Lousy Radio Stations

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Bombo Radyo still the Best, Sonshine Radio the Worse on Polls

To those electoral advertisers who want the worth of their paid airtime reciprocated fairly, remember these two Latin words: Caveat Emptor (Buyers Beware!)

National amplitude modulation (A.M) pollster’s Kantar Media Philippines (KMP) cited Dagupan City’s based DZWN Bombo Radyo and DZRD’s Sonshine Radio as the perennial front liner and tailender, respectively, on its last quarter this year’s survey.

Bombo Radyo and Sonshine are owned by Florete Group of Companies and Television Evangelist the controversial Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy.

In the December 2018 polls’ result given to this writer by an official of Bombo, it showed the pathetic rankings of radio stations that serve listeners in Northern and Central Luzon.

HEYDAY OF RADIO - Luis “Louie” Beltran was the shinning star of intelligent radio commentary at his morning prime time A.M band DZRH- Manila in the 1980s and early 1990s. Before his death in September 1994, Louie’s most listened program at DZRH was even syndicated or illegally broadcasted to other radio stations in the Visaya and Mindanao.

The cockfight aficionado’s commentator, who loved to quip “Anak ng bakang dalaga!” while asking his assistant Joe Taruc to do some radio chores, doubled as television host of "Straight from the Shoulder” which analyzed current events then. He was the first editor-in-chief of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and later columnist of the Philippine Star with iconic Op-Ed Maximo Soliven and Teddy Benigno.

The following radio station with the highest to lowest ranking and percentage shares:

RANK                                                                                       SHARE (%)

1. DZWN-   1125 Khz Bombo Radyo                                                   48.88
2. DWCM – 1161 Khz Aksyon Radyo                                                   15.75
3. DZMQ -    576   Khz Radyo Pilipino                                                 10.10
4. DZSD –  1548  Khz Super Radyo-DZBB                                            9.53
5. DWPR – 1296 Khz Radyo Alerto                                                       8.16
6. DWDH – 1440 Khz DZRH Relay                                                        5.65
7. DZRD -     981 Khz Sonshine Radio                                                   1.94

 

The source, who asked for anonymity, did not show the numbers of respondents in Pangasinan province commissioned by the prestigious pollster.

Why many of these radio stations ate the dust even in the past surveys of Kantar?

According to another source, if not lack of reporters to serve the listeners with breaking news, many of the commentators were a bore and intellectually incapable of the topic they discussed.

“Many of these commentators and reporters who moonlight as opinion makers on the pressing issues too were reasons that many listeners shun them and instead tune their radio to Manila based radio stations who either give them excitement on the news they sensationalized or did intelligent commenting there,” the source who also asked not to be named.

I observed these too. Many of these announcers sat on board unprepared without even researching on the topic they discussed.

Doing research nowadays is so easy. Almost all the topics you want to elaborate are in the internet already.  One has just to invest on time browsing on his desktop or on a cheap Philippines or China made android mobile phone and bingo he serves his listeners with a better commentary if not a hoard of information.

Many of these broadcasters if they are in tandem would just converse if not clown with each other that only show their intellectual bankruptcy. They just read and opined on useless text messages sent by listeners on their cellular phones who wanted their names acknowledged on air by the anchor.

That’s why many intelligent listeners avoided A.M or those F.M bands who have commentary programs.

“I only watch the local morning and evening television news at GMA-7 and ABS-CBN to get the events of the day or the day before. I do not patronize those commentators. I’m better than them. It’s waste of time. Many of them do not even read newspaper comprehensively everyday,” the source cited.

Politicians running for public offices next year should know that even one lousy radio station bills P120,000 monthly for  one hour Monday to Friday’s bloc time at its morning program still it could not be at par with a news leader that collect almost half-a-million pesos monthly for 30 minutes a day but could deliver the most number of listeners.

Mura nga, halos wala namang nakikinig. Sayang iyong pera na ikakatalo ng kandidato sa eleksyon.

The source told me that with the almost P500 thousand 30 minutes bloc time, the sponsor should get a commentator who is not only charismatic but knows the nuances of the laws like the Local Government Code, Procurement Law, and other laws to buttress his patron’s political stocks and refute the opponents accomplishments if he is an incumbent.

“Kung mga pipitsugin na mga commentators ilagay mo diyan dahil gusto mo makatipid, useless lang iyan!” the source emphatically cited as based on his experience with a broadcaster in the 2013 election who even sold his last three days service to the opponent’s rival because his benefactor-politician shortchanged him.

Son of a gun, we did not only get the worst radio stations but double crossing bloc time commentator who compromised the P.R works of his patron!

The table of the ranking of the most and less listened  seven A.M radio stations in Dagupan City polled  by Kantar Media Philippines (KMP) for the last quarter of 2018. The survey was released second week of December this year. 

On the same quarter last year Kantar bared: 1) * DZWN – 1125Khz Bombo with 73.66% Listener Share (SL); 2) *DWCM-1161Khz Aksyon Radyo with 10.92% SL; 3) DWDH-1440Khz Relay with 4.95% SL; 4) DZSD 1548Khz Super Radyo (Manila) 3.44% SL; 5)* DWIN 1080Khz Radyo Agila with 3.04% SL; 6) *DWPR-1296Khz Radyo Asenso with 2.47% SL; 7) DWIZ 882Khz Todong Lakas (Manila) with 0.80% S.L; 8) *DZRD 981khz Sonshine 0.50% S.L; 9) DZMM 630Khz Radyo Patrol 630 (Manila) with 0.21% S.L.

Those with asterisks before the stations’ names are this city and Pangasinan based  A.M bands.

Aksyon Radyo commentator Joel Balolong said that the 22.7 % Share All Stations (SAS) initiated by the pollster covered the AM bands while the 77.3% SAS have been eaten by the frequency modulation or FM bands that are superior in numbers in the area.

While AM bands are for news reporting and commentary, FM bands are the favorite medium of the youth and young adults for their dominant music entertainment and news source.

“F.M bills a political advertiser cheaply than A.M band but it has limited reach outside Dagupan City”, the source told me on the far reaching signal of the A.M bands that could even reach towns in La Union, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, and Pampanga.

***

Before I end my column, the survey outfit Kantar by the way is the leading market research in the Philippine.
This to refute the sour grapes officials and reporters of those lousy radio stations who declared that the outfit could be bought by the highest radio bidder.
 According to its website, it is the country's largest customized agency, providing business growth to leading local and multinational brands. A global entity, its branch in the Philippines was established in the 1980s.

(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)