Billboard Hot 100 – August 6, 2016

Here are the Top 10 songs from the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of August 6, 2016.

1. Sia feat. Sean Paul – Cheap Thrills. No. 3 last week.

2. Drake feat. WizKid & Kyla – One Dance. No. 1 last week.

*Due to copyright issues and a lack of an official music/lyric video, no video is available for the song.

3. Calvin Harris feat. Rihanna – This Is What You Came For. No. 4 last week.

4. Justin Timberlake – Can’t Stop the Feeling!. No. 2 last week.

5. The Chainsmokers feat. Daya – Don’t Let Me Down. No. 5 last week.

6. Twenty One Pilots – Ride. No. 6 last week.

7. Rihanna – Needed Me. No. 7 last week.

8. Kent Jones – Don’t Mind. No. 9 last week.

9. Desiigner – Panda. No. 8 last week.

10. Adele – Send My Love (To Your New Lover). No. 10 last week.

All videos of the Top 10 songs can be viewed above. Our thanks to Billboard for this week’s Hot 100 Top 10.

Advertisement

Delamar’s Last Day on RX

Chico and Delamar, a radio institution for over 20 years, is no more after the latter’s decision to depart ‘The Morning Rush’ on Monster RX 93.1. (Photo credit: The Morning Rush Official Facebook)

One of Philippine radio’s icons is taking a leave for good.

Monster RX 93.1 DJ Delamar Arias announced last week that she will leave ‘The Morning Rush’, the show she had been co-hosting with Chico Garcia since 1996. Her departure will leave a big hole on the long-running show, which earned numerous awards and even released three critically acclaimed books based on ‘The Morning Rush’ Top 10 segment.

Delamar’s decision to leave ‘The Morning Rush’ surprised and saddened many of its loyal listeners. After all, her partnership and chemistry with Chico and later with Gino Quillamor led to the immense popularity of the show, and in the process, led to the creation of other rival morning shows, such as Magic 89.9’s ‘Good Times with Mo’.

No reason was given for her departure, but according to Delamar, she had thought about leaving ‘The Morning Rush’ for over a year now. With two children to take care of, Delamar has been coping with both her family life and radio life for a long time now, which may have influenced her decision to leave recently.

Finally, to quell fans’ fears, she clarified that she will not migrate to another country nor work for another radio station. Considering how loyal she was with RX for over 20 years, this was a touching declaration for her.

Delamar’s last day on ‘The Morning Rush was Friday. After that, RX will need to figure out a way to fill a big void left by the popular DJ and mother of two.

For now, though, it will be up to Chico and Gino to hold the fort. Come this Monday, a very different ‘The Morning Rush’ will emanate the airwaves.

News5 Anchors Go Solo, But Is It Worth the Risk?

News5 is making changes, sort of.

As reported yesterday by MediaNewser.com, three of TV5’s ‘Aksyon’ newscasts will have just one anchor each. The anchors for each newscast are:

• Cheryl Cosim (Aksyon sa Umaga)
• Raffy Tulfo (Aksyon sa Tanghali)
• Ed Lingao (Aksyon Tonite)

This was in reaction to the recent departures of several News5 talent (e.g. Martin Andanar and Cherie Mercado), some of whom were hired by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. As for ‘Aksyon Prime’, they will retain a two-anchor setup with Erwin Tulfo and Luchi Cruz-Valdes.

The one-anchor setup actually got underway with ‘Aksyon sa Tanghali’, when TV5 chose not to give Raffy Tulfo a replacement partner starting July 18. However, the possibility of just one anchor on the newscasts was not realized until Cheryl Cosim hinted recently on Instagram of her last remaining days as co-anchor of ‘Aksyon Tonite’.

View this post on Instagram

#AngHulingLinggoKo #AngHulingArawKo sa #AksyonTONITE … Maraming Salamat po sa inyong suporta mga Kapatid. Mami-miss ko kayo gabi-gabi pero mananatiling kasama n'yo si Bok Ed and @liadcruz . Simula August 1 sana'y samahan n'yo ako tuwing umaga 5am sa #AksyonSaUmaga

A post shared by cherylcosim (@cherylcosim) on Jul 27, 2016 at 7:31am PDT

‘Aksyon sa Umaga’, the other newscast that Cheryl anchors nowadays, will be most affected by the new setup. The show will lose co-hosts Grace Lee, France Noguera, Renz Ongkiko, Jeff Caparas, and Atty. Mel Sta. Maria, and viewers could feel concerned about the impracticality of one anchor handling a long 90-minute newscast.

Despite the decision, criticism continued to haunt News5, especially their decision to retain Raffy Tulfo for ‘Aksyon sa Tanghali’. As noted previously in Part I of News5 Needs a Revamp, ‘Aksyon sa Tanghali’ was mostly sensationalized and similar to Raffy’s radio show ‘Wanted sa Radyo’, thanks in large part to the ‘Itimbre Mo Kay Tulfo’ segment.

Many also criticized News5’s decision to drop Atty. Mel Sta. Maria from ‘Aksyon sa Umaga’. Considering that both Cheryl and Atty. Mel were praised for giving new life and credibility back into the newscast, this was a decision that will undoubtedly question News5’s commitment to improve its news programs.

The truth is, Luchi Cruz-Valdes should have done a lot more. Using just one anchor for three of the ‘Aksyon’ newscasts will not change how viewers negatively perceive News5, especially when the presence of the Tulfo brothers were brought up to the discussion.

