NU 107 FM, 11:59 PM Sunday: Off The Air
By Tony Maghirang
For Yahoo! Southeast Asia
Before midnight on Sunday, November 7, in Manila, NU 107 FM, the home of new rock, will finally sign off the air. Whether a new NU FM with a different format will fill the resulting void starting Monday, November 8, or that the station is closing down for good, is now the subject of speculation.
Sources at the station could not be reached for comment. NU’s home on the Web is just as mum on the future of the radio station.
NU’s homepage is, however, more forthcoming on the more immediate fate of the FM station. Since Wednesday of the previous week, it has bannered the NU 107 Last Goodbye presenting the daily schedule for the last six days till sign off at 11:59 pm tonight Sunday.
In each of the broadcast schedule, a prominent host is slated to say his goodbye. Selected local bands have been invited to play live during the final broadcast of the show.
NU community members can listen and watch the broadcast of the Last Goodbye on the Web. Rock fans have been called on to join the vigil to the “passing of an era.”
Prior to the 17th NU Rock Awards on October 29, rumors flew thick and fast that it would the final rock awards and that starting November, the station would junk its rock image and shift its programming to a more mass sound under a new management. The new NU, described now by observers as the “Home of No Rock!,” will reportedly have its formal launch in early January 2011.
During the last Rock Awards proper, NU management, joined by rock DJs through the years, made their final bow before the crowd of rock music fans. The overall message of the show was that Pinoy rock must live on with or without the rock awards.
It is interesting to note that the last two shows on Sunday night used to feature, in their prime, fresh music from local and foreign sources. In “The Raw” program slated from 6-8pm aired upcoming Pinoy bands many of which would later carve their name in the recording and live performance circuit. “Not Radio,” which will go on air from 9pm till sign off, once showcased new music that “pushed the boundaries of rock as we know it.”
Even the final words and music from the Home of New Rock affirm its faith in rock music that once buttered its proverbial bread.
Following the news of NU’s impending “demise” and the possibility of its eventual makeover to a new format, it was further speculated that the station was going through financial straits arising from the non-bankability of rock music among advertisers. Two years ago, a high rating pop station drastically changed its apparently revenue-earning format to a Pinoy talk and pop music programming on grounds that chitchat with pop music was a more appealing combination in drawing radio advertising placements.
NU management has also consistently downplayed the adverse impact of music piracy and free Internet downloads on NU 107’s continuing viability. Arguably, even the marginal effects of these indirect factors contributed in magnifying the financial problems brought on by the already skidding appeal of rock among advertisers.
NU 107 rock fans are quick to point out that refurbishing work of the station’s studios and broadcast facilities after November 7 may take some time to complete. Faithful listeners are hoping that the slots from November 8 until the launch of a new NU 107 next year will still be filled even with snatches of the music that they used to love from the previous Home of New Rock.
Originally Posted by Saga
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