One of the most notable examples of this was in the early 1980s, when RT broke into the song "More to Lose" by the obscure English new wave duo, Seona Dancing.

As one of the early music video shows in the Philippines, Rhythm Of The City, which aired on Monday at 7:30 pm on then government-owned MBS-4 (now known as PTV-4), aired videos from artists such as Men At Work, Naked Eyes, Real Life, Michael Jackson, and some North American acts during a time when then-fledgling MTV had not yet established its presence in the Asian region.

Under the new management through Real Radio Network (formerly E.M. Orozco & Sons, Inc.),[6] the station attempted to maintain its upmarket format.

Beginning in 2004, RT put up an annual concert event called, "Ripe Tomatoes", featuring up to 30 OPM bands playing back-to-back on a single night.

The programming was essentially the same as RT's, but more content-driven rather than music-oriented similar to the sister station in Davao 105.9 Mix FM.

The on-air format was essentially the same, with familiar programs and segments and jocks from Campus Radio 97.1 WLS FM re-introduced later on.

On September 1, 2008, at 6 am, after two weeks of automated music programming, the station resumed its broadcast under the reinstated name 99.5 RT.

Joshua Z was the first DJ to go on board that morning, followed by other jocks who have worked with the frequency's three incarnations (mostly from the RT roster and HiT and one from Campus).

The deejays have a collective tone similar to the parent station, Magic 89.9, due to the use of Tagalog-English or "Taglish" during live spiels.

Since October 2010, RT repositioned itself into rock-leaning CHR, earning its 3rd slogan, "The Drive", after the Sunday night-only program of the same name.

In June 2011, RT repositioned itself once again into Adult CHR with a slight indie lean, dropping "The Drive" in favor of its previous slogan "The Best Music on the Planet".

Half of its on-air crew was dismissed (replaced by selected Junior Jocks from Magic 89.9), and some of the shows ended.

The programming and imaging at that time was similar to that of its parent station, Magic 89.9, and the defunct 99.5 Hit FM, albeit catering to a young audience.

The official jingles and audio imaging of Play FM were later launched on September 15, 2014, months after Rizal "Sonny B" Aportadera's transfer to the station.

The jingles were made by German audio imaging company Sound Quadrat and its US-based subsidiary Benztown Branding, whose other clients include leading European CHR stations BBC Radio 1 (United Kingdom), Europa Plus (Russia), and NRJ (France), as well as Play FM's former sister station 103.5 K-Lite (now under the ownership of Advanced Media Broadcasting System).

In the wake of the Duterte administration, Sonny B and Carlo Jose left the station; and were appointed by PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar for the revitalization of the state-run Philippine Broadcasting Service.

The station updated its jingles, followed by launching with its tagline "Just Press Play" along its current slogan "Number 1 for New Music and all the Hits".