Gerry Baja, Anthony Taberna, and Vic Lima have something in common. They are no longer part of DZMM or the station that simply goes by the name TeleRadyo.
On May 5, 2020, ABS-CBN Corporation was served by a cease-and-desist order by the National Telecommunications Commission or NTC after the network’s franchise expired the day before. As a result, the company’s free-to-air assets – the namesake channel, S+A, MOR, and DZMM – all went off the air that same night.
DZMM’s life was partially extended as the program SRO was able to air for 30 minutes more after the other abovementioned outlets were already shutting their signals. Instantaneously though, the DZMM TeleRadyo channel was rebranded as TeleRadyo, before the station went dark for at least 3 days.
On May 8, TeleRadyo, along with other ABS-CBN-owned channels, returned on-air via a blocktime deal inked by ABS and AMCARA Broadcasting Network. This allowed the shows to be aired on ABS-CBN TVplus despite being unavailable on AM radio.
This set-up wouldn’t last longer as the NTC yet again issued an alias cease-and-desist order on June 30, 2020 against the broadcast of Kapamilya shows on channel 43, the frequency operated by AMCARA and on SKY Direct, the digital satellite television arm of SKY Cable, an ABS-CBN subsidiary. This event led to the almost exclusive broadcast of ABS-CBN channels on cable and digital media outlets like YouTube and Facebook.
When the hearing was over and the House committee junked the franchise renewal bid of ABS, it only took a few days for the corporation to announce the retrenchment of a huge chunk of their employees. This is the time when both small and big names alike received their walking papers. This cumbersome event led to the unexpected exit of many personalities of TeleRadyo.
As mentioned above, Baja, Taberna, and Lima have already left the station after their respective contracts and programs on DZMM ended. The former two have already struck a deal to continue hosting Dos Por Dos on MBC’s DZRH. Meanwhile, the latter has been reported to be moving on to Aliw’s DWIZ where he would anchor a program with Alex Santos.
Ted Failon and DJ Chacha have already been listed as two of the personalities jumping ship, with reports stating that they are moving to Radyo5’s morning block. Although, no formal announcement from both of them or the radio station itself have been released to date.
Now, the question is, without the franchise to broadcast on radio, cancellation of programs, and the departure of many anchors and reporters, what will happen to TeleRadyo after August 31 – the date set for the official termination of many Kapamilya staffers.
Exactly a week before that day, no plans have been laid out yet. But here are some possibilities that might happen to the channel.
Recently, the ABS-CBN News YouTube channel surpassed the 10 million subscribers mark. This is a clear testament that the Kapamilya audience were able to somehow migrate (although little by little) to the new frontier that is digital media.
If the main TeleRadyo channel on cable was to disband or retained in a different capacity, some of the programs can end up being livestreamed online ala Kapamilya Online Live by ABS-CBN Entertainment. This sounds rather possible as news programs aren’t aired on KOL as they opt-out to give way to the exclusive livestream of shows on ABS-CBN News’ platforms.
Although already being done, the ABS-CBN Radio Service app can also be ramped up to provide audio stream for the channel. However, it would be beneficial to merge the said app to either the ABS-CBN News app or iWant itself.
Going back to the question what will become of TeleRadyo, the simple answer is only time will tell.