GMA radio stations lead in Mega Manila, Iloilo, and Baguio Ricky Lee conducts 12-week workshop for GMA Public Affairs

GMA radio stations lead in Mega Manila, Iloilo, and Baguio

The Kapuso Network’s radio stations continue to emerge as number one in their respective categories month after month in Mega Manila while its stations in Iloilo and Baguio likewise won in the fi rst quarter as shown in the latest Nielsen Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) data.

Flagship AM station Super Radyo DZBB 594 remained unbeatable in the top spot among AM radio stations in Mega Manila. For the month of March 2021, DZBB registered a total day audience share of 48.5 percent. Its closest competitor only got 25.3 percent.

Similarly, the Kapuso fl agship FM station Barangay LS 97.1 Forever! dominated Mega Manila’s FM stations with an audience share of 33.3 percent while its nearest rival only recorded 19.1 percent.

Ricky Lee Conducts 12-Week Workshop for GMA Public Aff airs

Highly acclaimed screenwriter, playwright and novelist Ricky Lee trained over two dozen writers from GMA Network’s Public Affairs department. Some of the Kapuso Network’s executives and a pool of writers from its Entertainment Group joined the program as well.

In this in-depth workshop, Lee shared his talent and insights on how to craft stories for television and fi lms that capture and move the audience. He also helped participants develop their individual and group storylines.

Lee said the idea of training a team of Public Affairs personnel was intriguing to him, “Working in News and Public Affairs, they should draw their stories from their rich reservoir of real experiences and insights, so they will have a distinct voice.”

“I fi nd the workshoppers to be very open and receptive, which makes the workshops very exciting and challenging at the same time,” he adds.

GMA Public Affairs has been producing groundbreaking and innovative shows on television. Some of its awardwinning public affairs programs include Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, Wish Ko Lang!, Imbestigador, I-Witness, Reporter’s Notebook, and The Atom Araullo Specials among many others.

Recently the department has begun producing innovative primetime drama series with the rom-com Owe My Love on GMA and time-traveling fantasy The Lost Recipe on GTV. This year, GMA Public Affairs is also set to launch the romance mystery Love You Stranger starring Gabbi Garcia and Kahlil Ramos and action-adventure Lolong with Shaira Diaz and Ruru Madrid. GMA’s AM and FM stations in different regions likewise ruled in their corresponding lists for the fi rst three months of the year, based on Nielsen’s quarterly data.

Super Radyo Iloilo DYSI 1323 bested all AM radio stations in Metro Iloilo with a 58.3 percent audience share for the First Quarter of 2021.

Meanwhile, Barangay FM Iloilo DYMK 93.5 took the lion’s share of the FM listenership pie in the area with a whopping 85.1 percent, sparing only 10 percent for the second rank.

For the same period in Metro Baguio, Barangay FM Baguio DWRA 92.7 got a 32.3 percent share which led all FM stations in the area.

Photo by Grasya Orbon

Lee, who turned 73 years old this year, is considered a visionary in the Philippine TV and fi lm industry. He has penned over 180 scripts that include Himala (1982), Salome (1981), and Brutal (1980). He has frequently collaborated with esteemed directors Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, and Marilou Diaz-Abaya. He has also written several books—among them is Trip to Quiapo which has become a must-read for aspiring scriptwriters.

He is a recipient of more than 70 awards, including the 2020 Camera Obscura Artistic Excellence Award from the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP). He is a Hall of Fame awardee at the Metro Manila Film Festival 2019 and was named FDCP Film Ambassador in 2017 for winning at the 2016 International Film Festival Manhattan. He is also one of the 100 Centennial Awardees by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and was given the Natatanging Gawad Urian Life Achievement Award (2003), Gawad CCP sa Sining para sa Literature (2015), and UP Gawad Plaridel Award for Film (2015).