Government Stations Rule the Radio Surveys

AS WE have posted in this blog, government FM radio has changed dramatically under the Duterte administration because of the two new stations FM1 87.5 and FM2 104.3.

Both stations are part of the newly-organized Philippine Broadcasting Service under Director Bong "Sonny B" Aportadera, who was appointed by Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar primarily because of their close ties to the president being natives of Davao City.

As you can see in this photo, the PBS and PCOO released the results of a recent car survey showing both FM1 and FM2 making it to the top 10. It's strange though that the other stations in this survey belong to the CD market where they play mostly love songs and OPM hits. In other words, the masa market.

A separate survey that came out months ago showed that FM1 and FM2 are also giving the other contemporary pop music stations like Monster RX, Magic 89.9, 99.5 Play FM and Mellow 947 a run for their money. It's not surprising because Aportadera and his deputy Carlo Jose Villo both came from the Tiger 22 radio network which operates Magic, Play and Mellow.

What's strange about it is that how did these two stations enter the surveys considering that they are government-owned? Being a government station means no advertisers although in the few times I have listened to both of them, they have aired commercials ranging from beer to beauty products.

Aportadera mentioned in a Facebook post that the advertisers come to PBS and not the other way around. He also mentioned that the money that the station earns from these ads goes to the national treasury.

In fairness to Aportadera and his crew that run the FM radio division of PBS, both stations do offer good music. FM1 plays current pop hits and is targeted for the younger audience while FM2's strength lies in their retro hits from the 80s and 90s. This format was previously done by Retro 105.9 before it was changed to Like FM which uses a more contemporary pop format.

The rebranding of PBS was masterminded by Andanar who is a radio buff, having been a former DJ before he became a news anchor for TV5 prior to his appointment to government by President Duterte.

Since Aportadera and Villo joined PBS, they have introduced new innovations in PBS. Aside from FM1 and FM2, Radyo ng Bayan 738 khz became Radyo Pilipinas 1 while DZSR Sports Radio 918 was changed to Radyo Pilipinas 2. The PBS studios located in the fourth floor of the Philippine Information Agency Building along Visayas Avenue in Quezon City now have brand-new state-of-the-art broadcast equipment. They have also helped establish new PBS AM and FM radio stations in the provinces and a new PBS broadcast center in Davao City is currently under construction.

I hope Aportadera and Villo become transparent enough to say how much did PBS spend in its refurbishing. Judging by the new equipment they purchased and the renovation of their radio booths, they should be man enough to admit that they did spend millions of pesos in government money to modernize Philippine radio. If their boss Duterte is really serious in government transparency, the PBS people should set a good example.

It should be interesting to find out if FM1 and FM2 will still be around even after Duterte steps down from office.