DWKX

DWKX (103.5 FM), on-air as 103.5 K-Lite, is a radio station owned and operated by Advanced Media Broadcasting System, and is one of the partner stations of Tiger 22 Media. Its studio and transmitter are located at Unit 906A, Paragon Plaza Building, EDSA corner Reliance St., Mandaluyong.
History.
1979-1986: DPI Radio 1.
The station started on December 18, 1979 as DPI Radio 1, which was owned and operated by the government of the Philippines through Department of Public Information, under the call letters of DWIM-FM. It was then a simulcast station of DPI Radio 1 710 kHz with its callsign DZFM, which aired music, news and weather. It then lasted until 1986 when DPI Radio 1 moved its frequency to 104.3 MHz, which it changed its callsign to DWBR while the 103.5 frequency was sold to the Archdiocese of Manila through Global Broadcasting System (which would later acquire Radio Veritas 5 years later) via a government-sponsored bidding and changed its call letters to DWCS.
1986-1995: DWCS.
DWCS aired a Standards format. It was sold in 1995 to the Vera Group through the newly established Advanced Media Broadcasting System under the helm of Jinji Buhain (who in turn, is the niece of then-Manila Auxiliary Bishop Teodoro Buhain).
1995–2006: The First K-Lite.
Seven of Manila's best disc jockeys (Joe Schmoe, Paul Reno, Jay Latin, Dick Reese, Joshua, Martin Gill and Little David) set out to form a radio station that would be best in the much-established and well-known old hands of the industry. The new station occupied the frequency, studios and equipment formerly handled by the defunct standards music station DWCS (103.5 CS, then owned by Global Broadcasting System) and changed its call sign to DWKX. K-Lite started airing on October 23, 1995. Its studios were located at the Philcomcen Building in Pasig. The first DJ to go on air was Joe Schmoe; his first song was "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2. Within a few months, it became one of the favorite radio stations of young professionals and hip listeners.
Offering the best of adult contemporary music and spicing everyday music fare with daring, thought provoking talk, Manila's "First Interactive Radio Station" became a reality. Through the years, K-Lite aired quality talk shows, including the groundbreaking program, 'Talk Back' with Joshua (replaced by Vince Faner in 1998) and Jinji, as well as 'Nitelite' with Li'l David, Monica and The Blade, 'Girl Talk' with Monica and Jinji, 'Sportslite' with Anthony Suntay and 'Twisted' with Jessica Zafra and Li'l David. K-Lite started the trend of talk shows becoming a staple on the FM band.
The station later changed its format to attract more audiences from different demographics. From "The Right Kind of Lite" format in the late 1990s, to "Best Music of the 80s, 90s & Today" at the turn of the century, to "Manila's Lite Alternative" from 2003 to 2006. By then, K-Lite has switched its format to Modern AC.
103.5 K-Lite created promotional events that were more than just listener parties. The station brought their loyal listeners to front row seats at the Grammy Awards, international concert tours and celebrity events, and later on, serving free Starbucks Coffee to the call center agents. K-Lite also made its milestone as the very first radio station that covered The Dodgeball Cup on The Morning Brew.
Disc jockeys of K-Lite made their final broadcast all together on November 30, 2006 to give thanks to their loyal listeners.
Its lite alternative format has since been carried over to sister station Jam 88.3.
2007: Heart FM.
On January 1, 2007, Heart 103.5 debuted on the airwaves as "Easy Listening the Way it Should Be". The format was easy listening (a mix of contemporary alternative & R&B). They later switched their slogan to "Easy Listening. Redefined."
Heart 1035 had a number of promotional events in the span of six months (Heart Cinemania Premieres, Drives & Jives Stickering, Heart on Air & Ice, Voices for Albay, and others). But in May 2007, Heart 1035 sponsored "The Best Damn Thing" Contest where they sent one of their loyal listeners to Hong Kong to meet Avril Lavigne in person for a special Asian Launch of her album "The Best Damn Thing" at the Hong Kong Convention Center.
Also in May 2007, Heart 1035 won the award for Caltex Fastbreak to the NBA Promo as "The Best Radio Station in Execution of a Promo" beating out other competing radio stations (Jam 88.3, Wave 89.1, Magic 89.9, Monster RX 93.1, Hit 99.5, and 105.1 Crossover).
On June 18, 2007, the Heart personalities made their final broadcast as a group.
2007–2010: Max FM.
