DZRH and its 69 years
of public service

Manila Broadcasting Company’s flagship station DZRH turns 69 on July 15, and being true to form, celebrates the important milestone with special public service initiatives.

Through "Operation Tulong" – the station’s socio-civic arm, a three-pronged health mission will be conducted, in response to medical, dental, and optical needs of the listening public.

Simultaneously, DZRH will mount a job fair onsite at the MBC Complex along Sotto Street, just off Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City. Labor-intensive industries with open positions for sales, telecommunications, business process outsourcing, information technology, and other fields have been invited to take part.

DZRH, popularly known by its tagline, "kauna-unahan sa Pilipinas," first went on the air in 1939 as KZRH. Then a single-kilowatt radio station owned by businessman H.E. Heacock, KZRH was based in Escolta, which at that time was the financial district of pre-war Manila.

Being the local broadcasting pioneer, KZRH played a vital role in the events that shaped the Second World War, and it eventually became known as the Voice of the Philippines. KZRH was the only media witness to the surrender of the United States Armed Forces to the Japanese Imperial Army in 1942.

After the war, the Elizalde family took over its helm and infused funds to rebuild the station. It also drew a roadmap for the station’s orientation toward grassroots entertainment by featuring singing competitions on the air – a deeply ingrained pastime that remains popular among Filipino audiences to this day.

By 1949, under the directive of the Swiss Commission, it became known as DZRH. That same year, the station began airing the radio drama "Gulong ng Palad," which changed the face of radio programming and became the most popular daytime series in radio history.

Through the years, DZRH developed a sharp nose for the news, and an overwhelming compassion for the common man. Quite easily, it carved a solid niche in the hearts of the public – ably combining programming thrusts in the fields of popular entertainment, responsible journalism, and social consciousness.

In 1996, MBC Chairman Fred J. Elizalde conceived his vision of "One Nation, One Station" spurring on DZRH to expand its reach and cover an unprecedented 97% of the Philippine archipelago – the only station in the country on a 24-hour nationwide simulcast via satellite to relay stations located in key provincial cities.

Its innovative news team has also taken new media by the horns and now uses internet radio and live chats to link up with Filipinos overseas. Recently, the station gained new ground by broadcasting over cable TV as RHTV Radyo Vision, under the auspices of Infocom Technology’s Cube iTV and soon, the Federation of International Cable TV Associations of the Philippines.

Armed with this capability, DZRH continues to be a nerve-center for public service, not just responding to the needs of the man-on-the-street, but even more importantly, as a vital cog in large-scale disaster-relief operations.