FM Shake-up in Manila this November
Goodbye Neo Retro, Hello Favorite Music Radio, as True FM moves to another frequency to give way to a rising regional player
Our love for logos and branding crosses over to the media landscape, as we talk about a major shake-up in Manila's FM band starting in the early hours of November 4, Monday.
What We Know
- Nation Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) which operates radio and TV stations signed a deal with Philippine CollectiveMedia Corporation (PCMC) to bring the content of Favorite Music Radio (FM Radio) into the Mega Manila market.
- Radyo Singko (stylized as Radyo5) True FM, which has been on 92.3 Mhz band, has moved to 105.9 FM starting Monday, November 4. This is to give way to FM Radio's entry as it takes the former's frequency.
- This shake-up has a casualty – Neo Retro, which has been operating on the 105.9 frequency since the start of 2020, airs its last broadcast Sunday.
Radyo5 True FM Transforms into True Network
This is where we talk about Branding: With their move to 105.9 FM, True FM ditches the Radyo5 brand which they kept for close to 14 years since its inception in November 2010. Starting Monday, it will now be the multi-platform True Network.
Aside from its radio stations – 105.9 FM in Manila, 106.7 in Davao, 101.9 in Cebu, and 105.1 in Cagayan de Oro – True Network will have a TV complement on Cignal TV channel 19, on top of its podcast and social media arms.
Programs on True FM such as Wanted sa Radyo, Ted Failon and DJ Chacha, Sana Lourd, Heart 2 Heart, Cristy Ferminute, Bangon Bayan with Mon, Frontline Pilipinas, Shoutout, Match Made, Dr. Love and Sagot Kita will also be heard in 2 locations in Leyte Province – 104.7 in Tacloban and 99.9 in Ormoc.
True FM's first program will be "Good Morning, Bayan" hosted by Ruth Cabal to air from 4:00 am to 6:00 am.
(Favorite Music) Radio?
However, they have to first secure congressional franchise "to construct, install, establish, operate and maintain" stations for their assigned purposes. These congressional franchises are recorded as Republic Acts, bills signed or lapsed into law.
PCMC's congressional franchise under Republic Act 9773 was first granted in 2009, covering Region VIII (Eastern Visayas). After it was amended in July 2020 (as Republic Act 11508), the company launched the Favorite Music (FM) Radio network – previously abbreviated as FMR – with its flagship first set up in Tacloban, Leyte.
A Journal News report from May 2021 details FM Radio's plans to expand its network to 35 stations. Currently, the network operates more than 20.
Goodbye, Neo Retro
That said, Neo Retro has ended its broadcasts on-air and online, with Dave Koz's Together Again played as the last song before signing off permanently after almost 5 years of broadcasts.
This was not the first time the 105.9 FM band saw changes – we can argue that it's the station with the most number of rebrands and changes in Philippine radio history, if we are to use its Wikipedia entry as a basis.
Why is this Shake-up Happening?
A Bilyonaryo.com report indicates that PCMC only wanted to purchase NBC's radio assets.
NBC in a statement October 28 confirms there are discussions for the transfer of their radio assets in favor of PCMC, "subject to applicable regulatory approvals and other commercial terms." For the meantime, the two companies will enter into an agreement for block-time and content licensing.
Also through this letter, NBC showed its latest logo: The only element they kept from their previous logo is the 'N' with three shapes in it, with the word mark 'Nation Broadcasting Corporation' all-caps in sans-serif to its right.
