‘Killer Bee’ to give last sting before month ends

By Mark Francisco

FM station “Killer Bee” would go off the air for good before the month ends.

It was on Feb. 1, 1994 that Cagayanons started to hear a different kind of music format of a radio station.

FM station 89.3 Killer Bee’s high-end programming starting in the mid-1990s did not necessarily make the station reign the local airwaves but it was able to create a niche market.

“We mainly cater to the middle- and business-class. Thus, we were able to pull in some client-advertisers who know that their target markets are listening to us,” said station manager Ryann Carbon said.

Carbon said they were never worried that the station would not top the surveys.

“Some music stations are scrambling to get the whole pie of listeners. But we have allocated a piece of the pie for ourselves and on that, we don’t have competition,” Carbon proudly said.

In the format of high-end music programming, there used to be two local competitors––NU107 and Sandy 101.

But the two have since folded up presumably because of revenue concerns.

So it was quite a stir when one of the jocks of 89.3 Killer Bee, Jack Fryday, announced on his Facebook page last week that the station would cease operating this April 26.

“It’s true,” Carbon said. “Everything will be off the air, including all our social networking pages. We are sincerely thanking our audience, our patronizing advertisers for trusting us all along these 19 years.”

But then here’s the catch: on April 29, after a three-day hiatus, the 89.3Mhz frequency in Cagayan de Oro will be launched with a totally new brand––Magic 89.3.

Magic 89.3 will be joining four other stations nationwide to become daughter stations of their mother flagship, Magic 89.9, Manila’s premier music station when it comes to high-end programming.

High-end music programming is loosely described as having a round-the-clock playlist of only the newly released songs by the current roster of recording artists.

Carbon, who will still manage the new station, said they will be injecting more “aggressive programming” to the new brand.

These will include a syndication of Magic 89.9’s famed and sometimes controversial show Boys Night Out.

Ryan Seacrest will also join on board for a syndicated Top 40 countdown.

Here in the local front, Carbon (known as Litolryan on air), will be joined by Jack Fryday, Commander Chuck and Mandy.