DYAC (90.7 FM), broadcasting as 90.7 Brigada News FM, is a radio station owned by Mareco Broadcasting Network and operated by Brigada Mass Media Corporation. It serves as the Visayas flagship station of Brigada News FM. The station's studio and offices are located at the Uptown Residences, V. Rama Ave. cor. B. Rodriguez St., Brgy. Guadalupe, Cebu City, while its transmitter is located at Mt. Busay, Brgy. Babag 1, Cebu City (near the ABS-CBN tower). It operates 24 hours a day.[1]
Brigada News FM Cebu is currently as the dominant over-all #1 radio station in Metro Cebu, based on the Nielsen Radio Audience Measurement latest survey conducted in the Q4 2023.[2]
History
1989-1995: Magic
The station was established in 1989 as Magic 90.7 under the ownership of Molave Broadcasting Network, a company by Arcadio Carandang. It was one of the FM stations in the market to carry a smooth jazz format and was home of Light Jazz. It was headed by radio veteran Andy Boy Suzara and personality Jennison Mendoza, along with six male disc jockeys. At that time, the station was located at Doña Luisa Bldg. in Fuente Osmeña.
1995-1999: DYAC
In 1995, the station was acquired by Ermita Electronics Corporation. It rebranded as simply DYAC with the slogan The Music Zone and carried a Top 40 format. It was led by station manager Eleanor Montilla and current Retro Cebu personality, Jake John Gesite Malagar (known on-air as Jay Fox).[3]
1999-2003: Energy FM
Energy FM logo from 2001 to 2003
In 1999, Ultrasonic Broadcasting System leased the station's airtime and relaunched it as 90.7 Energy FM. Dubbed as "All hits superstation", it carried a mass-based format. It became one of the most listened FM station in the city. In a span of two years, Energy FM held a number of promotional events with Energy @ The Movies, Bar Tour 1, Back to School (Bar Tour 2) and Bar Tour 3, where listeners who joined for a chance to win free tickets to advance screenings of hit movies and participate in their various activities to know how they can win prizes.[4]
2003-2020: Crossover
Crossover (2003–2020)
In October 2003, after Energy FM transferred its operations to Word Broadcasting Corporation-owned 89.1 FM, Mareco Broadcasting Network acquired the station from Ermita and moved Crossover's operations to this frequency, which carried a Smooth AC format. Crossover used to air on Vimcontu Broadcasting Corporation-owned 93.1 FM through an airtime lease agreement from its inception in September 1997 prior to its move. During its existence, their studio and transmitter were located at JSU-PSU Mariners' Court Cebu along Legazpi Ext. Among its personalities since 2014 was Eliot Verar (formerly from Z104, MOR 97.1 and NU 107).
2020-2023: Q Radio
Q Radio (2020–2023)
On December 31, 2019, Horizon of the Sun Communications (producers of Chinese Filipino oriented shows Chinatown TV and Chinese News TV) took over the operations of MBNI's stations. On November 15, 2020, after almost 17 years, Crossover quietly signed off for the last time.
On November 16, 2020, the station, along with other MBNI provincial stations, was officially launched as Q Radio and switched to a CHR/Top 40 format. Aside from having its own local programming, it also simulcasted a handful of programs from its flagship station in Manila.
On December 16, 2021, Q Radio went off the air as an effect of Typhoon "Rai" (Odette) in the evening, which damaged the station's transmitter and building. A couple of weeks later, the station returned on-air after the power was restored in the area.
2023-present: Brigada News FM
In May 2023, Brigada Mass Media Corporation (BMMC) bought the station's airtime lease and conducted a test broadcast, following the transfer of its broadcast facilities to Uptown Residences in Brgy. Guadalupe. Prior to its transfer, Brigada News FM was previously on 93.1 FM under an airtime lease with Vimcontu from July 2013 to the middle of 2023. On May 15, as part of its transition, 90.7 FM began simulcasting 93.1 during automated and graveyard timeslots. On June 17, Q Radio signed off for the last time.[5][6]
On June 18, 2023, Brigada News FM began broadcasting in this frequency full-time. The station's old 5-kilowatt transmitter in Doña Luisa Bldg. was replaced with a newly-installed 20-kilowatt stereo transmitter atop Mt. Busay for clearer and better signal reception. A day prior, its former frequency was downgraded to a repeater of the latter, which lasted until August 14.[7]
On June 30, 2023 at 9:31pm, Brigada News FM Cebu aired a 2-hour special countdown until its fully transition to this frequency the following day at midnight.[8]
On July 1, 2023, as part of "Kalimti ang Ex, Mas Lami ang Bag-o!" transition campaign, Brigada News FM Cebu had its grand launch and blessing of its studio and offices in Brgy. Guadalupe, along with a motorcade and a free disco at the Kamagayan Food Park. Station Manager, current Area Manager for Visayas and founder of ANAKK, Inc. Raul del Prado, Brigada Group of Companies President Elmer Catulpos and other Brigada news teams and officials were present in the occasion.[9]
On March 14, 2024, Brigada News FM started carrying the tagline "#iBrigadaMo".
On May 12, 2024, the station went off the air due to transmitter renovation, but returned on air online a day later. It resumed terrestrial broadcast on May 15 after the replacement of its new antenna on the station's transmitter site. By August, its ERP power was increased to a newly improved 60-kilowatt stereo, resulting in an even clearer signal in Central Visayas and northern parts of Leyte.
Controversy
On March 13, 2024, program hosts Dennes Regner Tabar and Atty. Juril "The Master" Broka Patiño conducted an on-air interview with a four-year old rape survivor during which the two asked the child to recount her experience. The interview sparked outcry from media organizations, child rights organizations and the Department of Social Welfare and Development for its unethicality, with journalists citing the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas Broadcasting Code, which stipulates the protection of child victims from enduring further persecution and trauma. The radio station's management subsequently issued a statement saying that it taken "immediate internal action to implement administrative sanctions,” adding that the hosts expressed "profound regret" and "remorse". Prior to this, the hosts said that the interview had been taken with the consent of the victim's mother. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines denounced the interview, and said that it “violated the ethical standards outlined in the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA)" for lawyers, of which Patiño is one, and was "prejudicial to the child" under child-abuse laws.[10][11]
