10 years ago today, 103.5 K-Lite made its comeback.
THE RETURN OF THE COMEBACK
The original 103.5 K-Lite was on air from October 1995 to November 2006. Initially having an Adult Contemporary format, it switched to a Modern Adult Contemporary format sometime in 2003. By 2007, the station ventured into a series of formats; Heart, carrying an Easy Listening format during the first half of 2007; Max FM, which initially carried a Top 40 format until the middle of 2009, when it switched to a dance format; and Wow FM, which carried a mass-based format from 2010 to 2013.
When 103.5 K-Lite returned on air, it initially carried a Hot Adult Contemporary format, focusing on music from the mid-90s to the present. Its first slogan was "The Hits and Lite Favorites".
Among its programs were Faster Than Lite, which aired hard rock music; Lite Wave, which aired new wave music; and Classic Lite, a Sunday morning program which aired 70s & 80s music. Prior to the premiere of the latter program, K-Lite featured a couple of Wednesday morning segments, 80s @ 8, which aired 80s music at 8am; and 90s @ 9, which aired 90s music at 9am.
THE STRUGGLE
After Holy Week of April 2014, K-Lite switched to a Top 40 format and carried the slogan "The Beat of Manila", which was similar to sister station Magic 89.9's summer slogan. Being the third Top 40 station under the Tiger 22 umbrella, it wasn't able to make much of an impact.
In mid-August, K-Lite switched to a Classic Hits format, dubbed as "Metro Manila's Take Me Back Station". Unlike the typical Classic Hits station, it focused on music from the 90s to mid-2000s.
SETTLING DOWN
By late November, K-Lite returned to its Adult Contemporary format, this time expanding its timeline focus from the 90s to 5 years behind the current year, and has retained its format since. It also introduced Past Forward, a Wednesday program that airs music from the 80s.
Sometime in 2016, it adapted the slogan "The Hits of the 90s and 2K, Today", which resembles the slogan used by the original K-Lite during the early 2000s. Meanwhile, its old slogan "The Hits and Lite Favorites" is currently used in Past Forward.
PANDEMIC STRUGGLE
On April 26, 2020, a month after ECQ was implemented, K-Lite went off the air. From June to July that year, an unidentified station went on air on that frequency. I'll discuss that in another blog.
It was only on January 5, 2021, when K-Lite went back on air, this time on a daily 14-hour automation broadcast. At the same time, it brought back Faster Than Lite, this time as a segment of Past Forward, where it airs 80s remixes from various DJs.
In mid-May, the DJs and staff of the station were laid off due to the then-ongoing economic effects of the pandemic.
CHANGING HANDS
In September 2021, K-Lite's parent company Advanced Media Broadcasting System was sold to the Villars and is currently a subsidiary of Planet Cable. Luckily, the station's format was retained. It was only a few months later when it began picking up steam.
In May 2022, K-Lite launched its TV simulcast on cable and digital TV. It coincided with the return of Jaybee, with Alyssa (from 87.5 FM1) joining the station the following month. Throughout the following months, it launched a few segments, including Dear Joe.
The beginning of this year saw the premiere of Simmer Down Sundays, a Sunday program which airs easy listening music.
CRANK IT UP
K-Lite has enjoyed some resurgence when it went to the hands of a new owner. One can only hope that it will last for the years to come.
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