Philippine Cable and Digital Channels Face Issue of Redundancy

Hero is one of several cable channels in the Philippines that was shut down this year due to redundancy in content. (Logo courtesy of Creative Programs Inc.)

Redundancy has become a common theme for cable and digital channels in the Philippines.

In the first half of 2018 alone, viewers witnessed a closure of numerous cable channels in the country. On the local side of the spectrum, there was Hero, TAG, ABS-CBN Regional Channel, CT and 2nd Avenue, and on the international front there was Toonami.

There were also some rebrandings and resurrections of several channels as well. CPI made LIGA the second coming of Balls in time for the FIFA World Cup (replacing ARC, TAG and Hero in the process) while rebranding Lifestyle into Metro Channel, and then the MVP Group converted Bloomberg Philippines into One News.

So why do these things happen to our beloved cable and digital channels? The most cited reason is financial constraints, but it goes deeper than that.

When two channels air similar content with one another, redundancy happens. This is exactly the case that befell the likes of Hero, TAG, CT, 2nd Avenue and Toonami because they feature similar themes and genres with one or several channels.

Hero and Toonami, for example, became victims of cord-cutters and other channels such as Cartoon Network, Boomerang, AniPlus, Animax and even Yey!, which show some anime and action series as well. Same with CT and 2nd Avenue who share some of the programming with sister channels Jack TV and ETC.

Going further back, CPI shut down Velvet in 2014 and moved some of its content over to Lifestyle. Four years later, Lifestyle was rebranded into Metro Channel and is now essentially a second coming of Velvet.

There is also LIGA, which was launched for the FIFA World Cup but is expected to face similar redundancy issues as Balls since its only other source of content are events that air on ABS-CBN S+A. Finally, the rebrand from Bloomberg Philippines to One News has made AksyonTV (a former news channel-turned-T5N clone) redundant, something the MVP Group must address moving forward.

However, redundancy is not limited to cable channels alone. Yey!, for example, has a movie block called ‘Kid Sine’, but some of the films shown here are also aired on sister channel CineMo (under the CineFantasya and CineKomedya blocks).

Yey! also airs reruns of ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids’ while CineMo rebroadcasts ‘Ang Probinsyano’ and ‘Bagani’ on weekends. Such reruns should have been exclusive to Jeepney TV.

These are just some of the examples that face cable and digital channels today. Considering the competitive nature of this business, trying to stay unique and distinct in terms of content is not as easy as it looks.

So the best that these channels can do right now is to remain innovative and wide-eyed to the audience while keeping themselves afloat. This juggling act may be difficult, but when done properly, they can stay on the air for a long period of time.

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Goodbye Jack City, Hello CT

CT, the newest channel created by Solar Entertainment, was launched yesterday. (Logo courtesy of Solar Entertainment Corporation)

After nearly three years, Jack City officially signed off for the last time.

The one-time free TV sister station of Jack TV bade farewell to its loyal viewers last Saturday. But instead of a merger between Jack City and Jack TV, Solar Entertainment decided to keep the Jack TV branding and establish a different channel instead.

Thus, on Sunday, March 22, Solar launched CT on the channel formerly occupied by Jack City. The new channel shares some of the programming of its predecessor, but added comedy programs, talk shows and reality series in its lineup.

According to Solar Entertainment, CT is described as:

“the hippest channel for urban adventurers who have the thirst for thought provoking and buzz worthy shows, blended with citified unscripted series that aims to match the urbanite lifestyle of our viewers, and complimented with urban blended sitcoms and a talk show that completes the entertainment needs of these contemporary individuals.”

Solar added that CT caters to “the tasteful market who enjoy great quality entertainment – day or night – by watching first rate, smart programs, direct from the U.S.” That said, CT’s audience is expected to remain dominated by young urban males, in the same manner as Jack City, while its programming is versatile enough to attract female viewers as well.

As mentioned earlier, CT will feature a number of drama series that were previously aired on Jack City. Thus, the ongoing seasons of series such as ‘Chicago Fire’, ‘Grimm’ and ‘Bones’ will continue to air on the new channel.

In addition, classic comedy programs such as ‘Friends’, ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Will and Grace’ will be re-aired. And for fans of reality and talk shows, CT will also bring ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’, among others, to its lineup.

CT is currently available on the following channels:

• SkyCable Channel 138
• Destiny Cable Channel 64 (Analog) and 138 (Digital)
• Cignal Channel 22
• Cable Link Channel 40

Viewers can only hope that CT will stick much longer than its predecessor Jack City. If Solar can manage this channel well, the better it is for CT to thrive in the long run.