classical outlet DZFE and MOR DWBR stuck to catering to a more sophisticated, elderly market. FM radio had become THE medium—making AM radio a mere decorative switch position in radio tuners.
And so we fast forward into the 21st century. The music is till there, but all sorts of talk have permeated the airwaves. FM radio today sounds pretty much like AM radio back in the 60s and 70s. Music now has taken a backseat—replaced by verbose DJs who can talk their way through a program quarter hour without playing a single song. Try it—I did. I was driving to a destination about 20 kilometers away, and I never heard a single piece of music from the DJ—from the time I took off to my arrival at my destination. Now that’s a lot of words! I could never have done that during my radio heydays. If I did, I would’ve been fired on the spot by my boss. Radio has now become an extension of the internet’s social networking craze. Radio personalities—I don’t want to call them disc jockeys anymore because they hardly spin any anyway—and their listeners have transformed radio into a virtual chatroom. Topics that were considered taboo in the past are now freely discussed. From the inane to the insane, from the outrageous to out of this world, from trivial to inconsequential—this seems to be a common denominator of today’s FM radio. What ever happened to the KBPs much-vaunted self-policing mandate? Of course, there is still some intelligent talk to be had, but they seem as rare as a solar eclipse. The eerie thing is, even if you try switching from one station to another, you still get more of the same. Makes you wonder at times—is this a conspiracy of sorts? Is this radio’s way of surrendering to the iPod, the iPads, and its ilk? Why listen to music from radio when I can have my choices in my MP3 player? Not to assail our present crop of radio personalities—they are incredibly talented—but don’t we have anything better to talk about? Do people really give a hoot about another listener’s inner fantasies? Or what the different Tagalog names of a male’s organ mean? Obviously, our radio personalities are immensely intelligent; otherwise they wouldn’t be able to keep that microphone on with no music interruptions. We used to have 20minutes of continuous hot hits. Now we get 20minutes of continuous talk.
Don’t get me wrong—I don’t have a beef against FM radio programming. In fact, I really am very impressed with the way they do things now. I have heard comments from the usual noisemakers about how radio has deteriorated, how it has lost its self-respect, how it has sold out. Not my words, mind you, but words that came out of disgruntled fans of the likes of NU107, Dream FM, Citylite, and other niche stations of not too long ago. Personally, I consider it as an evolution of sorts, brought about by this ever-changing world of ours. I tried putting everything into perspective—and here’s what I came up with…
First—the MP3 player and iPod. Let’s admit it, given a choice between listening to a DJ interrupt your favorite song or playing the song to death on your iPod, you’d opt for the latter. This phenomenon—the digital music player and music downloads, which I attribute to the late Steve Jobs, has hastened the downfall of music radio, the CD, and consequently, the recording industry. Why go to a brick and mortar to buy a CD when you can click in a portal and download your choice. “Tingi” as we call it in the vernacular. Why pay for a ten-song album with only a couple of hit potentials when you can download individual cuts. And if you’re really adept, you don’t even have to pay for anything. And no DJ will ever interrupt your listening pleasure.
Secondly, it’s the sign of the times. During the early 80s, when the economy was down and an atmosphere of unrest was sweeping the nation, WKC, the joke station became number 1 in a blink of an eye. Stunned traditional program directors couldn’t believe this was happening. How was this possible? I was then teaching a Radio course in an exclusive girl’s school and whenever I mentioned the station, they all moaned and said the all too familiar “EWWW Baduy”. Yes, dear, it was coined in the 80s. The hilarious thing was, they actually knew the jokes—in fact, they were mouthing the WKC lines in class. And they were supposed to be “Sosyal”! Now, if they hated the station, how in heaven’s name did they know the jokes? Ergo, they too were active listeners of WKCs Baby Michael aka Mike Enriquez, Hillbilly Willy, Rudolph Rivera, and this bunch of hilarious yahoos. I then came to the conclusion that Filipinos needed a de-stressing opiate to carry them through those turbulent, uncertain times. And what better way to do it than to crack jokes—no matter how cheesy or corny they may be to intersperse with only the most popular songs. Filipinos needed something to smile about during those days. WKC gave them more—the station gave them something to laugh about. I figure that’s where we are today. It’s not only the world economic situation—it’s the economy, period. Today’s radio has been responsive to this need. Today’s FM radio has provided the audience an outlet for its frustrations, its angst, its fantasies, its wild imagination. Todays’ Filipino seems to have fallen into complacency, indifference, and hopelessness. FM Radio has given the common man an outlet to vent out their romantic concerns and frustrations to the likes of Papa Jack. FM Radio has kept the overworked, underpaid, sleepless cab, jeepney, and bus drivers’ eyes on the road with a smile on their lips whenever the Balahuras go on air. FM Radio has given a new meaning to the word “communication”. FM Radio is not only being listened to—it is now an active listener to millions who want to share their thoughts on every intelligent or ridiculous topic on earth. Now that, I believe, is the essence of communication—to listen, to be heard, and to understand each other. And isn’t that what radio broadcasting is all about?
