FTT Year 2014 in Review: TV5

Another year is about to end. But before the calendar flips to 2015, here is a look back at the year that was in television and radio. This article will focus on TV5, who made the transition from a mainstream to an alternative station this year.

The Positives

2014 was a year of change for TV5. And some changes were for the better.

A heavily-criticized coverage of the previous PBA season led to several tweaks in TV5’s current schedule. Initially made to benefit the NCAA, the FIBA World Cup, the Youth Olympics and the Asian Games, this was then implemented for the PBA, which was welcomed by fans after expressing their disgust with last season’s coverage.

The year also saw TV5 broadcast other major sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, the U.S. NCAA men’s basketball tournament, and the Winter Olympics. Furthermore, they aired the games of the ‘Batang Gilas’ in the 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship, keeping in step with the moves made by ABS-CBN Sports.

TV5 viewers also witnessed the premieres of highly-praised weekly series ‘JasMine’ and ‘Trenderas’, as well as a new game show in ‘Quiet Please! Bawal ang Maingay’. TV5 also collaborated with both E! and Wattpad to broadcast ‘It Takes Gutz to Be a Gutierrez’ and ‘Wattpad Presents’, respectively, to good reviews.

And finally, News5 garnered some awards from various bodies, particularly in the programs ‘T3: Enforced’, ‘History with Lourd’, ‘Yaman ng Bayan’ and ‘Bigtime’. ‘It Takes Gutz to Be a Gutierrez’, ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ and ‘Celebrity Dance Battle’ were also honored.

The Negatives

The transformation of TV5 was not without some obstacles, however.

When TV5 revealed its programming lineup for 2014, one of the upcoming programs mentioned was a Philippine adaptation of ‘Pretty Little Liars’. Unfortunately for the network, the project never materialized, even as they denied rumors that it was ‘shelved’.

Not all of TV5’s programs under Noel Lorenzana’s new initiative paid off. The programs that were cancelled in his first full year in charge include the likes of ‘SpinNation’, ‘What’s Up, Doods’, ‘The Mega and the Songwriter’, ‘Killer Karaoke Pinoy Naman’, ‘Face the People’ and ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’.

TV5’s sports coverage was also not spared. Early this year, the Kapatid network introduced ‘Moneyball: Dribol op da Pipol’ to its PBA and NCAA coverage, much to the dismay of the more informative and knowledgeable viewers; eventually TV5 relented by moving ‘Sports5 Center’ to the livestream format (as ‘Sports 360’).

AksyonTV, TV5’s sister network, was severely crippled by News5’s programming changes, particularly after the cancellation of its original programs and newscasts ‘Andar ng mga Balita’ and ‘Balitang 60’. As a result, the network became overly dependent on TV5’s programming, which is not a good sign for a news/sports channel like AksyonTV.

The sex scandal involving News5 anchor and Rescue5 leader Paolo Bediones in September also demoralized the network. While he left ‘Aksyon Tonite’ in the midst of the controversy (he was later replaced by Ed Lingao), he did return to host ‘Demolition Job’ and Rescue5 short videos once the impact of his scandal dissipated.

But perhaps the biggest news coming out of TV5’s camp was the departure of Sharon Cuneta. A P1 billion signee of the network a few years ago, Sharon joined TV5 with high expectations, but shows such as ‘Sharon: Kasama Mo Kapatid’, ‘The Mega and the Songwriter’ and ‘Madam Chairman’ failed to deliver.

And finally, there is the annual issue of TV5’s overreliance on Tagalized foreign movies, as well as reruns of local programs.

Outlook

TV5 has already unveiled a list of new and returning programs for 2015, which will be discussed in detail very soon.

It was not a bad year for TV5, even with all the changes that took place. With a new year looming, Lorenzana and company now hope to build on these gains even further, though changes are still to be made as the year progresses.

‘It Takes Gutz to be a Gutierrez’ Heads to TV5

A ratings hit on E!, ‘It Takes Gutz to be a Gutierrez’ will now cross over to free TV, as TV5 picked up the series starting this July.

The highly-rated E! reality show ‘It Takes Gutz to be a Gutierrez’ is now headed to a bigger audience.

TV5 has announced that the series starring the Gutierrez family will premiere this July 5. ‘It Takes Gutz to be a Gutierrez’ will replace ‘Celebrity Dance Battle’, whose final episode will air tomorrow.

The series will showcase the personal, business and family lives of siblings Richard, Raymond and Ruffa Gutierrez, along with their parents Eddie Gutierrez and Annabelle Rama. It will also feature guest appearances from the other members of the Gutierrez family, as well as celebrity friends and staff.

