Category Archives: radio

news, Philippines, politics, public affairs, radio, television

Around DZMM: Pasada 630’s New Hosts, Plus Where’s Ted Failon?

DZMM’s ‘Pasada 630’ has found a new tandem.

For the past few weeks, the ‘Teka Muna’ team of Peter Musñgi and Pat-P Daza were asked to take over ‘Pasada 630’ in lieu of longtime host Vic de Leon-Lima. But after a two-week trial run (which was well-received by the way) DZMM decided to keep the change permanent starting last Monday.

In the past, ‘Pasada 630’ was hosted by the aforementioned Vic de Leon-Lima and Karen Davila. The duo were once the faces of the program for many years.

However, Karen decided to leave the show earlier this year for health reasons while Vic went solo. ‘Pasada 630’ continued with Vic as the man on the microphone until late October when Peter and Pat took over.

While ‘Pasada 630’ will soldier on with a new tandem, Vic will continue to appear on ‘On the Spot’ and ‘Tandem: Lima and Oro’ while making select appearances on the microphone for breaking news stories. In short, listeners will still hear Vic’s ageless baritone on the air.

Meanwhile, listeners of ‘Failon Ngayon sa DZMM’ are still perplexed over the absence of Ted Failon on the program. For those who may not know, Ted’s last appearance on his show came on August 31, 2018.

Since early September, however, a number of substitute hosts took over ‘Failon Ngayon’. These include DZMM reporters Ricky Rosales and Johnson Manabat, as well as occasional co-hosts Alvin Elchico and Jing Castañeda.

Yet despite his absence on radio, Ted continues to appear on ‘TV Patrol’ and ‘Failon Ngayon’ on ABS-CBN. It really doesn’t make sense for Ted not to show up on the DZMM booth while still working ‘TV Patrol’ and ‘Failon Ngayon’ on television considering that he is in good health.

Anyway, comments are welcome on this article as we debate over Ted Failon’s absences on DZMM. Listeners can only hope that this iconic news anchor will once again grace the DZMM booth in the near future.

Bonus: Kim Atienza replaced Marc Logan as Amy Perez’s co-host on ‘Sakto’ effective October 15. No explanation was given regarding the change.

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Gino Out: Long-Time DJ Leaves Monster RX 93.1

‘The Morning Rush’ lost another of its well-known voices.

Gino Quillamor announced his departure from Monster RX 93.1 this past week. He made his last appearance on Wednesday, June 20, and following the show he tweeted “Peace out!”, which led to questions from some of his followers with regards to his departure from the station.

Gino initially joined ‘The Morning Rush’ as a substitute to Delamar Arias in 2011. Almost immediately, he and Chico Garcia clicked as a tandem, with ‘Rushers’ dubbing the duo as ‘ChiChi and GiGi’.

Under Chico and Gino, ‘The Morning Rush’ introduced new segments to keep up with an increasingly younger audience. Two of these segments, Epic Pic and Epic Rap-offs, became immediate hits with the listeners.

Even as Delamar returned from maternity leave in late 2011, RX management was so impressed with Gino that the station promoted him to work ‘The Morning Rush’ on a full-time basis. The trio of Chico, Delamar and Gino would remain together until July 2016 when Delamar left the station to focus on her family.

After Bea Fabregas briefly filled Delamar’s role, Chico and Gino continued to host the show without a female co-host for the next several months. Then in April of last year, RX found a new co-host in Rica Garcia, and this setup remained until last Wednesday.

In the wake of Gino’s departure, RX decided to keep ‘The Morning Rush’ as a three-person team by adding Hazel Aguilon as its newest co-host. But it remains to be seen if this will be an temporary experiment or a full-time gig.

Much like Delamar’s departure two years ago, RX will find it difficult to replace a Gino Quillamor. Hazel may be an established voice within the station, but filling the shoes of Gino is easier said than done.

Unless ‘Rushers’ are convinced that Hazel is a worthy replacement, ‘The Morning Rush’ will once again have to endure some growing pains. But for a show that has accomplished a lot of late despite a revolving door of female hosts (see the 2018 KBP Golden Dove Awards), they will do just fine.

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Going National: Thoughts on the Potential of the Unified MOR Brand

ABS-CBN’s MOR (My Only Radio) FM stations are set to become one national entity.

In a recent press conference led by the DJs of the flagship MOR 101.9 (DWRR-FM) Manila station, they announced that MOR 101.9 and its 16 regional affiliates will join forces together to form MOR Philippines. Via ABS-CBN PR:

“Under MOR Philippines, 17 MOR stations will unite to bring listeners from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao one vibe and one sound.”

