It began on October 19, 1953, when DZAQ, the forerunner of DZMM was the first radio station of the former ABS (Alto Broadcasting System) of the Quirinos under President Elpidio Quirino's brother, Antonio (originally came from the pre-1953 experimental station DZBC), opened its doors as a radio station using the Filipino language in its broadcasts, following what DZBC had done before as the first-ever radio station in Manila using Filipino instead of the English language used by other stations at that time. DZAQ 620 kHz featured news, variety and music programs on an AM format which then the progenitor of DZAQ-TV 3. Eddie Ilarde, Ike Lozada, German Moreno and Joey de Leon were the personalities of the station at that time. Its first radio studios were in Manila, sharing the same building with the television studios. In 1957, with the opening of the then new ABS radio and television studios in Pasay City, the DZAQ radio studios moved there.