DWRR-FM

DWRR-FM (pronounced as DW-double-R; 101.9 FM Stereo), broadcasting as MOR 101.9, was a commercial radio station owned by ABS-CBN Corporation and previously operated by the Manila Radio division and the Star Creatives Group. Broadcast live throughout the Philippine archipelago, and throughout the world via The Filipino Channel (TFC), it was the flagship FM station of MOR Philippines and the number 1 FM radio station in Metro Manila, Mega Manila as well as the entire Philippines according to KBP Radio Research Council. The studios were located at ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center, Sgt. Esguerra Ave., corner Mo. Ignacia Ave., Diliman, Quezon City, and the station's 22.5 kW FM stereo transmitter was located at the Eugenio Lopez Center, Barangay Sta. Cruz, Sumulong Highway, Antipolo City, Rizal.
DWRR was founded in 1956 as one of the radio stations of Chronicle Broadcasting Network (now ABS-CBN). It was revived in 1986 and reformatted several times. On May 5, 2020, it suspended its broadcasting activities, together with that of its television and sister radio stations, following a cease-and-desist order issued by the National Telecommunications Commission due to the expiration of ABS-CBN's legislative franchise to operate. The online radio permanently ceased operations on August 28, 2020, as a result of a franchise denial made by the House of Representatives on July 10, 2020.
History.
DZYL-FM/DZYK-FM/DZMM-FM (1956–1972).
DZYL-FM 102 MHz, later named DZYK-FM 102.1 MHz, was the first FM radio station in the Philippines and sole FM station of the former Chronicle Broadcasting Network (CBN). It was founded in 1956 and played the latest songs of that era. In 1957, CBN bought Alto Broadcasting System (ABS), resulting in a merger under the name Bolinao Electronics Corporation, which was changed in 1967 to ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation. Staffed by eight DJs, the station was popularized to listeners in the Greater Manila area. In 1968, DZYK-FM moved to 101.9 MHz and changed its call letters to DZMM-FM.
DWWK-FM/OK 101 (1973–1986).
DZMM-FM remained the FM radio station of ABS-CBN until 1972, when Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law and all ABS-CBN stations, including two TV channels and six AM radio stations in Manila, were shut down under strict censorship. The FM station was taken over by Roberto Benedicto and changed to DWOK-FM (as OK 101.9) of the Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation, which had originated in 1973 as DWWK, a jazz format radio station. It was staffed by Jing Magsaysay, Wayne Enage, Ed Picson, Dody Lacuna, Ronnie Malig, Pinky Villarama and Ronnie Quintos. DWOK trailblazed another first in the Philippine radio industry as the first AM-formatted FM station, featuring news, public service programs, and music from the 1950s to the 1970s. Helen Vela also came to the station in 1984 with her counselling program "Lovingly Yours, Helen".
Knock Out Radio (1986–1987).
During the 1986 People Power Revolution, the government-controlled radio and TV stations were stormed by reformist rebels and DWOK, DWAN (formerly known as DWWA) and BBC-2 were dissolved, and in July, after the fall of the Marcos regime, the newly formed Presidential Commission on Good Governance returned DWOK together with DWWW (630 kHz) to ABS-CBN. DWOK changed its callsign to DWKO and resumed broadcasting on a test basis on July 16. Lito Balquiedra Jr., Vice-President for Radio, spearheaded the return of the network to the local broadcasting scene. The station's former disc jockey Peter Musñgi (then known as Peter Rabbit) became the network's voice-over and voiced the station's new slogan, "Panalo Ka Talaga!". Sister station DZMM 630 began broadcasting the following week.
The network started recruiting both experienced and new employees and DJs. On September 14, 1986, the testing period ended and DWKO-FM was relaunched under the name Knock-Out Radio 101.9, the first FM radio station with an AM format. It operated daily from 5:00 am to 2:00 am, playing the latest Pinoy hits by artists such as Rico J. Puno, Yoyoy Villame, and APO Hiking Society, as well as OPM stars such as Gary Valenciano, Regine Velasquez, Janno Gibbs, and Donna Cruz, as well as Filipino Christmas songs. The parent TV station ABS-CBN Channel 2 resumed broadcasting the same day. At this time the ABS-CBN stations were known as the Star Network.
DWKO-FM ended its broadcasts on February 28, 1987, a span of almost five months, one of the station's shortest-lived iterations.
Zoo FM (1987–1989).
The following day, March 1, 1987, the station was reformatted as Zoo FM 101.9 (DZOO-FM; read as D-Z-double O-FM), with a diamond logo and a slightly uptrend pop sound. The jingles used for the station were produced by JAM Creative Productions. Its slogan was "Hayop Talaga!" and it was manned by a group of eight DJs including George Boone, Jeremiah Jr., Bob Curry, Bill O'Brien, Andy Santillan (aka Dave Ryan, later known as "The Unbeatable"), and Joe Monkey. The station played disco music and OPM hits by stars such as Gary V, Randy Santiago, Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, and Sharon Cuneta, especially after the implementation of Executive Order No. 255 by President Corazon Aquino.
Its competitors included The Giant 97.1 WLS-FM (now Barangay LS 97.1), 99.5 RT (now 99.5 Play FM), Magic 89.9, 89 DMZ (now Wave 89.1), and NU 107 (now Wish 1075). Ultimately, despite the resurgence of ABS-CBN, which by 1988 had top place in the TV industry, WLS's ratings dominance led to the demise of the Zoo FM format. At midnight on the night of July 15, 1989, the station signed off with "Farewell" by Raymond Lauchengco.
Radio Romance (1989–1996).
