Brigada News FM Cebu (DYAC)

Cebu City
Broadcast area	Metro Cebu and surrounding areas
Frequency	90.7 MHz (FM Stereo)
Branding	90.7 Brigada News FM
Programming
Language(s)	Cebuano, Filipino
Format	Contemporary MOR, News, Talk
Network	Brigada News FM
Ownership
Owner	Mareco Broadcasting Network
Operator	Brigada Mass Media Corporation
History
First air date	1989
Former call signs	Brigada News FM: DYWF (2013-2023)
Former names	Magic 90.7 (1989-1995) DYAC (1995-1999) Energy FM (1999-2003) Crossover (2003-2020) Q Radio (2020-2023)
Former frequencies	Brigada News FM: 93.1 MHz (2013-2023)
Call sign meaning	Adult Contemporary (former radio format)
Technical information
Licensing authority	NTC
Power	20,000 watts
ERP	40,000 watts
Links
Webcast	Live Stream
Website	brigadanews.ph

DYAC (90.7 FM), broadcasting as 90.7 Brigada News FM, is a radio station owned by Mareco Broadcasting Network and operated by Brigada Mass Media Corporation. It serves as the Visayas flagship station of Brigada News FM. The station's studio and offices are located at the Uptown Residences, V. Rama Ave. cor. B. Rodriguez St., Brgy. Guadalupe, Cebu City, while its transmitter is located at Mt. Busay, Brgy. Babag 1, Cebu City (near the ABS-CBN tower).^[1]

Brigada News FM Cebu is currently as the dominant over-all #1 radio station in Metro Cebu, based on the Nielsen Radio Audience Measurement latest survey conducted in the Q4 2023.^[2]

History

• The station was established in 1989 as Magic 90.7 under the ownership of Molave Broadcasting Network, a company by Arcadio Carandang. It was one of the FM stations in the market to carry a smooth jazz format and was home of Light Jazz. It was headed by radio veteran Andy Boy Suzara and personality Jennison Mendoza, along with six male disc jockeys. At that time, the station was located at Doña Luisa Bldg. in Fuente Osmeña.
• Around 1995, the station was acquired by Ermita Electronics Corporation. It rebranded as simply DYAC with the slogan The Music Zone and carried a Top 40 format. It was led by station manager Eleanor Montilla and current Retro Cebu personality, Jake John Gesite Malagar (known on-air as Jay Fox).^[3]
• In 1999, Ultrasonic Broadcasting System leased the station's airtime and relaunched it as 90.7 Energy FM. Dubbed as "All hits superstation", it carried a mass-based format, playing OPM and contemporary pop music. It also aired "Pinoy Energy Countdown", "Energy Countdown", "Weekend Energy", "Live Energy", "Energy on Stage" and "Energy Classics", and became one of the most-listened FM station in the city during the late-1990s. In a span of two years, Energy FM had a number of promotional events with Energy @ The Movies, Bar Tour 1, Back to School (Bar Tour 2) and Bar Tour 3, where listeners who joined for a chance to win free tickets to advance screenings of hit movies and participate in their various activities to know how they can win prizes.^[4]
• In October 2003, after Energy FM transferred its operations to Word Broadcasting Corporation-owned 89.1 FM, Mareco Broadcasting Network acquired the station from Ermita and moved Crossover's operations to this frequency, which carried a Smooth AC format. Crossover used to air on Vimcontu Broadcasting Corporation-owned 93.1 FM through an airtime lease agreement from its inception in September 1997 prior to its move. During its existence, their studio and transmitter were located at JSU-PSU Mariners' Court Cebu along Legazpi Ext. On July 6, 2014, the station having its own set of DJs, such as Eliot Verar (formerly from Z104, MOR 97.1 and NU 107), who handled during morning and afternoon slots and also worked as one of the station's promotional events and activities to promote the shows and other radio stations.
• On December 31, 2019, Horizon of the Sun Communications (producers of Chinese Filipino oriented shows Chinatown TV and Chinese News TV) took over the operations of MBNI's stations. On November 15, 2020, after almost 17 years, Crossover quietly signed off for the last time.
• On November 16, 2020, the station, along with other MBNI provincial stations, was officially launched as Q Radio and switched to a CHR/Top 40 format. Aside from having its own local programming, it also simulcasted a handful of programs from its flagship station in Manila.
• On December 16, 2021, Q Radio went off the air as an effect of Typhoon "Rai" (Odette) at the evening, which damaged the station's transmitter and building. A couple of weeks later, the station returned on-air after the power was restored in the area.
• In May 2023, two months before the termination of Brigada's lease with Vimcontu, Brigada Mass Media Corporation (BMMC) bought the station's airtime lease and conducted a test broadcast, following the transfer of its broadcast facilities to Uptown Residences in Brgy. Guadalupe. Prior to its transfer, Brigada News FM was previously on 93.1 FM under an airtime lease with its original owner from July 2013 to the middle of 2023. On May 15, as part of its transition, 90.7 FM began simulcasting 93.1 during automated and graveyard timeslots. On June 17, Q Radio signed off for the last time.^[5][6]
• On June 18, 2023, Brigada News FM began broadcasting in this frequency full-time. The station's old 5-kilowatt transmitter in Doña Luisa Bldg. was replaced with a newly-installed 20-kilowatt stereo transmitter atop Mt. Busay for clearer and better signal reception. A day prior, its former frequency was downgraded to a repeater of the latter, which lasted until August 14.^[7]
• On July 1, 2023, as part of "Kalimti ang Ex, Mas Lami ang Bag-o!" transition campaign, Brigada News FM Cebu had its grand launch and blessing of its studio and offices in Brgy. Guadalupe, along with a motorcade and a free disco at the Kamagayan Food Park. Station Manager, current Area Manager for Visayas and founder of ANAKK, Inc. Raul del Prado, Brigada Group of Companies President Elmer Catulpos and other Brigada news teams and officials were present in the occasion.^[8][9]

Controversy

On March 13, 2024, program hosts Dennes Tabar and Juril Patiño conducted an on-air interview with a four-year old rape survivor during which the two asked the child to recount her experience. The interview sparked outcry from media organizations, child rights organizations and the Department of Social Welfare and Development for its unethicality, with journalists citing the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas Broadcasting Code, which stipulates the protection of child victims from enduring further persecution and trauma. The radio station's management subsequently issued a statement saying that it taken "immediate internal action to implement administrative sanctions,” adding that the hosts expressed "profound regret" and "remorse". Prior to this, the hosts said that the interview had been taken with the consent of the victim's mother. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines denounced the interview, and said that it “violated the ethical standards outlined in the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA)" for lawyers, of which Patiño is one, and was "prejudicial to the child" under child-abuse laws.^[10][11]