MANILA – The podcast version of a hit afternoon radio program narrating stories of love and heartbreaks and a roundup of top news from ANC are leading the charge as ABS-CBN continues to strengthen its presence on the audio streaming space.

'Dear MOR’ was hosted by DJ Popoy and the late DJ Jasmin before ABS-CBN was denied a franchise to air on free TV and radio. These days, it consistently lands on the top 10 of audio streaming platform Spotify's podcast chart.

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As podcast consumption in the Philippines saw a significant increase amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kapamilya network released several podcasts last year to continue to reach out to audiences beyond what used to be its traditional radio and TV platforms.

Enjoying huge success among ABS-CBN's roster of podcasts is MOR Entertainment's 'Dear MOR: The Podcast.'

This podcast premiered May 29, 2020, shortly after FM radio MOR 101.9 went off-air following the ABS-CBN broadcast shutdown. But going the podcast route was in the works even before that and even before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to its executive producer Mark Marcos.



"Knowing na audio ang pinakabenta ng MOR, ito 'yung pinaka-logical route na puwede nating i-take si (Dear MOR) program in the future kasi nga since the world is going digital," Marcos said.

(Knowing that audio is the market of MOR, this is the logical route - podcast - for the program to take in the future since the world is going digital.)

The hit ABS-CBN podcast is a mix of new episodes from the 'Dear MOR' online show on Facebook and YouTube and old episodes which aired on radio MOR 101.9.

'Dear MOR: The Podcast' started to climb the Spotify chart early this year. Since then it has been in the top 10 and would even reach number 1 on some days.

"Late 2020 nasa chart na kami pero hindi kami nagcha-chart na parang nasa top 10 kami or nasa top 20. Pagpasok ng 2021, pumasok na kami sa top 10. Ang biro ko nga sa mga kasama ko is parang 'okay na 'yan, nasa top 10 na tayo' pero dahan-dahan siyang umaangat. Napapansin namin everyday umaangat siya. Very overwhelming siya," Marcos said.

(Late 2020 we are in the charts already but not that high like in the top 10 or top 20. Come 2021, we entered the top 10. I jokingly told my colleagues that 'it's okay, we are already in the top 10' but suddenly we saw that we started to rank higher, little by little. That was overwhelming.)

As of November 2021, 'Dear MOR: The Podcast' currently has racked up more than 5.4 million streams with more that 300,000 active listeners from 79 countries.

ANC PODCAST IS MOST STREAMED ABS-CBN NEWS PODCAST

Meanwhile, the 'ANC Podcast,' a collection of reports produced by the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), has the most number of all-time plays on Spotify with 413,700 among the ABS-CBN News’ suite of podcasts.



The five-month old 'ABS-CBN News Flash' comes second with 110,600 all-time plays. A quick roundup of the day's latest news delivered by ANC anchor Karmina Constantino, ABS-CBN News Flash is the only daily news podcast to regularly enter Spotify's daily top 100 charts of Philippine podcasts.

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Also on Spotify are the podcast versions of weekday ANC shows 'ANC Market Edge' and 'After the Fact.'

ABS-CBN News' sports podcast 'Post-Game,' meanwhile, continues to provide listeners with up-to-date discussions on sports goings-on. Since its launch in June, 'Post-Game' has delved into a number of topics ranging from the Olympics, the Philippine Basketball Association, and Manny Pacquiao, with guests consisting of current Filipino sports stars and legends.

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Just recently, ABS-CBN News released its first Halalan 2022 podcast, 'POV:XYZ,' anchored by TeleRadyo hosts Tony Velasquez and Danny Buenafe. It aims to provide a forum for the youth to voice out their thoughts on the upcoming elections.

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Currently, ABS-CBN has a total of 18 podcasts on Spotify, some of which are also available on Apple and other audio streaming services.

ABS-CBN News podcasts can also be streamed on the ABS-CBN News app and the ABS-CBN Radio app.