At 6:00 am on July 16, 1989, the station was again reformatted again to what became known as 101.9 Radio Romance (RR), playing all easy-listening love songs except for a Sunday OPM program. At first all the DJs were female, including Amy Perez; it became the first FM station to implement the technological innovation of originating playlists from compact discs. That year also signaled the station's first nationwide reach when 103.1 MHz Baguio simulcasted its signals, ensuring uninterrupted listening for travelers from Manila to as far north as Ilocos Sur; in the early 1990s it began simulcasting via satellite to stations across the country. "Radio Romance" became the title of a theme song for the station composed by Jose Mari Chan and of a movie.
Radio Romance signed off for the last time on April 28, 1996.
WRR 101.9 (1996–2009).
On April 29, 1996, DWRR relaunched itself as a mainstream pop music station branded WRR 101.9. It also became the first FM radio station to be fully broadcast in Filipino language, in order to compete with rival English-language FM stations such as GMA Network's Campus Radio 97.1 WLS, Magic 89.9 and 99.5 RT. (Prior to the adoption of masa format, all FM stations were English-based.) By the end of that year, all ABS-CBN FM stations had switched from English to their native languages. WRR's initial slogan was "All the Hits, All the Time!". On November 2, 1998, it adopted the tagline "For Life!" (derived from a co-owned station in Cebu), i.e., giving life to listeners with entertainment.
In late 1999, DWRR's transmitting equipment moved from the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center that had been used before martial law to a new transmitter tower at the Eugenio Lopez Center in Antipolo City because of the upgrading of the Millennium Transmitter.
In July 2005, the WRR brand was dropped from the name and the station adopted the slogan "Alam Mo Na 'Yan!" (You Already Know It!). In November 2008, the slogan was changed again to "Bespren!" (Bestfriend!).
The station had its last broadcast under the 101.9 For Life! brand on September 19, 2009 and underwent a transition period playing automated music in preparation for a relaunch of DWRR-FM's new branding on October 1, 2009. However, due to the effects of Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) in Manila, the rebrand was postponed for a month, while the station temporarily went under the name "ABS-CBN 101.9 FM" or simply "101.9". The DJs resumed live spiels at the top of the hour, but did not mention any brand or slogan.
Tambayan (2009–2013).
At 9:00 pm on November 4, 2009, there was a broadcast about the history of DWRR, after which the station was relaunched as Tambayan 101.9 ("tambayan" is the Tagalog word for "hangout") starting with the theme song and live debut at a venue in Makati. Tambayan launched its video streaming, called Tambayan TV, where DJs are seen live from the booth. Between songs, information plugs were seen (such as Tambayan's Slumbook). Just like DZMM Teleradyo, plugs were also aired during commercial gaps. Tambayan TV is aired 24 hours over the Internet.
The station was also launched via HD Radio technology.
In May 2013, ABS-CBN decided to drop the "Tambayan" brand and revert to the name "ABS-CBN 101.9 FM" or "101.9".
MOR For Life! (2013–2020).
At midnight on July 8, 2013, 101.9 FM rebranded as MOR 101.9 My Only Radio For Life!. Regular programming began at 5:00 am, with Joco Loco, Maki Rena and Eva Ronda as the first jocks to go on board. DJs from WRR 101.9 For Life! (Toni, China Heart, Reggie Valdez, Martin D., and Geri) were still part of the on-air team, as well as DJs from the former Tambayan 101.9 roster: Charlie, Jasmin, Arnold Rei, Bea, ChaCha (Czarina Marie Balba), and Onse (Onse Tolentino). The rebranding created a unified brand under MOR for ABS-CBN's FM radio stations nationwide and reverted to the "For Life" slogan first used during the WRR 101.9 For Life! era. At the same time, the station pioneered the face of drama broadcasting on the FM band by launching the daily drama anthology program "Dear MOR".
In June 2018, MOR Manila and its regional stations announced a further rebrand as MOR Philippines, to connect 101.9 and its provincial stations with unified program brands and strong music choices; thus, the new tagline "One Vibe, One Sound." National programming blocks began on August 11, 2018, with the launch of "Dyis Is It" and "MOR Presents" with David Bang.
On June 1, 2019, MOR 101.9 video streaming moved to Sky Cable Channel 239 from Sony Channel Asia. It could also be seen on Channel 240 (MOR 97.1 Cebu) and Channel 241 (MOR 103.1 Baguio).
In March 2020, in response to COVID-19 enhanced quarantine regulations and their effects on staffing, the station implemented a scaled-down programming operation; on the same day, it also began a hookup with its sister AM-station DZMM Radyo Patrol 630.
Shutdown.
On May 5, 2020, the station signed off together with sister stations ABS-CBN, S+A, and DZMM, due to a cease and desist order of the National Telecommunications Commission ordering the network to suspend operations after the expiration of its legislative franchise. DJ Jhai Ho's valedictory message, with an underscore of Yeng Constantino's "Salamat", was the last song broadcast; after that, the MOR Philippines station ID was played for the last time before signing off.
On July 15, 2020, after the House of Representatives denied it a new franchise on July 10, 2020, ABS-CBN announced that on August 31 the company would retrench and lay off most of its employees. The following day in an episode of "Failon Ngayon sa TeleRadyo", DJ Chacha, anchor of Dear MOR and formerly "Heartbeats", confirmed that the radio station along with other regional MOR stations would fold on that date.
Instead of August 31, MOR Philippines signed-off in the evening on August 28, 2020, the day also ended together with ABS-CBN Regional's 12 local TV Patrol and 10 local morning shows.
MOR Philippines stations.
MOR was also broadcast to 15 provincial stations in the Philippines.