NU 107 (DWNU) was a radio station in Mega Manila that played mainly rock music. It was owned by Progressive Broadcasting Corporation. The station's last studio was located at the ground floor of AIC Gold Tower, F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig.
NU 107 signed off for the last time shortly after midnight on November 8, 2010. The station was reformatted and renamed 107.5 Win Radio (ultimately becoming Wish 107.5).
History
Late 1980s
NU 107 first hit the airwaves on October 31, 1987, being one of two FM stations (the other being Power 105 BM FM (now 105.1 Brigada News FM Manila) that played the latest new wave and punk hits during that time. It was also known as the station that inherited the format of WXB 102 (now 102.7 Star FM), which went off air a few months before the birth of NU 107. Meanwhile, the other rock station on the Metro Manila FM bandwidth, Boss Radio DZRJ 100.3 (now 100.3 RJFM), usually played classic rock of the '60s and '70s unlike NU 107 and Power 105 BM FM. Banker Atom Henares started the radio station in 1987, playing new wave music for about six weeks on the 107.5 MHz frequency. After that, when the station's tagline "The Home of New Rock" was aired and their telephone number was announced, the station's telephone rang for three hours straight. President Corazon Aquino issued an executive order requiring radio stations to air at least three Original Pilipino Music (OPM) hourly; the station asked for contributions from listeners, under the program "In the Raw". The station also instituted the NU Rock Awards, in which the inaugural edition had guests such as Joey Pepe Smith, Freddie Aguilar and Grace Nono, to honor the country's best rock musicians. With Henares were Mike Pedero, who would later become its vice-president, and Cris Hermosisima who would later become the station manager. Back then, its studios were located at the Solidbank Building (now PSBank Center) along Paseo De Roxas in Makati.
1990s
In the 1990s, NU 107 mainly played American grunge and alternative rock hits from bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Silverchair. Also, during that decade, the station played demos and songs from Filipino rock bands, most of which were unsigned. As a result, bands such as The Youth, Yano, Razorback, Wolfgang, Eraserheads, AfterImage and Rivermaya, among others, became highly popular as the Pinoy rock scene surged the airwaves. Later, the station formulated the show "In the Raw", which featured demos from amateur bands.
In 1994, NU 107 held its first NU Rock Awards, which honored the country's most distinguished rock artists every year. The NU Rock Awards was held annually until 2010.
Furthermore, NU 107 had a music chart show, the "Midnight Countdown", which was held every Sunday midnight, charting the top 12 rock songs every week. Among the most popular hits that topped the "Midnight Countdown" were "Paris" by Filipino band Chicosci (which lasted 52 weeks) and "Shimmer" by American band Fuel (which lasted for a year).
Among the popular radio shows on NU 107 during the '90s were "The Crossroads", which played blues and classic rock; "Euro Rock", which played European rock music; "Against the Flow", which played Christian rock; and "Not Radio", which played foreign indie music; and the morning show "Zach and Joey in the Morning". By 1994, NU 107 emerged as the number one in the AB market, or the upscale listeners, among commercial radio stations in Metro Manila at 32% according to the Radio Research Council, Inc. The station also opened their fourth station in Davao City to go along with its flagship Metro Manila station, and Cebu City and Iloilo City stations in the Visayas.
This period saw NU 107 introducing a number of innovations in the Philippine music scene. Another innovation was the idea of the NU 107 Pocket Concerts, which were concerts held in various malls. Prior to this, concerts of that size were simply not held. They became relatively common after the success of the first NU 107 Pocket Concerts.
2000s
NU 107 then played nu metal music (popularly known among Filipino rock fans as the "kupaw" subgenre) popularized by Filipino bands Slapshock, Greyhoundz, Queso (formerly Cheese), and Chicosci (formerly Chico Science); and foreign bands like the Deftones, Korn, Limp Bizkit and Slipknot. Later, the station popularized Cebuano rock bands like Urbandub, Frank!, Sheila and the Insects, Junior Kilat, and Franco.