Radio now has an enormous challenge. Can it evolve into being a catalyst for a change for the better? Can it finally assume its role as moral standard-bearer? Can it go beyond the inane and the insane? Can it rouse its audience from its complacency, indifference, and hopelessness? It has its audience mesmerized—everything it says is the gospel truth. Maybe it’s time to level up.
How I wish I were part of this radio evolution. I doff my hat to this intrepid gang of radio programmers, talents, and listeners who have given justice to the word “Communication”. I just hope and pray they do a bit more to uplift the moral fiber of their audience. O ano, kelangan pa ba imemorize yan??? BOYS NIGHT OUT NA!!!!
georgeboone 
very informative, indeed. thanks George Boone I never before thought of FM radio in the ways you put them. I had been away too long that I was not able to observe these changes, but I am with you in hoping that FM Radio as it is today would do more than just provide entertainment to their audiences who seem to get younger and younger (when I was 14 i didnt give a hoot to MRS and disc jocks hahaha!!!) Congratulations!
Thank you, Kay. Appreciate it.
You said it right Sir George Boone, “Is this radio’s way of surrendering to the iPod, the iPads, and its ilk? Why listen to music from radio when I can have my choices in my MP3 player? …
Have you check on narrowcasting sir George Boone? That’s the closest and I believe the only solution to make the broadcast industry survive.
Facing the reality is so hard but we have to. There will always be a solution to every problem. But we can’t stop technology, it’s the future. Either we ride or being left behind. As we grow old, we make better decisions and people become wiser, right? Actually, it’s the digital media that is killing the industry. Before, billboard artists lost their jobs because of the large format priniting. Mr. Pedero said, print is starting to suffer. The truth is, it’s about to die. In the call center, paper free environment is being practiced and news print is paper. Who will really read news print if tablets, ipod, internet and other digital media are present in the market today? Maybe the old ones. Streamers, posters, flyers, other collateral media are also losing its value. Try to observe, even there are signs like exit and entrance; people make mistakes. It says, push, they’ll pull it. This means, people have no time to read signs in entering a commercial establishment like mall, supermarket, etc. Brian Tracy said, (let me rephrase it) people focus on what they want to do/buy not what they are going to read. On the other side, remote control has lowered down the value of TVCs. If I have a remote control and a commercial break comes in, I’ll switch to other stations, if not I’ll just have cable tv. I open the TV set to watch my favorite show not my favorite commercial. Can PPM, audimeter or Arbitron, justify the value of commercials? Now radio is really for motor vehicles. But most of the owners of private vehicles are in the AB crowd. I don’t think they’d like to hear a tagalog talk show or the baduy stuffs. What they need are music tracks that will guide them in driving safely. You see the problem; sales, marketing and advertising are dynamic. We need to adjust. We all know that “half of the money spent on advertising is wasted; the trouble is we don’t know which half.” Advertisers want value on their advertising spending or investment. They are starting to realize the wasted advertising spending. What they need are practical approaches. Like “captive market, brand activation, relationship selling, POP, innovation, and other ways.” In connection with broadcasting, radio must get closer to the market. Let the market see the DJs, live and more/big prizes on contests are expected. If WilTimeBigTime can do it, we can also do that. Why go to studios or text if the contest is near you. This will appeal to the masses. It’s like saying, let’s multiply the radio stations and saturate the market.
For me, I would suggest that radio must link and ride with a new medium or create a new industry that will support radio. Now here’s my proposal. Narrowcasting using CADIO. A famous and respected broadcaster Chris Cramer (from Reuters, bbc & CNN) in the US said, “Forget broadcasting, the future is narrowcasting.” He could be right but as a former broadcaster, I can’t just forget broadcasting. Narrowcasting came from it. Instead of forgetting, why not support it?