At exactly 9:00pm of June 19, 2007 (originally planned 12:00am July 2, 2007), 103.5 presented a new format that sounded more mature akin to CHR/Top 40. The music covers both old and new hits with a new station name: 103.5 (initially read on air as one-oh-three and-a-half) MAX FM. Their slogan was "In Tune with Manila". The format resembles of the first iteration of 99.5 RT, which at that time was known as 99.5 Hit FM.
In mid-2009, the station's sound shifted to a predominantly dance format, with new slogans "Move To It!" and "Manila's Leading Dance Source", introduced to emphasize as such. DWKX's flip to dance put them in competition with DZUR, whose direction focuses mostly on pure underground club content, as opposed to DWKX's straight-ahead broader approach. In addition, DWKX also became the first fully licensed commercial dance radio outlet to cover Metro Manila since the demise of 89 DMZ, whose frequency is currently occupied by rhythmic contemporary sister station Wave 891.
On June 19, 2010, right on the third anniversary of the station, and prior to that, it underwent some minor changes, among others the line-up of DJs and their shows, the revision of how they identify themselves on-air (they dropped the "one-oh-three and-a-half Max FM" in favor of "one-oh-three point five Max FM", as the former is said to be not that much suitable for radio), and the dropping of some of its long-running local programs and foreign syndicated dance programs.
On August 5, 2010, the jocks of Maxville made their final broadcast to give thanks to their listeners. Max FM resurfaced as an Internet radio station now called Global Max Radio, which was launched last October 1, 2010.
2010–2013: Wow FM.
On August 23, 2010 at 5:00am which the day saw the 2010 Manila hostage crisis, DWKX relaunched as a mass-based station branded as 103.5 Wow FM. Laila Chikadora was the first DJ to go on board that morning, followed by Mister Fu & other top-rated DJs. The station's tagline is ""Lahveet!", which is the Tagalog bastardization of "Love it!"". This is TRPI's (and now Tiger 22's) first and only venture into the mainstream, mass-based market.
To provide a wider coverage to its target market, the station upgraded its transmitting power to 45 kW, making it the most powerful FM station in Metro Manila at that time. It also changed the call letters to DWOW to reflect the new format.
Following the resignation of Mr. Fu (who returned to his originating radio station Energy FM), who was preceded by that of Francine Prieto, the remaining DJs had their final broadcast on July 17, to make way for a new branding come July 22, though the station will still use the Wow FM moniker until the end.
2013–Present: The Second K-Lite.
On July 22, 2013 at 6:00am, after its absence for almost 7 years, 103.5 FM was relaunched as the second iteration of 103.5 K-Lite with the new slogan, "The Hits and Lite Favorites". It carried a Hot Adult Contemporary format, playing hits from the mid-90s up to today. EJ Electric was the first DJ to go on board, followed by other jocks, mostly from the Max FM/Wow FM roster & other stations. The official launch was made on August 1, 2013. During its first weeks of operation, the stations studios remained inside the Jollibee Plaza building, before it was transferred back to Paragon Plaza. Since the relaunch, the station's transmitter power downgraded back to the average nominal limit of 25,000 watts. Among its special programs were "Classic Lite", "Faster than Lite" and "Lite Wave".
On April 21, 2014, K-Lite was reformatted as a Top 40 station, similar to the ones of sister stations 99.5 Play FM and Magic 89.9. It carried the slogan "The Beat of Manila" (similar to the summer slogan of Magic), with slightly vacated timeslots.
On August 18, 2014, K-Lite reformatted as a Classic Hits station, focusing on music from the 1990s to mid 2000s. It carried the slogan "Metro Manila's Official Take Me Back Station". This time, it introduced new DJs.
On November 24, 2014, K-Lite reformatted to its original Adult Contemporary format, this time emphasizing more on the music from the 1990s up to 5 years behind the current year. On the same year, they launched a separate show entitled "Past Forward", a Wednesday program which airs upbeat music from the 1980s (same as the original timeframe of Friday Madness of its sister station, Magic 89.9).
In 2016, K-Lite added its new slogan "The Hits of the 90s and 2K, Today", a reflection of its old slogan. This would later become its primary slogan beginning 2017. Its slogan "The Hits and Lite Favorites" currently said every Wednesday.
On April 26, 2020, K-Lite went off-the-air amid the community quarantine imposed in Metro Manila due to COVID-19. On January 5, 2021, it returned on air, albeit on limited hours and on automation mode.