“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 