DYSR (95.1
FM), broadcasting as SR95, is a
radio station
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...
owned and operated by the
National Council of Churches in the Philippines
The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP; tl, Sangguniáng Pambansâ ng mga Simbahan sa Pilipinas) is a fellowship of ten Protestant and non Roman Catholic Churches in the Philippines denominations, and ten service-oriented organ ...
. It is part of the
Magic Nationwide network. Its studio and transmitter are located at Camp SEA Site, Brgy. Banilad,
Dumaguete
Dumaguete, officially the City of Dumaguete ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Dumaguete; fil, Lungsod ng Dumaguete), is a 3rd income class component city and the capital of the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a p ...
. The station broadcasts daily from 5:30 AM to 12:00 MN.
History
DYSR-AM
1950-1975: Beginnings
The station began as DYSR-AM as a test broadcast on July 1, 1950 beginning only two hours of broadcasting time in the evening, following the approval of House Bill #896 to establish DYSR. At that time, the station was owned by
Silliman University
Silliman University (also referred to as Silliman or SU) is a private university, private Research institute, research university in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, the Philippines. Established in 1901 as Silliman Institute by the Presbyte ...
as a
nonsectarian
Nonsectarian institutions are secular institutions or other organizations not affiliated with or restricted to a particular religious group.
Academic sphere
Examples of US universities that identify themselves as being nonsectarian include Adelp ...
and
non-profit educational station.
Operating at 840
kilocycles
The cycle per second is a once-common English name for the unit of frequency now known as the hertz (Hz). The plural form was typically used, often written cycles per second, cycles/second, c.p.s., c/s, or, ambiguously, just cycles (Cy./Cyc.). The ...
, the station at that time also operates as a
shortwave
Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...
station, operating at 6055 kilocycles on the 49 meter band.
The station would continue test broadcasts following the initial July 1 broadcast, with the notable extension of broadcasting hours and additional programming,
until it was inaugurated on August 26, 1950.
[The July 8 issue of '' The Weekly Sillimanian'' mentions August 27, 1950, the eve of Silliman's founding, the inaugural date, while it was moved to August 26.]
Its initial staff of DYSR-AM includes Roy Bell as the director of DYSR, Abby Jacobs as the
program director and Eliseo Araneta leading the
engineering department
An engine department or engineering department is an organizational unit aboard a ship that is responsible for the operation, maintenance, and repair of the propulsion systems and the support systems for crew, passengers, and cargo.
These includ ...
of DYSR. Silliman's faculty working as part-time staff of programming includes Mary Reese as
music director
A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...
, Boyd Bell as director of
farm programming and Justice Venancio Aldecoa (1926–December 14, 2017) as assistant director of farm programming. The latter later became the president of Silliman University from 1983 to 1986.
DYSR-AM became one of the notable firsts in Dumaguete radio when the station was launched, having notable in the following:
*The first radio station to launch in Dumaguete. (Launched on August 26, 1950)
*The first to be broadcast in
shortwave
Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...
.
*The first to air a
radio drama
Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
as part of the programming schedule.
*The first to air select programming in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and in
Cebuano
DYSR studios and its AM and shortwave
transmitters
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...
at launch were located at the Guy Hall at Silliman University, where the College of Mass Communication was also located before moving to the Emilio T. Yap Hall in 2011.
It was then later moved to Camp SEA Site in Banilad.
1975-2006: Later years
DYSR-AM was notable for relaying what's known to be the city's first night flight on March 29, 1975, that led a
Fairchild C-123K Provider
The Fairchild C-123 Provider is an American military transport aircraft designed by Chase Aircraft and then built by Fairchild Aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. In addition to its USAF service, which included later service with the Air Force Re ...
aircraft landing safely in
Sibulan Airport
Sibulan Airport ( Cebuano: ''Tugpahanan sa Sibulan''; Filipino: ''Paliparan ng Sibulan''; ), also known as Dumaguete Airport or Dumaguete–Sibulan Airport, is an airport serving the general area of the city of Dumaguete, located in the province o ...
. At that time, the airport did not have runway lights until it was installed 42 years later. The provincial
Philippine Constabulary
The Philippine Constabulary (PC; tl, Hukbóng Pamayapà ng Pilipinas, ''HPP''; es, Policía de Filipinas, ''PF'') was a gendarmerie-type police force of the Philippines from 1901 to 1991, and the predecessor to the Philippine National Po ...
headquarters relayed announcements through this station to car owners to go to the airport and light the runway using
headlights
A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for ...
, which various car owners responded to the announcement. The announcement on this station gave
pilot
An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
Eugene Malahay and co-pilot Antonio Paulin time to land the aircraft safely into the airport.
In 1979 or in 1980, when the Philippines switched from the
North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement
The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, es, Convenio Regional Norteamericano de Radiodifusión) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreem ...
or NARBA-assigned 10 kHz to the
Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975
The Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975 (Aka "The Final Acts of the Regional Administrative LF/MF Broadcasting Conference (Regions 1 and 3) Geneva, 1975" or simply "GE75") is the internationally agreed frequency plan which was drawn up to implement the ...
-assigned 9 kHz, DYSR-AM switched frequencies from 840 kHz to 891 kHz. It went off the air sometime in 2006.
DYSR-FM
1992–2005: Early years
DYSR-FM, in the other hand, was launched in 1992,
monikered as "Sweet Rhythms". Throughout its early years as DYSR-FM, various monikers including "Metro Radio" and the first tenure of "SR95", which was then re-used in 2014.
It would become the last FM station to launch in Dumaguete until in 2013, when
DYMD began doing FM operations.
2005–2007: Wild FM
In 2005, the
University of Mindanao
The University of Mindanao is a private, non-sectarian university in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. It is located in Davao City. Established in 1946, the University of Mindanao has ten branches spread over thirteen campuses in So ...
's broadcasting arm,
UMBN, took over the station's operations and rebranded as 95.1 Wild FM. The agreement with UMBN ended in 2007.
2007–present: Killerbee/Magic
In 2007,
Quest Broadcasting
Quest Broadcasting Inc. is a Media in the Philippines, Philippine radio network. Its corporate office is located at Unit 907, 9th floor, Paragon Plaza, EDSA cor. Reliance St., Mandaluyong. Quest operates a number of stations across the country ...
took over the station's operations and rebranded as KillerBee 95.1. In 2013, as part of the rebranding of all Quest provincial stations to be aligned with its
Manila station, the station was renamed as Magic 95.1.
In the first quarter of 2014, the station reverted its branding back to SR95, albeit retaining its format and affiliation with Quest.
Notes
References
Radio stations in Negros Oriental
Contemporary hit radio stations in the Philippines
Radio stations established in 1950
{{coord missing, Philippines