In the late 80’s to the mid 90’s, FM radio can be heard in different establishments. Few are doing it because if a competior’s commercial is heard in their establishment; that’s a slap on their face. The solution is to maximize all the ceiling and wall speakers in different commercial establishments. Why narrowcasting? Because it’s another form of broadcasting. It focuses on public captive market and that’s what advertisers like. Licklider coined it back in 1967, still it’s a new one and hasn’t been expounded. Wikipedia, released the article in 2005. Their sample is the “cabvision” of London. CADIO is a term that I coined back in 1999 with Brian Ligsay. It’s path came from the radio-type booth that Makati Cinema Square has started with Martin D, Sgt Pepper, etc. Brian and I experienced it in Shoppesville and Virra Mall. Most of the jocks used the model (radio-type booth) as training ground and 90% of them including me succeeded and became real radio DJ’s. AudioWav came in the early 2000. Their path came from storecasting but focuses on selling their services to commercial ewstablishments in providing music and commercial prod. In 1999, we refrain from using the term radio-type booth and avoid calling it mall radio because it doesn’t have a transmitter. Nowadays, you can mix down an mp3 music file and commercial using a software (adobe audition) and burn it on CD; then play it in a commercial establishment like a restaurant or you can also use an inexpensive radio automated software. These group use the term in-store radio and call it “National Bookstore Radio or Chowking Radio.” We don’t practice that because for us, it’s a wrong term. In the ADVERTISING CODE OF ETHICS, ARTICLE 4, SECTION 4, under Advertising Slogans and Terms; is says, “Advertising copy, slogan or terms should not mislead, or confuse the consumer as to the materials, content, origin, utility or function of any product or service.” We are misleading the audience. It is like telling our audience, “hey we have a radio station here,” but it’s only a CD with a mixed of music and commercial.
On the other hand, most of the ceiling and wall speakers are full-range. It sounded better than the ones that were designed for paging back in the 90’s. Spot selling is still the practice but not a per spot. It’s called “sets of spots.” Playing of spot commercials are strategic. Four spots per brand is the standard load. The commercial load is at 24 spots per hour so that’s only 12 minutes. This program can be done live or pre-recorded. Why 4 spots? Most customers in restaurants and supermarket stay for an hour. It takes 4 repetition to achieve a high brand recall. 4 spots represent the AIDA strategy. Narrowcasting is like broadcasting if you picture the total number all the SM malls in the Philippines and bring it into one which is almost equivalent to the whole San Juan City.
In putting real value on advertising and justifying its spending is through a “public captive market” strategy. If you play a commercial in a supermarket, people got no choice but to hear it. They’ll not cover their ears because they will look ridiculous. They’re not gonna complain to the manager and ask to stop playing the commercial. Well, it doesn’t really make sense. No more remote control. Here, you can ask and bring the advertiser to the supermarket and witness his target market hearing his commercial. Broadcasting focuses more on serving their listeners but narrowcasting focuses more on satisfying their clients, the advertisers.
If you like this innovation, here’s the strategy. We provide free audio production services like the making of the commercials and by managing their music programs inexchange of bringing in sponsors. If we have “Angel Investors” then that would be better. Once it’s saturated, we build another company that will serve as the “media seller.” It focuses on selling different commercial establishments to media buyers. We can build here two to three providers to saturate the market and make this innovation a global one. We can create more jobs and income will increase.
Here’s a sample supermarket revenue computation and its formula:
Let say the cost of a 30-second spot is Php30 X 24 spots (commercial load per hour) X 12 hours (operation) X 30 days X 40 supermarkets = ________. What about the other commercial establishments? How many are there?
Given the figures, media buyers will support this project if we can give them a huge market. Like the 15% commission on 500K TV spot rate is already Php75,000. That’s big. Is it possible in narrowcasing using cadio? Yes, it’s possible to go beyond that amount. But if we only have few narrowcast coverage (commercial establishments); then, these media buyers will not help us out even the innovation is a good one. Bottomline, “show me the money.” Meaning, saturation drive is expected.
I did not give up in pushing this project even I know it’s hard if you don’t have the capital. I’m living in an abnormal life. Cadio can be a generic name, that is made in the Philippines. So radio is for broadcasting and cadio for narrowcasting.
Right now, I have a contract with a famous fast food chain to do a tour and this could be the breakthrough for narrowcasting using cadio. In 1999, Brian and I did this. We did a tour from one mall to another. From Sta Lucia to Robinsons and we got two sponsors, GoodYear and Knorr. We hook up our audio system to the mall’s PA system and we were heard in their ceiling speakers. During that time, there were few digital media and were very expensive. So I waited for them to come. FILSCAP was also a problem. Most of the commercial establishments don’t want to pay royalty. In the early 2000, I sent proposals to different media buyers. I talked to Media Directors, Media Managers, even VP’s; most of them like the idea. They motivated me to keep on improving. We also pitch it to ASAP group and we were told that one day, it’s going to be a new industry under the umbrella of AdBoard.
So what do I mean by link and ride? Abangan ang susunod na kabanata….Thanks sir….
I agree that it is evolving and am with you in the hope that it evolves to a higher degree and would touch more on our value systems and the like. More power to you George and continue on your blogs!!!