Radio in the Philippines

Broadcasters also require a 25-year congressional franchise to operate stations and transmitters, which dates from the American colonial era under Act No.

The Philippines has not adopted a standard for digital radio, but several stations especially in Mega Manila have adopted HD Radio technology to provide digital simulcasts of their analog feed or to broadcast high-definition broadcasts of sister stations.

While many AM stations still use their call signs as primary identification (e.g. DZBB, DWPM, DZRH, DWIZ), most others choose to use easily recognizable brands and slogans to identify themselves.

AM stations mostly broadcast in news, talk, public service, community radio and religious formats.

Archives suggest that in 1922, an American woman named Mrs. Redgrave used a five-watt transmitter for a test broadcast from Nichols Field (now Villamor Airbase).

On October 4, 1924, Henry Herman transferred KZKZ's ownership to the Radio Corporation of the Philippines (RCP), which he himself organized.

[5][4] In 1926 the company began to work on constructing two of the largest radio stations in Asia with the idea of maintaining direct Manila-San Francisco service.

[6] [7] In 1929, RCP launched KZRC in Cebu broadcasting with a 100-watt transmitter, but was later sold to store owner Isaac Beck.

[4] Upon the declaration of martial law in 1972, the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos shut down and took over radio stations and other media organizations.

[8] The emergence of alternative media outlets would eventually play a role in the downfall of the dictatorship during the 1986 People Power Revolution.