A new radio programme airing English and Tagalog songs has taken Filipino listeners by storm.The predominantly music-and-dedication show is aired over 99.3 FM and 106 FM, a UAE-wide network under Radio 2.
Since the debut of Pinoy Atin To (Filipino this is ours) on March 20, the stations listenership has jumped significantly, said station officials, citing an in-house survey and audience feedback.
Radio 2's signals also go beyond the UAE, including the oil platforms in the Gulf and parts of neighbouring countries.
The two-in-one programme is divided into Dear Heart and Good Morning Kabayan - currently slotted for graveyard shift.
Plans are afoot to shift some of it to an earlier slot. Until now, FM radio broadcasts heard by some 180,000 Filipinos here from Manila are via poor-quality Internet feed dependent on the speed of link on both sides. The new programme enjoys a mass appeal, being the first Filipino radio programme to be produced in the Middle East.
With a generous sprinkling of stingers, the station has gained immediate following among the nocturnal radio listeners.
"We are just fulfilling something which is long overdue in this multi-cultural country. We've put together something that Filipinos could identify with and cling to," said Mecky Decena, managing director of Eight Concepts, the group behind the programme.
Sprinkling of music and news is big hit* Dear Heart, a mushy request-and-dedication programme from midnight to 3am, is presented by John Albert, a former DJ of Star FM in the resort island of Cebu.
* John's colleague Nico, also a Cebuano and former station manager of Star FM, anchors Good Morning Kabayan from 3am-6am, a mix of Filipino and English music and news.
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