If there is one department that ABS-CBN needs to improve, it’s the News and Current Affairs department.
Starting this week, the NCA afternoon block, formerly known as ‘Pinoy True Stories’, will have a new look. Four new programs will make their debut on the newly-revamped block, with only ‘Tapatan ni Tunying’ retained from the previous group.
The new programs are:
Mission Possible
Hosted by Julius Babao, ‘Mission Possible’ will showcase inspiring stories from struggling individuals, no matter the circumstances. At the end of the program, a surprise gift will await the featured person.
‘Mission Possible’ airs every Monday.
3 in 1
Hosted by Karen Davila, K Brosas and Atty. Claire Castro, ‘3 in 1’ will discuss a wide variety of topics, from news to general interest stories. The talk show will be seen live every week.
‘3 in 1’ airs every Tuesday.
RealiTV: Mga Bidyong Nakakabilib
Hosted by Atom Araullo, ‘RealiTV: Mga Bidyong Nakakabilib’ will feature death-defying home videos from various parts of the world. Warning: this program is not for the faint of heart.
‘RealiTV: Mga Bidyong Nakakabilib’ airs every Wednesday.
Sports U
Hosted by Dyan Castillejo, ‘Sports U’ will profile the lives of Filipino athletes from various sports. The program will be a spinoff to the long-running ‘Sports Unlimited’.
‘Sports U’ airs every Thursday.
The four programs will replace ‘Bistado’, ‘My Puhunan’, ‘Mutya ng Masa’ and ‘Red Alert’. It is the third such revamp on the NCA block since it moved to the afternoon slot nearly three years earlier.
This latest turnover clearly shows the lack of consistency within ABS-CBN’s News and Current Affairs department. While news programs such as ‘TV Patrol’ made the said department one of the most credible, it is their public affairs programs that still need some work, both in terms of storytelling and longevity.
For the ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs, establishing these attributes begin with these four new programs and ‘Tapatan ni Tunying’. If GMA proved that with their award-winning public affairs programs, so can ABS-CBN, and it all starts now.
The ABS-CBN NCA block airs weekdays after ‘Fated to Love You’ on Kapamilya Gold, available only on select areas nationwide.
From the Tube 
Here are some observations:
Mission Possible – it is something looking like Wish Ko Lang’s old format or Mutya ng Masa’s
3-in-1 – Maybe they will something offering for the Filipina. The show’s format is like The View of the US.
Realitv – Throwback videos from the ABS-CBN archives, obviously.
Sports U – They will continue the tradition of Sports Unlimited in the show. Marc Nelson is out, but the style and quality will be continued.
Tapatan ni Tunying – Sa lahat ng mga programa sa NCA, ito lang ang dinowngrade talaga, saan ka makakakita ng isang hard hitting commentator na nagkwekwento lang sa kanto kasama ang mga ordinaryong Pilipino?
Only “Mukha”, which is shown on Monday late nights ang may NCA standards.
This is un-NCA-like for ABS. These programs look more like entertainment shows than a public affairs one. What a downgrade.
I find the line up very weak. Among the 5, I bet only realitv would fare well with viewers, the rest will be beaten by GMA’s lineup. they should’ve retained May puhunan (not a ratings winner but a socially relevant show). they should have come up with programs that would rival GMA’s I-witness and reporter’s notebook. Ibalik na lng kaya nila yung the correspondents? Or storyline? I doubt it will happen.
Kahit may award na ang My Puhunan, nacancelled na rin. Sayang naman.
Too bad.
GMA has the Peabodys to back it up because their storytelling abilities are superb. If ABS can win a Peabody, they should take storytelling very seriously and consistently, not with a taint of entertainment.
There are established NCA programs which are SOCO, Failon Ngayon, The Bottomline and Rated K. NCA changed their programming to tailorfit audiences in the metro since its the same timeslot as the regional newscasts. NCA had finally got the greenlight to do this after months of deliberation, since there is a prevailing school of thought na dpat pang nationwide ang weekday NCA block. If you will think about it the programs that were axed cater to a wide variety of audience ngaun mas tailorfit na ito for urban consumption.
But in doing so, the newest NCA programs are now more of an entertainment-oriented variety than a public affairs one. They can’t be competitive with their GMA counterparts with this downgrade.
Downgrade or not if this new programs rate well then it shouldnt be a problem. Mukha is taking care of the documentary problem, while The Bottomline is awarded as Public Affairs, News Magazine for Rated K and MKNML Failon Ngayon and Soco for publice service. They are all covered. So it doesnt make sense to create a similar type of program if you have already something for that.
Let’s just hope ABS sticks with them for the long term. They can’t afford to make short fixes again like they did this week.
By the way, what is MKNML? I don’t understand what you mean.
Mga Kwento Ni Marc Logan. Yes but I think the heyday of NCA type of programs in local channels has long passed eversince ANC, DZMM Telaradyo, GNTV came into the picture. If people wanted these type of shows they can go to these channels anyways iisang department lng nman ng kanya kanyang station ang nagpoproduce. Just saying.
You do have a point. There are many ways now to get some much-needed insight on various topics, from radio to free and cable TV. No more dependence on one particular format or genre.
Ang novelty kasi ng watching nca or news is ung pagka fresh at exclusive ng story eh dahil sa iisang department lng ang namamahala malabo na maging relevant pa ung programs plus may news channel at radio stations pa sila.
You’re saying na walang pakialam ang ABS kung hindi mag-rate ‘to as long as they make something fresh, is that what you’re saying?
No what i am saying is with ANC and DZMMTeleradyo it will be difficult for ABS to have fresher and exclusive stories aired in Channel 2. May website pa at social media. Yes they may have different programs but since its under one department malabo na nde ito maging shared services. For example an explosive story happenning during the day are already covered with ANC and DZMMTeleradyo may online and social media news pa. By that time its TVPatrol na wala na ang novelty ng pagka exclusive nito since na report na ito sa ibang sister networks. Or a human interest story might be interesting but if its already been featured in other shows from sister networks, then it looses novelty. Di na kasi priority ng staff ang NCA block sa Ch.2, kasi may buong araw silang kailangang i fill up sa ANC
In short, mabilis na lumalabas ang mga balita dahil sa mga sister stations nila, and that when aired on Channel 2 it’s essentially a summary.
More of a rundown which doesnt help either I wish TV Patrol/24 oras will just discuss 4 issues with live guests as resource person and leave the news delivery on the NCA timeslot.
They may end up becoming a commentary-based program rather than a news program based on your suggestion, which doesn’t bode well to both programs.
It could be similar sa primetime newscasts sa regional at international news tulad ng cnn at fox.
I see.
Interesting discussion and POVs on the program change. 🙂
I remember, ABS-CBN used to have very intelligent NCA shows on late night during weeknights in the 90s. But this was discontinued.
Especially when they can’t get better audiences by airing it on late nights.
Speaking of afternoon programs Bagito is slated to end this March and to be replaced by Inday Bote
Call it a total turnover from the end of last year as far as their afternoon shows are concerned.
What will happen to the Red Alert radio show on DZMM?
Too bad that Bistado was the last holdout from the Pinoy True Stories block.
I don’t know.
There is still Red Alert on Sundays on DZMM. It airs at 10 am.
Speaking of informative programs, but not related with NCA programs, do you still remember the time when Filipino TV networks aired “Embassy Films” and Film Features from the 1950’s until the 1980’s?
Sorry no.