90.7 Love Radio's top-rating triad

MANILA, Philippines - The surveys are in, the ratings are out. According to the latest personal listening survey of Nielsen Media’s Radio Audience Measurement, 90.7 Love Radio retained the top spot with a commanding lead over other FM stations  a feat it has achieved for 10 consecutive years. 

Of great significance are the ratings posted during the morning timeslot of Tambalang Balasubas at Balahura (Chris Tsuper and Nicole Hyala) and the evening programs of Papa Jack titled True Love Conversations and Wild Confessions. It was the latter’s phenomenal rise in the past year that created a third primetime slot on radio, sending advertisers scrambling for available slots.

But what is it that makes 90.7 Love Radio’s power triad click?

DJs Nicole and Chris have become favorites of households, commuters and drivers as their seven-year-old radio program Tambalang Balahura at Balasubas, aired during the traffic gridlock hours at 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., keeps on growing in popularity. The show was created by accident. Chris (Adrian Policena in real life) originally anchored his own radio show and he had Nicole (real name is Emmylou Gaite-Tinana) reporting the traffic situation from the field. Their on-air banter became so humorously engaging and popular with listeners that they were eventually given their own program.

Their chemistry is uncanny, and mornings become so much brighter despite the traffic, for those listening to their side-splitting commentaries on current events as well as the humorously insightful advice they give to listeners’ phoned-in (or texted-in) questions.

Aside from mastering how to tickle their fans with their own brand of humor, the DJs have also become famous for the unique and exciting phrases they have invented, such as “nakakalerkei” and “trulaloo at walang halong eclavou,” among others.

Chris and Nicole have likewise penetrated the music recording industry. They released their first album Hey! Tambalan Na! D’ Nakakalurkei Na Album under Ivory Records in 2008. Since then, they have recorded two more  Hey! Tambalan Na! D’ Mas Nakakalurkei Na Album and Hey! Tambalan Na! D’ Pinaka-Nakakalurkei Na Album. Mahal Kita Kasi, which features Nicole in a whimsical solo on love and pick-up lines, hit the gold record mark and has even become a popular novelty piece among choral ensembles.

Advertisers have acknowledged their popularity so much so that Nicole and Chris are now in-demand endorsers for various products. They have also shared their wacky repartees on a number of hit television series, be they cooking shows, music programs, or game shows.

But if Tambalan rules mornings on FM radio, Papa Jack’s True Love Conversations and Wild Confessions are the hottest programs on FM radio these days.

Topping the ratings from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., his back-to-back programs now address audiences from A to E, with an equal share of male and female listeners glued in.

Listeners can call Papa Jack at 832-6171 and share their stories on love and relationships for all the world to hear  no holds barred. While the formula is a tried-and-tested one both in broadcast and print media, John Gemperle a.k.a. Papa Jack is a crisp host on air. He is frank, witty and sarcastically conservative, while his callers range from being crass to frigid and wild  all at the same time. 

Indeed, what truly highlights his shows are the callers themselves, who pour out their lovesickness as if titillated by broadcast voyeurism to the maximum degree. For many college groupies to young urban professionals, taxi drivers on the graveyard shift, and even rebels in the countryside, Papa Jack is the sage jock whose nightly dose of humor is a better upper than caffeine.  

And when he dishes out his advice to the lovelorn, audiences are left guessing whether he is gay or asexual. Consider these precious gems of quotable quotes:

“Minsan kaya nahihirapan kayong mag-move on, kasi hinihintay mo siyang mag-sorry sa iyo! Papano kung hindi sya mag-sorry? Magpapamisa ka?”

“Sana parang test paper na lang ang kamalian, para kahit gaano karami ang mali, tama pa rin ang binibilang.”

“Huwag ka’ng mag-assume ng sobra, para hindi ka rin masaktan ng bongga.”

“Cry a lot at dadating ka sa point na ang pangit mo na. Then titigil ka na.”

“Huwag mong alalahanin ang pag-iyak, normal yan. alalahanin mo yung paglobo ng sipon mo.”

“Nung nagsabog ang Diyos ng kalandian hindi batya ang gamit mo ‘teh, kungdi tolda  sinalo mo lahat e! Sige, ikaw na!”

Nicole Hyala, Chris Tsuper and Papa Jack are only three of 90.7 Love Radio’s secret weapons which other stations are desperately trying to emulate in hopes of raising their own profile among listeners to even out the ratings game. But their voluble personalities are so unique that others fall short and become mere parodies of the top FM station’s phenomenal triad. 

But wait... in a bold move to ensure their dominance is 24/7, top honchos at Manila Broadcasting Company have now included Christine Dera, Robin Sienna, Emma Harot and Diego Bandido in 90.7 Love Radio’s formidable line-up.   That’s another story altogether.

In the meantime, the pukyutan ng Balasubas at Balahura remains a beehive of ideas to ensure that radio audiences retain their listening mantra: 90.7 Love Radio  kailangan pa ba’ng i-memorize iyan? Bisyo na ‘to!”