Manila Broadcasting Company (MBC) is a
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...
and
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
network in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. MBC is currently owned by the FJE Group of Companies of Fred J. Elizalde, which also operates hotels and Pasay-based amusement park
Star City. Its
AM flagship network,
DZRH is the oldest radio station in the country while its
FM flagship network,
Love Radio is the top station in FM radio ratings in Metro Manila (until 2017, and again in 2020) and several key cities.
MBC's corporate headquarters and studios are located at the MBC Building,
Star City, Vicente Sotto St.,
CCP Complex,
Pasay,
Metro Manila.
MBC forms its own network group with six national brands, specifically,
DZRH radio and
DZRH News Television,
Aksyon Radyo,
Love Radio,
Yes The Best,
Easy Rock, and
Radyo Natin; operated either directly by MBC, or through its affiliate-licensees
Pacific Broadcasting Systems, Cebu Broadcasting Company,
Radyo Natin Network, and Philippine Broadcasting Corporation.
DZRH News Television, which is an extension of the DZRH brand into an audio-visual platform, is carried by some 1,000 cable providers throughout the Philippine archipelago.
The current president of MBC is Ruperto Nicdao Jr.
History
The Heacock era
The origins of MBC can be traced to DZRH, which first went on air as KZRH on the morning of July 15, 1939, by the Heacock Company, a prominent department store based in
Escolta Street
Escolta Street (lit: Escort) is a historic east–west street located in the old downtown district of Binondo in Manila, Philippines. It runs parallel to the Pasig River, from Plaza Santa Cruz to Plaza Moraga and Quintin Paredes Street. The st ...
,
Binondo, Manila. Years later, it bought KZRC (now
DYRC) from Isaac Beck in
Cebu City
Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Sugbo; fil, Lungsod ng Cebu; hil, Dakbanwa sang Sugbo), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines and capital of the Cebu Province. Ac ...
. The Japanese
took over the stations and KZRH became PIAM (Philippine Islands AM) for their propaganda use.
The birth of MBC and DZRH
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the Elizalde brothers (
Federico "Fred",
Joaquin Miguel "Mike" and
Manuel "Manolo") took over KZRH and KYRC. With the help of station manager Bertrand Silen, KZRH transferred its operations to the Insular Life Building in Plaza Cervantes. In June 1946, the Elizaldes established the network under the Manila Broadcasting Company (incorporated on September 30, 1947).
KZRH returned to the airwaves on July 1, 1946. On July 4, 1946, it aired the live coverage of the Philippine independence from the United States and the inauguration of the third Philippine Republic.
In 1948, after the international telecommunications conference in the United States where the Philippines changed its first letter to "D", KZRH changed its callsign to
DZRH, and has been expanded to over 30 stations nationwide. The same year, MBC launched its sister station in Manila,
DZMB (thru the establishment of Cebu Broadcasting Company) and
DZPI (thru Philippine Broadcasting Corporation that the Elizaldes acquired from the Soriano family).
In 1949, DZRH began airing the first
radio drama
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
, ''
Gulong ng Palad''.
Ben Aniceto began his long media career, working with DZRH, DZMB and DZPI as a radio talent.
In 1956, MBC moved to its own Radio Center along
Taft Avenue in
Ermita,
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
. In the same year, Philippine radio gained popularity and AM radio became lucrative in what was considered as the golden years.
1960s to Marcos dictatorship
When then-president
Ferdinand Marcos declared
Martial Law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Martia ...
in 1972, MBC was temporarily closed for a few months.
In 1975, MBC ventured into the FM band when its stations
DZMB and other MBC music AM stations (such as
DYBU in Cebu) moved to FM radio. This would become the nucleus of MBC's
Love Radio Network
Love Radio is a broadcast FM radio network in the Philippines owned by Manila Broadcasting Company. Its headquarters are located at Cultural Center of the Philippine Complex, Pasay, Manila. The network's original format is easy-listening unt ...
.
The expansion of MBC
In 1985, Manolo Elizalde retired. His son, Fred J. Elizalde, became chairman and CEO.
After the
People Power Revolution ended the Marcos dictatorship in 1986, MBC began to expand its FM stations (Love Radio Network) while DZRH continued to broadcast nationwide. Ruperto Nicdao, Jr. became a board member of MBC in 1988 before he became president of MBC.
