The 2014 FIFA World Cup is on ABS-CBN Sports

This June 12, football enthusiasts will once again converge as the 2014 FIFA World Cup takes place in Brazil. The month-long tournament will feature 32 nations playing in 12 different cities, 16 of which will survive to play in the knockout rounds, a four-tiered stage that will determine the winner of the FIFA World Cup Trophy.

The Philippine broadcast rights for this year’s World Cup will be held by ABS-CBN Sports. Balls Channel (SkyCable Channel 34, Destiny Cable Channel 36) will show most live games, with several others airing on a delayed basis. The complete schedule can be seen below.

Schedules for the 2014 FIFA World Cup on the Balls Channel.

For football enthusiasts without cable subscription, ABS-CBN Sports+Action will show some of the games, both live and on a delayed basis. The list of the preliminary round matches on the network can be clicked on this link.

In addition, SkyCable will provide a season pass for every live World Cup game in high definition. The season pass costs P1999, and is only available to subscribers with an HD digibox.

The FIFA World Cup attracts millions of viewers from around the world, and this year’s edition is no exception. And while 2010 winner Spain and host nation Brazil will be among the favorites to win the Cup, this tournament is also expected to feature some surprising victories along the way, one that will see less favored nations make an upset or two that would captivate and shock football fans.

This year’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil should be exciting to watch. And football fans can’t wait.

Asianovela Nostalgia Continues with Lovers in Paris

‘Lovers in Paris’, the original Korean series, will re-air beginning in late June on ABS-CBN.

First there was ‘Meteor Garden’ on ABS-CBN. Then came ‘Jewel in the Palace’ on GMA. And now the Kapamilya network is bringing back another classic Asianovela, in what has become a seemingly endless exchange for both networks.

It was announced earlier this week that ABS-CBN will bring back the original Korean version of ‘Lovers in Paris’. The series, considered as the first Koreanovela aired in the country, was a huge hit with viewers when it first aired in 2005. Its success would later translate to an equally popular Filipino adaptation, starring KC Concepcion and Piolo Pascual, which aired in 2009.

The popularity of ‘Lovers in Paris’ also led to a response from the Kapuso network. Their answer was ‘Jewel in the Palace’, which also became a huge hit in the same year, and is currently re-aired in the late weekday afternoons.

As the title suggests, ‘Lovers in Paris’ is a story of a businessman named Carlo (Park Shin-Yang) who fell in love to a film student/housekeeper named Vivian (Kim Jung-Eun) in the French capital of Paris. The couple’s relationship would blossom, but not without some challenges to overcome.

‘Lovers in Paris’ is expected to premiere around late June, and is likely to replace the Lee Min-Ho starrer ‘The Heirs’ in the late afternoon slot.

For nostalgic Koreanovela fans, this is another classic series to watch and reminisce. ‘Lovers in Paris’ proved to be a big hit the first time around, so a lot is expected for the show once it airs again this month. But then again, ABS-CBN has been strong in the ratings game, so there is no doubt that the encore presentation of ‘Lovers in Paris’ will become a hit again.