The New Friday Madness on Magic 89.9

It’s 80s out, 90s in for Magic 89.9’s Friday Madness starting today. (Logo courtesy of Quest Broadcasting Inc.)

A new sound awaits Magic 89.9’s Friday Madness.

Gone is the long-standing tradition of playing songs from the 1970s, 1980s and some of the early 1990s every Fridays. Instead, the music of the 1990s and early 2000s will dominate the playlist of Friday Madness.

This means that Friday Madness will adopt the old format of Saturday Slam, which Magic dropped earlier this year in favor of its regular playlist. More importantly, the station will only have one day dedicated to throwback music instead of two.

The newly-reformatted Friday Madness was one of only several changes instituted by Magic 89.9 as preparation for its upcoming 30th anniversary. Two weeks earlier, their weekday programming was also reformatted; save for ‘Good Times with Mo’ and ‘Boys’ Night Out’, the rest of Magic’s programs were either rebranded or changed DJ schedules.

The change of format for Friday Madness was a result of Magic’s ever-changing demographic. While some older listeners may still be loyal to Magic, the station is also attracting a large amount of younger followers, most of whom grew up in the social media age.

In addition, the continued emergence of Retro 105.9 DCG-FM as the go-to station for 70s and 80s music buffs made it clear that Friday Madness needed a makeover. It also hurts that competitor stations are also dedicating one day for 90s music (e.g. Monster RX 93.1’s Riot Wednesday, Mellow 947’s Decade, 99.5 Play FM’s Playback).

That said, with the station’s listeners getting younger, there’s no point in feeding them songs that are unfamiliar to their ears. For Magic, change was inevitable, and today was it.

It remains to be seen whether or not the new Friday Madness will adopt the regular Monday to Thursday schedules of its DJs (save for ‘Good Times with Mo’ and ‘Boys’ Night Out’). But in any event, people should enjoy the music of not too long ago, now playing on Friday Madness.

Retro 105.9’s Impact on Other Stations’ Programming

The success of Retro 105.9 DCG-FM forced radio stations like Magic 89.9 and Monster Radio RX 93.1 to tweak their throwback programs. (Logo courtesy of Retro 105.9 DCG-FM)

The rise of Retro 105.9 DCG-FM has other stations take notice.

Within six months of operation, older listeners were constantly hooked to Retro 105.9’s daily serving of classic songs and hidden gems, something that was never done before on Philippine FM radio. The addiction was so great that it forced other stations to tweak their classic programming.

Spearheading the change were the two top stations in the CHR/Top 40 format: Magic 89.9 and Monster Radio RX 93.1.

For years, Magic 89.9’s ‘Friday Madness’ and ‘Saturday Slam’ had essentially the same format, with the 80s mostly reserved for the former, and the 90s for the latter. They even had a non-stop dance remix show for the final three hours.

But last June, everything changed for the station. ‘Friday Madness’ was reduced to only 21 hours, with ‘Jon Tupaz’s 12-inch Mix’ moving from its familiar 9 p.m. slot to noontime. Then Tupaz’s vacated slot was taken over by ‘Slamma Jamma’, which is now the kickoff show for ‘Saturday Slam’.

‘Slamma Jamma”s slot on Saturday night was then used to create yet another remix show, this time centering on the 2000s and beyond and featuring the country’s top club DJs rather than Magic’s own talent. That show, dubbed ‘Saturday Night Take Over’, made its debut that same month.

Over at Monster Radio RX 93.1, their ‘Monster’s Riot’ format remained the same, save for two programs. ‘Back to the 80s’, the flagship program of the said block, finally said goodbye in June after over a decade.

‘Throwback: The Year That Was’ took over ‘Back to the 80s” slot. Hosted by Chico Garcia, ‘Throwback’ now encompasses every era, from the 80s all the way to the 2000s, with a particular year’s hits to focus on.

And just months earlier, ‘Riot Remix’ bade goodbye on air, leaving ‘Remix Fridays’ as the sole remix program on the station. These two changes were the direct result of ‘Monster’s Riot”s changing playlist, emphasizing more towards the 90s and 2000s hits for an increasingly younger audience.

Elsewhere, stations such as Mellow 947 and 99.5 Play FM are now taking a similar path as RX’ s in their throwback programs.

The Philippine radio industry is a constantly changing world. Audiences are getting younger, technologies are advancing, and the music is evolving. The efforts of the Top 40 radio stations are a part of the turnover.

This turnover was definitely the reason why Retro 105.9 DCG-FM was established. As the other stations aim for the youth, Retro 105.9 focused on the older folks who still believe in ‘oldies but goodies’. And indeed it is; no matter how old the playlist is, they are still wonderful to listen to.

Indeed, times are changing in the Philippine radio industry. And for these radio stations, constant transformation is essential to maintaining success.

After NU and Win, It’s P.S. on 107.5

107.5 P.S. FM, an easy listening station, will officially launch on August 10. (Logo courtesy of the Progressive Broadcasting Corporation)

For the third time since 2010, DWNU 107.5 has a new name and a new format.

After the hard rock and alternative approach of NU 107, and the masa-based Hot AC style of 107.5 Win Radio, the station has decided to go the softer route.

Starting this August, 107.5 will now be called P.S. FM. A grand launch for the said network will take place on August 10 at the World Trade Center.

107.5 P.S. FM will play mostly easy listening and adult contemporary songs, similar to 96.3 Easy Rock and defunct stations such as Mellow Touch 94.7 and 97.9 Home Radio.

The rebrand of 107.5 actually began on June 26, when Daniel Razon took over the management of the station from Manny Luzon. Win Radio held its final broadcast on that day, while Razon’s Breakthrough and Milestone Productions International, Inc. held a soft launch for the upcoming station at the World Trade Center.

Luzon and Win Radio then moved to the 91.5 frequency, formerly known as Big Radio, on June 27. 91.5 Big Radio was once Win Radio’s sister station before Luzon left 107.5.

Despite the rebrand, the studios of both Win Radio and P.S. FM will remain inside the AIC Gold Tower at Ortigas Center in Pasig City, though plans are in the offing for P.S. FM to move into the current UNTV headquarters in Philam Homes, Quezon City.

Razon’s takeover of 107.5 coincided with the 10th anniversary of UNTV (actually the station’s 13th but Razon and company disregarded any technicality). In addition to the rebrand of 107.5, UNTV broke ground on a new broadcast center on the former Plantersbank branch on Philam Homes, North EDSA, Quezon City, with the future site expected to house UNTV’s studios, equipment and production rooms, as well as the radio booths of both P.S. FM and UNTV Radio La Verdad 1350 AM.

The new station is expected to compete with 96.3 Easy Rock in the easy listening pop format.