We remember that it was the middle of the year when our favorite radio station, 106.7 DreamFM signed off to be replaced by something else that screams "Hi Pangga!" every few minutes; and it was 2010 (I think) when the Rock of Manila, NU 107, breathed its final breath and died to be replaced by a "winner" radio station.
Blame Steve Jobs and the iPod, blame the music pirates online and offline, but this much is true: the radio that we all came to know and love for decades is now dead. Otherwise, radio is now in a coma, with a lot of tubes and a breathing apparatus, and a single stroke more would kill it off completely.
In Dream FM's case, the former Kool 106.7 and DreamFM is owned by ABC 5 or TV5 to TV world, which is in turn owned by Mr. I-will-never-run-out-of-money-come-hell-or-high-water-because-of-PLDT Manny Pangilinan. When he took over the reigns of TV5 from previous owner Tonyboy Cojuangco, he probably thought that a radio station that caters to the elitist, relaxing jazz audience might not be as profitable as a mass audience radio station; thus the changeover.
Having a respectable number of radio stations is not a problem, but having a respectable number of radio stations that sound and feel exactly the same, may be.
This probably goes the same for Citilite 88.3, LA 105, Campus Radio, DWKC, NU 107 (the last bastion of Rock in the Philippines), Radio Romance, WLL (you are the music, and I'm your guitar), and of course Kool 106/DreamFM. God bless RJFM, RX93, DZFE (The Master's Touch), Crossover, and a handful of other "Spartans" who gallantly and hopelessly keep the flag raised amidst the pressure of giving up camp and just packing up.
Nobody listens to radio anymore because everybody prefers their iPods and media players, which can completely control the way music is listened to. I may be an accomplice to the murder because I own a media player myself, but I do miss the element of surprise, that time wherein you patiently wait for the DJ to play that one song that you have been waiting for for a couple of hours; and when it finally does play, you clasp a fist to our side and say "yesssss" and proceed to crank up the volume. Nowadays, the usual radio fare consist of lowbrow jokes, irritating chatterbox DJ's, the annoying radio station ID, Air Supply, Slow Rock, and Jovit Baldovino.
How I missed the way LSFM's The Triggerman took in requests from his top 20 at 12 playlist and rudely hung up the phone for callers who wanted to greet their friends. I miss the Graveyard Shift with a DJ that sounds like a stoned Count Dracula on WKC. Most specially, I miss tuning in to the most stress-free sounds on Citilite and DreamFM, while driving home from work.
Let us make it clear that there is nothing wrong with what we hear presently on radio; and we still do have quite a number of stations on air. However, this is ultimately not the case. Having a respectable number of radio stations is not a problem, but having a respectable number of radio stations that sound and feel exactly the same, may be. Let us not name names, but more than Half of the radio stations that are on air are similar to each other: all of them have DJ's with annoying puns for pseudonyms, all of them share the same mindless jokes, the same kid who mentions their station ID and motto, and all of them share all 10 songs on their playlist.
Again, broadcasting is big business. When they felt that the radio we knew was only for a handful of people, they changed it to make it more mass-appealing. What they failed to realize is that by doing so, they turned into the very same thing that they fought against.
