LAST week, we honored radio's on-mike personalities who made an impact on the medium. This week, we focus on the men who worked behind the scenes to make their radio stations stand out in this very competitive field where there are close to 60 radio stations in Metro Manila alone.

The broadcasters we cite this week are trendsetters and are responsible for many of the innovations that are often taken for granted. Thanks to them, radio continues to be a vibrant medium of communication.

Henry Canoy started with one 500-watt radio station, DXCC, in Cagayan de Oro. Today, his Radio Mindanao Network operates more than 45 stations in more than 40 cities and provinces.

His network managed to thrive despite the intense competition offered by the majors. Most networks start in Manila and expand to the provinces. Canoy started in Cagayan de Oro and Mindanao before he took on Manila with the help of Don Andres Soriano. His station DZHP made waves after being on the air a short time and introduced a new kind of programming in Metro Manila in the 1960s.

Today, RMN is still a significant part of the radio industry and has responded to the changing times by changing the format of many of its stations.

As ABS-CBN's point man for radio, Nitoy Escano helped the network attain its position of leadership in the industry. This included working on the technical aspects of broadcasting, setting up microwave links that would bring together all of the network's radio stations in the Philippines. Before long, ABS-CBN could claim that it was "the Philippines' largest network."

Escano was an innovator. The idea of Radyo Patrol came to him when he was in the US listening to a radio station with a similar format. It was Gumsy Alba, he says, who gave the name. It was Escano's responsibility to handle operations when Radyo Patrol finally broke out. The first problem was logistics. The group needed vehicles, mobile communications and good reporters. That meant investing in people and machines and considering that news operations were not moneymakers then, it was difficult to convince management to approve the budget. When the approval came, it was to be the start of a very successful enterprise that led to spin-offs like TV Patrol.

Federico Elizalde's Manila Broadcasting Company through its stations DZRH, DZPI, and DZMB, was the acknowledged leader during the golden days of radio when it aired popular soap operas, comedy shows like "Tang-Ta-Rang-Tang," adventure shows like "Kapitan Kidlat," detective dramas like "Johnny Davao," horror shows like "Gabi ng Lagim," women's shows like "Reyna ng Vicks" and sports coverage of major events by Willie Hernandez.

Before television came in and stole the primetime evening hours from radio, MBC dominated the field as Elizalde managed to attract the more popular show biz personalities to his network. "One nation, one station" was his battle cry as he built a powerful transmitter that reached major cities all over the country. He utilized short wave to broadcast to farflung areas.

Today, MBC continues to be a major player in the radio field with stations covering the entire archipelago thanks to the vision of Elizalde.

Ramon Jacinto organized his band, RJ and the Riots, because of his love for rock music so it was only natural that when he set up a radio station, he would fill the airlanes with rock. DZRJ became known as "The Rock of Manila" because of its devotion to this musical phenomenon.

When he set up an FM station, RJ-FM played nostalgia music that appealed to the baby boomers. He brought in veteran announcers like Bong Lapira and Jo San Diego to complete the atmosphere of the good old days. The idea caught on and emboldened him to open up Bistro RJ lounges around Metro manila.

The highest form of flattery is imitation and Radyo Patrol is one concept that's been copied by many stations, retaining even the word Patrol, which unfortunately cannot be patented by any broadcast entity. The original Radyo Patrol was born in the late 60s, thanks to a group of ABS-CBN executives headed by Jake Almeda-Lopez, Nitoy Escano and Gumsy Alba.

Almeda-Lopez is credited for working out the general concept behind the idea and putting in a strong word with his cousin, ABS-CBN head man Geny Lopez. The Radyo Patrol group was considered a separate entity from the News Department and reported directly to Escano and Lopez. The first batch of announcers included Orly Mercado, Mario, Garcia, Joe Taruc and Ismael Reyes but Almeda-Lopez himself took to the field to report the news.

Radyo Patrol broke new ground because up to that point many radio stations depended on newspapers for news stories. They did not take advantage of radio's immediacy, its ability to bring the news to the listeners as it happens. In the '60s news coverage was a losing proposition. Advertisers were not yet aware of the vast audience that news can command. Radyo Patrol accelerated the development of radio news reporting.

Narciso Pimentel and his colleagues from Dramatic Philippines produced "Kuwentong Kutsero," a precedent-setting radio satire that poked fun at the establishment, specially government personalities, in the 50s and 60s. Originally aired on DZRH, it became too hot for management because of its hard-hitting potshots at President Elpidio Quirino so it moved to DZBB, then owned by Bob Stewart, who was perceived as not easily cowed by government pressure.

Through such memorable characters as Lolo Hugo, Lucas Pacascas, Dayunyor, Cruz Pasang Cruz, Anton Alanganin and many others, the show exposed the foibles of politicians and government officials with humorous episodes that delighted radio audiences for many years.

Pimentel and his group were also responsible for other radio hits like "Kapitan Kidlat" and "Oras Ng Romansa."

Dick Taylor is credited for establishing a radio station that set new trends in the industry. He was picked by RMN owner Henry Canoy to manage the network's first radio station in Manila, DZHP in the early 60s.

DZHP excelled in broadcast journalism. When the station boasted, "you hear it first on DZHP," it wasn't kidding. The station's news staff, composed of Ed Tipton, Milt Alingod, Frankie Abao, Ronnie Nathanielz, with Larry Cruz as news director, made sure it got the news ahead of everyone else.

Dick automated the station's music programming. There were no DJs that played the records. Everything was on tape, even the time check. The station played middle-of-the-road music that appealed to executives and people on the go. When the station's DJs did go live, they came on late at night and were called personality announcers, guys like Joey Lardizabal, Harry Gasser, Jose Mari Velez, and Joe Cantada.

Dick also put up a capsule studio that he moved from one location to the next to bring the station closer to the people.

Koko Trinidad is considered the "Father of Philippine Radio" because of his pioneering efforts in developing the medium. Starting out as a radio announcer in the 1920, the first Filipino to be so designated, he rose to become general manager of the country's government broadcasting network in the 1960s. In that position, he shielded his stations from political interference and resisted efforts from different sectors to use his stations for propaganda. Instead, he patterned his programming after the British Broadcasting Corporation which concentrated on public service and educational shows. Unlike the BBC which was supported by subscriptions from owners of radio sets, Koko's stations had to depend on meager budget allocation from the government. Not easily discouraged, Koko arranged exchange deals with some companies so he could broadcast live coverage of news events here and abroad and produce public service shows..

He realized the tremendous reach of radio and used his station to air instructional programs for the classroom nationwide in cooperation with the Bureau of Public Schools. One of his stations also aired the proceedings of Congress and the Senate.