DZVI

DZVI,^[1] operating as 105.3 Radyo Natin Padre Garcia is a low-power, community FM radio station licensed to serve Padre Garcia, Batangas in the Philippines, owned and operated by the Manila Broadcasting Company's Radyo Natin Network and its municipal affiliate LM Broadcast and Advertising since October 2016. The station is located at the Maharlika Highway, Barangay San Felipe, Padre Garcia, Batangas and operates daily from 4:30 am to 11:00 pm.

Station history

2000s-2014: Dual affiliation and inactivity

Radyo Natin Padre Garcia first went on the air on 105.5 FM as a dual affiliate of MBC and the Philippine branch of the Faith Broadcasting Network, heavily carrying religious programs during Radyo Natin's clearance for local programming and preempting the latter, except during news of utmost importance.

The station was noted for occasional lengthy disclaimers from FBN disassociating its religious content from that of MBC's and American broadcasters who were already fluent with Filipino providing its program stingers and sermonettes.

Due to lack of funding and frequency conflicts, the station was forced to close down by mid-2014. The frequency, however, alternated between distant feeds from Calapan City and Angeles City, Pampanga during the interregnum.

2016-present; Revival and new investors

In October 2016, investors led by veteran Lipa City disk jock Queenie Kinita resurrected the station on a test broadcast, this time as a full MBC-Radyo Natin station. In the latter months, the revived station recruited more personnel, including former CitiBeat 102.3 jocks and Batangas blocktimer Larry Karangalan. Faith Broadcasting Network remained with the station, albeit as a late-night block.

On March 2017, veteran Batangas freelance journalist Ron Lozano joined the station

Area of coverage

Radyo Natin Padre Garcia covers the central-southern part of Batangas, with the eastern barangays of Batangas City as its southernmost limit, south-central Lipa to the north, and San Antonio, Quezon to the east.

Broadcast frequency conflicts

The station was also beset with frequency assignment conflicts with Calapan City-based DWOM at 105.5 MHz in the early 2010s. The latter, broadcasting with a stronger 1 kW output constantly posed problems to the Padre Garcia station's southern broadcast range on the eastern parts of Batangas City as both signals overlapped. Furthering the dilemma was if the former moved to 105.3 FM, it could pose problems to Tayabas-licensed DZCT. That station, however moved to 97.5 FM in 2014 but the DCG-Radio TV Network later reactivated the old frequency as a repeater to its Manila flagship. The Tayabas repeater, however, was later shut down.

On January 15, 2017, Radyo Natin Padre Garcia was given the clearance to move to 105.3 FM after years of broadcasting at 105.5 FM.

References