More Programming Problems on AksyonTV With Entry of Shop Japan

Shop Japan’s entry to AksyonTV only made things worse for the said network. (Logo courtesy of Shop Japan Philippines)

Shop Japan has now infiltrated AksyonTV’s programming.

The infomercial series first aired on weekends at 12:00 p.m., originally in lieu of reruns of the defunct KBO block. Nowadays it airs specifically during most vacant programming hours, replacing the reruns of defunct AksyonTV-produced programs while serving its purpose as filler programming during a lull in sports or news coverage.

Shop Japan was first introduced to TV5 last year in response to ABS-CBN’s establishment of the O Shopping block. The said program currently airs on TV5 every day as the network’s final program prior to sign-off, airing almost at the same time as rival O Shopping.

Shop Japan became the first infomercial program on TV5 since the combination of EZ Shop, Venta5 and Winner TV aired on its predecessor ABC-5.

Shop Japan also airs on BEAM Channel 31, which also happens to broadcast the infomercials of rivals O Shopping and TV Shoppe.

The entry of Shop Japan only furthers the growing gap between AksyonTV and its rival sister stations. There is nothing wrong about TV5’s decision to bring Shop Japan to its sister station, but airing them very often only provided further complications.

For instance, the PBA coverage on TV5, Radyo5 92.3 News FM and AksyonTV forced several Radyo5-simulcast programs to adjust their schedules during weekday doubleheaders. But beginning with the Governors’ Cup, only the final 60 minutes of ‘Punto Asintado’ is simulcast on AksyonTV, giving away the first 30 to Shop Japan instead.

The presence of Shop Japan simply hampered AksyonTV’s hopes of refurbishing what has been a declining product. The said network has depended a lot on Radyo5, News5 and Sports5 programs to keep it afloat, but as it stands, little to no improvement has been made on TV5’s sister station when it comes to its lineup.

Only time will tell when AksyonTV will finally come to its senses. At this point, however, the network has nowhere else to go.

Back to ‘Normal’ Ways for AksyonTV

AksyonTV brought back reruns of programs such as ‘Cocktales’ following the conclusion of the 2014 Asian Games. (Photo credit: Daphne.ph)

After sharing the coverage of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the Asian Games with TV5, it is back to ‘normal’ for the embattled AksyonTV.

The conclusion of these sports events means that re-runs of old AksyonTV and TV5 programs were once again occupying the network’s vacant hours.  Other than the ongoing NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the rest of AksyonTV’s content reverted back to where they were in the summer of 2014.

AksyonTV’s return to a rerun-based programming does not help their cause at all, and it is clear that they are in extremely bad shape to compete against the likes of ABS-CBN Sports+Action, 9TV and GMA News TV.

Back in May, I wrote about the need to improve AksyonTV’s programming. In summarizing the needs of AksyonTV to improve in order to be competitive, here are my suggestions:

1. Eliminate the dependence of simulcasting TV5’s newscasts, and produce their own that do not conflict with the mother network.
2. Make Radyo5’s ‘Orly Mercado All Ready’ as the main morning show of the network.
3. Produce more original programs.

Since then, however, AksyonTV’s programming quality got even worse, despite the return of Radyo5 programs ‘Aksyon Solusyon’ and ‘Remoto Control’ to the fold.

In July, the network stopped producing ‘Aksyon Breaking’ and ‘Aksyon Weather’ updates, as well as ‘Andar ng mga Balita’ and ‘Balitang 60’. Then in September, old programs such as ‘Cocktales’ and ‘Wasak’ were brought back.

In addition, the network decided not to air new episodes of ‘Demolition Job’ and ‘History with Lourd’, as well as a new program called ‘Unang Tikim’. Instead previous episodes of KBO were re-aired, much to the dismay of its viewers.

For AksyonTV, this is an already alarming situation. Instead of trying to improve the network’s programming quality, it seems like the management is becoming extremely casual in operating the lackluster station, especially when there are no sports events to cover.

If TV5 wants to upgrade and improve the status of its UHF counterpart, the management should start acting on this matter right now. Otherwise, AksyonTV’s days will be numbered, to the point where a permanent sign off is difficult to resist.

AksyonTV is definitely a good network to watch. But with the kind of programming they have right now, this will not help their standing among the other major UHF networks.