That said, it is obvious that a full-scale revamp is still a necessity for News5. Unless they promote more deserving reporters to anchor status, hire fresh graduates from journalism and mass communications courses, and change their approach to news reporting to a more ‘global’ approach, News5’s negative reputation will continue to haunt them in the years to come.

Koreanovelas Add to GMA News TV’s Woes

GMA News TV added Koreanovelas to its ever-confusing lineup. (Promotional photo courtesy of GMA Network)

It is hard to tell what kind of network GMA News TV is right now.

In the last three years, From the Tube has been able to dissect the programming issues that surround the sister channel of GMA Network. Whether it is movies, drama series, reruns of public affairs shows, boxing matches or even TV shopping blocks, the true identity of GMA News TV continues to be a question mark.

Now add another wrinkle to this ongoing dilemma. Enter Koreanovelas on GMA News TV.

It all started on July 11, when News TV began to air reruns of three Koreanovelas, namely ‘Empress Ki’, ‘Pinocchio’, and ‘The Producers’. All three were broadcast on GMA’s Telebabad block a few years ago, each with varying degrees of success.

By re-airing Koreanovelas from the parent network, GMA News TV is once again defying the notion that they are indeed a news channel. To make matters worse, the management made the network look as if they are a mirror image of Channel 7, or perhaps the second coming of the old QTV.

What happened to the slogans ‘Oras-oras, Alam Ko’ and ‘Serbisyong Totoo’? It doesn’t make any sense.

The issues surrounding GMA News TV have been well-documented since their 2011 rebrand. As far as the most critical viewers are concerned, News TV is ill-equipped to be a news channel based on content alone.

Let’s face it, a revamp should have been in the works for this channel at this point. Even rival AksyonTV, a one-time news channel, is gradually morphing into a sports channel in the mold of ABS-CBN Sports+Action.

That said, it is never too late for Bro. Eddie Villanueva and Nessa Valdellon to finally give up on this venture. GMA News TV is going nowhere fast, and adding Koreanovelas only made things worse.

GMA Koreanovela to Oppose Dolce Amore

The high cost of running ‘Encantadia’ is currently felt throughout GMA Telebabad.

As director Mark Reyes earlier revealed, ‘Encantadia”s production budget is ‘roughly equal to two primetime shows or three non-primetime shows‘. As a result of these huge expenses, GMA was left with no choice but to resort to two Koreanovelas as a cheap alternative on their Telebabad block over producing another local drama.

One of these Koreanovelas happen to be the next opponent of ABS-CBN’s ‘Dolce Amore’. The latter series, starring Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, has given GMA a lot of problems, having defeated ‘That’s My Amboy’ and the short-lived ‘Once Again’ by big margins.

It is clear to GMA that they can no longer beat the more popular tandems of ABS-CBN. With that in mind, their only course of action now is to stop chasing either LizQuen, KathNiel (Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla) and JaDine (James Reid and Nadine Lustre), and air a Koreanovela in its place, which is exactly what they’ll do tonight.

Enter ‘Descendants of the Sun’, the hit Korean drama that starred Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo. The series’ plot revolves around a love story between a doctor and a soldier stationed within Greece and the Balkans.

‘Descendants of the Sun’ ran for 16 episodes in its native Korea. In the Philippines, however, it is expected to air for roughly 20-25 episodes, which is still a typically short run for a GMA Koreanovela.

The other Koreanovela in question is ‘The Healer’, which unlike ‘Descendants of the Sun’, will only air three times a week. The series will star Ji Chang-wook, Park Min-young and Yoo Ji-tae.

In its native Korea, ‘The Healer’ ran for 20 episodes. This equates to roughly 30 episodes once it airs in the Philippines.

As two Koreanovelas permeate the Telebabad lineup, GMA is now feeling the sting of frustration. After the rough start that the new ‘Encantadia’ endured, it won’t be long before GMA admits its mistake of investing heavily on the fantaserye over more important projects (e.g. digital and high-definition broadcasts).

That said, two Koreanovelas on Telebabad could only be a short-term solution to compensate for the heavy expenditures of ‘Encantadia’. But as far as GMA is concerned, these two may not be enough to solve its ratings and broadcast issues.

‘Descendants of the Sun’ airs after ‘Encantadia’, while ‘The Healer’ airs after ‘Juan Happy Love Story’ on GMA Telebabad.

Billboard Hot 100 – July 30, 2016

Here are the Top 10 songs from the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of July 30, 2016.

1. Drake feat. WizKid & Kyla – One Dance. No. 1 last week.

*Due to copyright issues and a lack of an official music/lyric video, no video is available for the song.

2. Justin Timberlake – Can’t Stop the Feeling!. No. 2 last week.

3. Sia feat. Sean Paul – Cheap Thrills. No. 5 last week.

4. Calvin Harris feat. Rihanna – This Is What You Came For. No. 4 last week.

5. The Chainsmokers feat. Daya – Don’t Let Me Down. No. 3 last week.

6. Twenty One Pilots – Ride. No. 8 last week.

7. Rihanna – Needed Me. No. 7 last week.

8. Desiigner – Panda. No. 6 last week.

9. Kent Jones – Don’t Mind. No. 9 last week.

10. Adele – Send My Love (To Your New Lover). No. 12 last week.

All videos of the Top 10 songs can be viewed above. Our thanks to Billboard for this week’s Hot 100 Top 10.