‘It Takes Gutz to be a Gutierrez’ has been a ratings hit for E!. The reality series broke the network’s ratings records, not only in the Philippines, but also in Southeast Asia. It was also a hit in social media, particularly when Richard introduced audiences to Zion, his son with girlfriend Sarah Lahbati.

The free TV premiere of ‘It Takes Gutz to be a Gutierrez’ is only one of several programming changes that TV5 will implement this July. New seasons of ‘Face the People’, ‘Let’s Ask Pilipinas’ and ‘Talentadong Pinoy’ will also premiere, albeit with new hosts, while new programs ‘Trenderas’ and ‘Quiet Please’ will also join the network’s revamped lineup.

It should be an interesting quarter of change for the Kapatid network, beginning with the clan dubbed as the ‘Asian Kardashians’.

Three TV5 Shows Off the Air This Weekend

The Clear Dream Match will highlight TV5’s weekend slate of programs this week.

Three TV5 shows will not be seen this weekend for various reasons.

The Clear Dream Match, pitting the teams led by James and Phil Younghusband, will be aired live on TV5 tonight at 8:00 p.m. The all-star football exhibition match will also feature two English football legends: Manchester United’s Paul Scholes and Andy Cole. The match will be held at the University of Makati Stadium.

Due to the Clear Dream Match, ‘One of the Boys’ and ‘Celebrity Dance Battle’ will be preempted for this week. New episodes for both shows will resume next week.

Meanwhile, TV5 also reported that the second episode of ‘JasMine’ will not air tomorrow. According to the report, the taping for that particular episode last Friday was halted after one of the production staff members allegedly had an unpleasant experience with a stalker. Director Mark Meily then ordered its staff to pack up, after which TV5 executives held an emergency meeting. A statement regarding its suspension has yet to be released.

The suspension of ‘JasMine’ was surprising, considering the series starring Jasmine Curtis-Smith had an auspicious debut. Now viewers must hope that its suspension will not affect the momentum that ‘JasMine’ generated from the previous week.

And for viewers of News5 programs, it was decided that TV5 will only air one newscast during weekends. This means ‘Aksyon Weekend’ will be the lone news program on Saturdays, while ‘Pilipinas News Weekend’ will be the lone news program on Sundays.

It should be an exciting and promising weekend for the Kapatids at TV5, as the Younghusbands attempt to break the tie in tonight’s Clear Dream Match.

TV5 Continues its Rebuild

The painful rebuilding process continues for TV5, in an effort to earn a sizable audience.

Over half a year ago, TV5 established its ‘Weekend Do It Better’, ‘Karunungan, Balita at Opinyon’, and ‘Everyday All the Way’ blocks. However, as the calendar flipped to 2014, these programming blocks were deemphasized and it appears TV5 is not satisfied with how they turned out.

Through the first four months, TV5 gradually brought in new programs as part of its continuous restructuring process, which also included a relocation away from its old Novaliches headquarters in favor of the newly-opened TV5 Media Center in Mandaluyong. The adjustment to a new location was difficult though, as the staff attempted to learn new digital-based methods in producing its programs.

In the news department came in Saturday night public affairs series ‘Kaya’ and ‘Yaman ng Bayan’, and the Thursday night program ‘Bigtime’. On the other hand, ‘Good Morning Club’ once again claimed its position as the only morning news program with a running time of under two hours, when management decided to cancel the ‘Good Morning Girls’ and ‘Good Morning MamuTin’ segments (which were taped as opposed to live broadcast on other programs), and renamed ‘GMC’ as ‘Good Morning Ser’.

In terms of entertainment, TV5 replaced ‘Madam Chairman’ with ‘Confessions of a Torpe’, while introducing another ‘tawaserye’ in ‘Beki Boxer’. On the other side of the spectrum, ‘Celebrity Dance Battle’ essentially replaced ‘Killer Karaoke Pinoy Naman’, though the latter program remained on air until April, when it was finally cancelled in favor of the sitcom ‘One of the Boys’.

And finally, TV5 partially satisfied basketball fans by airing live PBA games almost every day in primetime, including an increase of Saturday broadcasts to two games. But with the network’s broadcast of the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympics (and potentially the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup) a few months away, it is expected that more adjustments will be made in terms of accommodating the network’s sports coverage.

That said, TV5 should not stand pat and continue improving its lineup for the long term. It is a difficult and painful process, but when done right, the network’s fortunes should pay off.

