96.3 WRock is undeniably one of the country’s most respected radio stations. In Manila, Bacolod, Cebu and Davao, where the WRock format broadcasts, people love to listen to it mainly because the station plays a considerable amount of AC or adult contemporary songs, a breather from the over-crowded market and overly colossal commercialism of the “masa stations”.

In the Cebu City particularly, taxi drivers, college students, malls, moms, business men and even some stalls along Colon are tuning in to the station. Many have become big fans of their jingles, with one cut that goes “singing along with every song, to dot tot tot tot. You play my lite rock favorites all day long, 96.3 WRock”. Their jingles of course were resings of the most celebrated jingle package of the 90s -- TM Century’s KLite.

96.3 WRock, whichever market it is, always has a good knack for quality broadcast content. Lately however, the WRock bough in Cebu has been showing some very unlikable attention-calling broadcast practice that may threaten the reputation of the station.

What’s referred to here is the seemingly inappropriate way of delivering content recently being made by WRock announcers. In one occasion (September 11, 2007), a female DJ of 96.3 WRock Cebu who handles the midday program, bungled her tips segment. Instead of trying to sound friendly and infuse a conversational tone, the midday female DJ delivered her advice segment like she was newscasting. Imagine giving tips to your listeners that sounded like Korina Sanchez doing an English newscast.

But even with a newscast-form of delivery, the female DJ’s way of giving her tips was found to be very awkward. The female DJ was giving out tips on stress management, a very handsome piece of material for a lunch-time program. However, the DJ made things even shoddier when her newscasting-way-of-delivering sounded like she was reading a newspaper. Another unpleasant delivery of the female DJ was that she was reading her material rapidly.

This calls then for another case of radio boo-boos. Many have already been used to the street lingo and the bubbles of “masa” stations. But not for a reputable station like WRock. People look up to WRock as a good medium not only for entertainment but also for information. If announcers are to give advice and tips for their listeners, they must sound sincere and they must deliver it in an honest and passionate manner. WRock should review and consider this matter seriously. Make it a point that announcers sound as good as your station’s playlist. Do not just brag about being the country’s only and number 1 lite rock station.

This is also a big reminder for DJs across all formats. There is a time to read and a time not to. Make sure if you read a material in front of the microphone, do it as if you are not reading anything. Be conversational and don’t deliver tipsies that sound like reprimands.