In January 1992, the application of MBC and Springs Foundation's Channel 11 (DWXI-TV) to operate was denied by the
National Telecommunications Commission, stating that it is "not legally, technically, and financially qualified". The channel was later acquired by
Eddie Villanueva's
ZOE Broadcasting Network and renamed
DZOE-TV in 1998.
In 1994, DZRH relaunched itself as "One Nation, One Station" by launching the first nationwide satellite broadcast.
In July 2002, MBC studios were transferred from FJE Building in
Makati to
CCP Complex in Pasay.
MBC co-hosted the
Aliwan Fiesta since 2003, in partnership with
Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the cities of
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...
and
Pasay. Aliwan Fiesta is an annual event that gathers different cultural festivals of the Philippines in
Star City in Pasay wherein contingents compete in dance parade and float competitions, as well as in a beauty pageant.
After 35 years, MBC returned to television with the launch of
DZRH News Television on October 1, 2007.
Acquisitions, new networks, and changes
In 1995, MBC acquired DWKS-FM and changed its callsign to DWST as 101.1 Showbiz Tsismis. It lasts until 1998 and relaunched as
Yes FM
'
Yes 101 (100.8, 101.0 F.M.) is an English radio station in Sri Lanka. Yes FM principally plays contemporary hit music.
Yes 101 commenced broadcasting on December 10, 1993, at 6.00 am. It is one of the radio channels owned by The Capital M ...
. During the 1990s, DYRC was spun off into
Aksyon Radyo, established in 11 provincial AM stations.
On December 16, 1997, MBC launched
Radyo Natin. Composed of 100 FM stations strategically across the nation by using state of the art satellite technology, Radyo Natin is able to reach audiences that has never been reached before by another radio station.
In January 1999,
Hot FM was launched in
Dagupan, Cebu City,
General Santos and
Zamboanga City, with more than 50 minor provincial radio stations (under the consortium with Radyo Natin).
In October 2008, MBC acquired
DWRK from ACWS-United Broadcasting Network. Seven months later in May 2009, DWRK was relaunched as
Easy Rock.
In 2017, Hot FM was unofficially ceased itself as most of the remaining Hot FM stations were rebranded and switched to Radyo Natin.
In 2018, MBC began to test broadcast its TV channel DZRH News Television on digital free TV using
ISDB-T in Cebu, Bacolod and Iloilo.
2019 fire
MBC main offices and studios were affected by a
major fire that originated in the nearby theme park and sister company Star City on October 2, 2019. While regular programming for its AM station
DZRH was suspended as a result of the fire, MBC Manila radio stations transferred its operations and broadcasts, in interim, at
BSA Twin Towers
The St. Francis Square is a complex of three buildings located in Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong, Philippines. Groundbreaking and construction began in 1998 and was completed in 2000. Due to some controversies regarding the St. Francis Square Gr ...
, in
Ortigas Center,
Mandaluyong
Mandaluyong, officially the City of Mandaluyong ( fil, Lungsod ng Mandaluyong), is a first class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to ...
, where its FM transmitters are located. One month later on November 11, the MBC studios and offices transferred again at the Design Center of the Philippines, which is near the MBC Building.
On November 15, 2021, after a two-year hiatus, MBC studios and offices returned to the newly renovated MBC Building at the Star City complex (which was still under rehabilitation and reconstruction), except for DZRH which would later be relocated on December 17. On the same day, MBC relaunched its new corporate slogan, ''Sama-Sama Tayo, Pilipino!'' () along with the new logos of all MBC radio stations.
Franchise renewal
On October 30, 2018,
Philippine President
The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of t ...
Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11109 which renewed MBC's license for another 25 years. The law grants MBC a franchise to construct, install, operate, and maintain, for commercial purposes, radio broadcasting stations and television stations, including digital television system, with the corresponding facilities such as relay stations, throughout the Philippines.
MBC Media Group
Radio networks
;Defunct networks
DZRH News Television
Subsidiaries / Affiliates
*Cebu Broadcasting Company
*
Pacific Broadcasting System
*Philippine Broadcasting Corporation
*Operation Tulong - MBC's corporate social responsibility program.
*Elizalde Hotels and Resorts (80%)
*365 Talent Management - MBC's talent management unit
External links
Media Ownership Monitor Philippines - Media Companies: A Duopoly Rulesby VERA Files and
Reporters Without Borders
References
{{Philippine cable channels
1946 establishments in the Philippines
Companies based in Pasay
Companies listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange
Mass media companies established in 1946
Mass media companies of the Philippines
Philippine radio networks
Radio stations in the Philippines
Television networks in the Philippines