Now what to do with AksyonTV? The question will be answered in another article.

By Popular Demand, More PBA Games on TV5

TV5 will now air at least seven live PBA games per week with the addition of a Monday playdate and the second game of a Saturday doubleheader.

After the highly successful broadcast of the Philippine Cup playoffs, the PBA and TV5 have agreed to make some changes to the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup schedule beginning today.

Mondays will now be a regular part of the PBA schedule, with a special Tuesday playdate scheduled for March 25. Previously the Monday and Tuesday playdates were utilized only when necessary and during the playoffs. But with the PBA already running behind schedule, and with preparation time a must for the Gilas players, the addition of a Monday playdate is an absolute necessity for the league to devote to the national cause.

In addition, TV5 will now air both doubleheaders on Saturdays, as opposed to only one during the Philippine Cup and early in the Commissioner’s Cup. As a result, TV5 will now have at least seven live games per week as opposed to only five in the original setup.

But while the Kapatid network will broadcast two games live on weekends, the original weekday format will remain the same, with only the second game airing live at 8:00 p.m., and the first game airing ‘via satellite’ at 11:10 p.m. AksyonTV will still carry all the games live.

Thanks to the addition of a second Saturday game, TV5’s ‘Weekend Do It Better’ schedule will now be as follows:

Saturdays

2:45 – PBA first game

4:45 – Aksyon Weekend

5:15 – PBA second game

7:15 – Tropa Mo Ko Unli

8:15 – Celebrity Dance Battle

9:15 – Killer Karaoke Pinoy Naman

10:15 – Kaya

11:15 – SpinNation

Sundays

3:00 – PBA doubleheader

7:15 – Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

8:15 – Wow Mali Pa Rin

9:15 – Sunday Sineplex

10:45 – Juan Direction

11:15 – Pilipinas News

The PBA Commissioner’s Cup will be taking a break from April 3-6 to give way to the All-Star Game, which is expected to bring back the PBA All-Stars vs. Gilas format of the previous year. The single-round nine-game eliminations will end on April 20.

 

TV5’s First New Shows of 2014

TV5’s ‘Obsession’ follows the same blueprint used in ‘Positive’, this time tackling the issue of cosmetic surgery.

Next week on ‘Everyday All the Way’, TV5 will unveil a new weekly drama series in ‘Obsession’. Like ‘Positive’, ‘Obsession’ will tackle issues concerning the health of the human body. This time, the series divulges into the world of cosmetic surgery, where the main character obsessed with her former lover assumes a new post-surgical identity. The series will be headlined by Bianca King, Neri Naig, Marvin Agustin and Martin Escudero, and will replace ‘For Love or Money’ at the 8:00 p.m. slot.

Cycle 2 of ‘Asia’s Next Top Model’ will also be seen on TV5. The Asian adaptation of ‘America’s Next Top Model’ will have a pair of Filipinos in Jodilly Pendra and Katarina Rodriguez compete against 14 other aspiring models in hopes of becoming the next top model. The series airs starting tonight replacing ‘Positive’ at 9:00 p.m.

In addition, TV5 has also unveiled a mix of new and returning programs that will be seen over the next few months. Returnees include ‘Talentadong Pinoy’ (albeit without original host Ryan Agoncillo), ‘The Amazing Race Philippines’, and ‘The Million Peso Money Drop’. Upcoming titles will include ‘For All the Boys’, ‘My Pirated Family’, ‘Minamahal’, ‘The Baker King’, ‘My Fair Lady’, ‘Pretty Little Liars’, ‘Jasmine’, ‘One Boy’, ‘Beki Boxer’, ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ and ‘Celebrity Dance Battle’. Details of the new shows should arrive once the teasers are revealed.

And even as TV5 unveiled new programs, some existing ones had to go. Both ‘What’s Up Doods?’ and ‘The Mega and the Songwriter’ were presumably cancelled by management for ‘not living up to expectations’. And there is also the uncharacteristically early sign-offs on nights without PBA games, after AksyonTV original programs like ‘Cocktales’, ‘Crime Klasik’, ‘Wasak’ and ‘Chef vs. Mom’ were cancelled. Simply put, the management handled by Noel Lorenzana and Wilma Galvante have a long way to go before stabilizing the network’s programming.

Nevertheless, both ‘Asia’s Next Top Model’ and ‘Obsession’ should give TV5 something to look forward to this year. They may still be in the experimental stage, but with the way viewers have responded, it appears that this experiment is headed in the right direction.