987FM


987 is a Singapore's first 24-hour English music radio station of Mediacorp Radio in Singapore. It plays English hits from Singapore, United Kingdom, United States, and around the world. 987FM is the sole contemporary hit radio station broadcasting on the FM frequency band in Singapore. 987 was launched as Perfect Ten 98.7FM on New Year's Day 1989 at midnight SST as Singapore's first 24-hour music radio stations in English language. Its studio is current at Mediacorp Campus, Mediapolis.

History

Perfect Ten 98.7FM (1989-2005)

987 was launched on New Year's Day 1989 at midnight SST as Perfect Ten 98.7FM with ten DJs, the first 24-hour English radio station in Singapore. It broadcast from Caldecott Broadcast Centre.

987FM (2005-now)

Perfect Ten 98.7FM became 987 with new slogan "Only The Hits" on 27 June 2005. 987's studio moved out of Caldecott Broadcast Centre on 19 July 2010 and it broadcast from *SCAPE along Orchard Road at 2 Orchard Link for three years. 987 moved back to Caldecott Broadcast Centre on 20 May 2013 after its tenancy with *SCAPE expired. On 17 January 2017, 987 studio moved out of Caldecott Broadcast Centre and into the brand new Mediacorp Campus, Mediapolis @ one-north.

Content

Music

987 adopts the Contemporary Hit Radio radio format, with the majority of the playlist consisting of music from the 2010s, along with a minority of hits from the late 2000s.
On Saturday nights, Spinnin' Sessions features one hour of dance anthems by label Spinnin' Records. On New Year's Eve annually, there will be a countdown of the year's biggest hits on 987, played out over a 10-hour period, with a repeat on New Year's Day.

News and current affairs

News, sports, weather, and traffic bulletins on 987 generally air at the top of the hour.
The traffic updates are aired at half-hour intervals in the mornings, lunchtime, and evenings.
The news bulletin is provided by CNA938. Prior to November 2017, the news bulletin was only aired during primetime hours. In November 2017, Mediacorp mandated the news bulletin to be aired every hour. On weekdays, the news is aired hourly from 7:00am to 9:00pm, while on weekends the news is aired hourly from 10:00am to 7:00pm.
Prior to 2017, the commercial breaks were at :00, :15, :30, :45 minutes past the hour, and the news bulletin was aired at the :45 break. On 23 January 2017, the commercials were cut from 4 to 2 breaks per hour at :20, :40, and the news bulletin was moved forward to the top of the hour. During the Ad Free 50 on weekday afternoons, the breaks are at :00, :50 minutes past the hour.

Awards

Controversies

In May 2007, The Muttons were suspended for a while due to their participation in No Bra Day, an activity that was sponsored by FHM Singapore and featured young models competing to see who could remove their bras in the fastest time possible. A video taken in the studio was posted on YouTube and the resulting uproar from viewers forced the station to pay S$9,800 to the Media Development Authority of Singapore for 'inappropriate and offensive content'. Muttons in the Morning was then replaced with The Dan and Young Show. They soon came back to 987FM in July 2007 for the late night slot show, now called Muttons To Midnight.
In July 2009, Chew Soo Wei, was sacked by the programming director, Daniel Ong, over alleged claims of failing to put on an American accent and issues with proficiency of the English language. Listeners expressed disdain that it was unfair for DJs with local accents to be discriminated while DJs who speak with an American accent receive preferential treatment.
In March 2010, it was announced that Ris Low would be joining the 987 crew and hosting the evening drive-time show. There was a huge outrage among listeners over her unprofessional attitude, including turning up more than 2 hours late for her first radio show and usage of poor English.
In March 2012, Shan Wee left 987 in February 2012, a 'ManHunt' was conducted to find a replacement for Rozz's co-host on the morning show. Listeners were invited to audition for the spot from 12 to 16 March 2012 and were told that they stood a chance of getting a spot on 987. However, it turned out that Rozz's new co-host is Bobby Tonelli from neighbour radio station, Class 95FM. It was speculated that the auditions were a waste of time and effort and simply just an advertising strategy to gain more listenership.

Frequencies