The press release cited the MOR stations’ strong performance in the ratings as the main reason for the launch of MOR Philippines. For instance, the Manila flagship MOR 101.9 got 33% of the average audience share among all Mega Manila stations in the recent Kantar Media survey.

So what are the possibilities that lie ahead for MOR Philippines? Here are three potential plans for the network.

Simulcast of MOR 101.9 Shows in Other Stations

Simulcasting a Manila radio program in the provinces is nothing new in the Philippines. In fact, on a few occasions, MOR 101.9 sister station DZMM 630 simulcasts some of its newscasts to other ABS-CBN-owned AM stations in the country.

The unified MOR Philippines could also do the same thing on some of its programs. For instance, ‘Dear MOR’ and ‘Heartbeats with Chacha’ are very popular shows in 101.9, and putting them on a nationwide scale via simulcast will only grow their audience further.

Improving the Standard of MOR Provincial Stations

While MOR stations in the provinces performed well in their own right, there is still a need for improvement, especially since MOR Manila is the only one with social media handles throughout. ABS-CBN, being the darlings of social media and the master of constant innovation, could do just that.

Providing each MOR provincial station with its own Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts could help broaden their fanbase further. Not only that, upgrading its facilities and strengthening its reach may also enable MOR to penetrate beyond other far-flung areas.

Same Plugs, Same Playlist

In order to live up to the ‘one vibe and one sound’ motto of MOR Philippines, each of the 17 stations will need to have something in common. This means a more ‘national’ station ID for all stations and a more consistent playlist to boot.

Such a reboot will take some time to develop. But when done correctly, MOR 101.9 and its affiliates should flourish with a much-improved beat.

MOR Philippines will be one hell of a rebuilding project that ABS-CBN’s radio division will have to take. It will be interesting to see how this unification of all MOR stations will pay off, so good luck.

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In 100 Words: Gawad Tanglaw 2018

Guess which stations are tied for Best TV Station at the 16th Gawad Tanglaw Awards.

There were obviously no surprises here as long-time rivals ABS-CBN and GMA shared the honor of being the top television station in the country at this year’s Gawad Tanglaw Awards. But despite the tie, it was ABS-CBN which wound up with more individual awards, bagging 30 to GMA’s 13.

ABS-CBN’s total haul was highlighted by the four awards given to the cast of ‘Wildflower’, three to ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya’ and nine to the ABS-CBN News Channel. Meanwhile, GMA’s haul was dominated by its news division, with 12 of the 13 awards given to its news programs and personalities.

Aside from television, the Gawad Tanglaw Awards also honors the best in film. Click the highlighted links for the list of winners.

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FTT’s Thoughts on Journalists Running for the Senate

The 2019 mid-term elections is still over a year away.

This early, prognosticators are starting to look at potential candidates who are poised to take over half of the Senate seats come July of next year. And not surprisingly, there are a few names from the broadcast industry that were mentioned as potential candidates for one of the twelve Senate seats available.

Take for instance Jiggy Manicad. The long-time GMA News reporter and anchor is being considered as a possible candidate for a Senate seat according to Senate President Koko Pimentel.

Consequently, Jiggy announced his departure from GMA News within days of the report, saying that he wants to jump into the ‘next level’ of public service. But he was not the only news personality to be mentioned as a possible Senate candidate.

In a recent Pulse Asia survey, PTV-4 news anchor Erwin Tulfo was listed in the top 12 of potential top candidates for a seat in the Senate. So far, Erwin has yet to comment on the matter.

Journalists running for public office is nothing new in the Philippines. Perhaps one can look at the two most successful journalists-turned-politicians of the recent past.

Noli de Castro, the ‘Kabayan’ of primetime television news, ran as Senator and won in 2001. Three years later, he became then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s running-mate for Vice President and became victorious, serving for another six years before resuming his career as a news anchor.

Another ABS-CBN News alumnus, Loren Legarda, also ran for a Senate seat in 1998 and won. She has since earned another two terms at the Senate in 2007 and 2013.

But not all journalists were destined for political office. Jay Sonza, for instance, twice tried to run for Senator but failed to earn a seat each time.

That said, any journalist who enters the world of politics, particularly in a highly-scrutinized position such as the Senate, must be well-rehearsed to handle the demands of the campaign and their role if elected. If they do not have what it takes, chances are they will not get the majority votes from the masses.

The election period is still over a year away, so there is a lot of time for the likes of Jiggy Manicad and Erwin Tulfo to consider the risks and rewards of the political arena. Good luck, not just with them, but also to any journalist who want to join the bandwagon.

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