My own take on Bombo vs. Aksyon

In his blog, Point of View, Mr. Boy Mejorada presents a very insightful analysis about the often noisy war over the airlanes between local radio stations. I would like to add my own views on the subject, being an avid radio listener, not only for news, but for interviews and commentaries.

I agree that bombo remains number one because of the sheer immensity of the resources being thrown by its management into the rating game. I have known most of the personalities at Bombo and I am quite familiar with the "dirty tricks" employed by the network to capture the "listeners" during surveys. That's not to say that the other stations are not employing similar strategies and tactics. But what bombo is doing is comparable to carpet bombing in the war against Iraq. The enemy is simply overwhelmed by superiority of resources, i.e., money.

However, this Florete media organization is not responding to the challenge as effectively as it should. Instead of spending money on surveys, it should be utilizing resources to attract, and develop, new talent. That translates to offering better pay for talented young graduates, or even pirating veterans from rival stations. This is apparent in the quality of the broadcasters in the bombo organization. It has a shallow bench. Even its management team is composed of neophytes who don't really have a good grasp of the playing field.

The good talents have no incentive to stay long in the bombo organization. As correctly pointed out by Mr. Mejorada, they seize the chance to build a name with the Bombo station, and then run for political office. There is also the internal strife afflicting the station. Factions thrive in the organization which is managed by people with no managerial expertise. It is a ship leaking all over the place, and the rats are racing to jump into the sea.

With this trend, it won't be too long before Aksyon Radyo can actually overtake Bombo for the supremacy in listenership. The broadcasters at Aksyon Radyo are filled with a burning desire to topple the giant. History is replete with classic examples of how underdogs succeed in defeating the defending champion.