Martinez Documentary, New ‘Kaya’ on TV5 and Other News

The Olympic journey of Michael Christian Martinez will be featured in the documentary ‘Hero on Ice’ tonight on TV5.

Tonight after ‘Aksyon Weekend’, TV5 will air a special 30-minute documentary called ‘Hero on Ice’. The documentary will focus on Michael Christian Martinez’s life, career, and journey that took him from the small SM rinks to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Along the way, viewers will be treated to an all-access look at Martinez’s trip to Sochi and his preparations for the event. Interviews with family and friends, as well as highlights of his Winter Olympics ice skating routines will also be featured.

As a bonus treat to viewers, the documentary will also look back at Martinez’s triumphant homecoming, followed by the press conference and a skating exhibition at the Mall of Asia rink. ‘Hero on Ice’ is hosted by Chiqui Roa-Puno, and will pre-empt ‘Magic Gimik Revealed’ in its timeslot.

Also on TV5, the documentary series ‘Kaya’ returns with a brand new episode, after giving way to ‘Yaman ng Bayan’ last week. In this episode entitled ‘Tindog’, DJ Sta. Ana will take a look at the rebuilding of Tacloban following its destruction from Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). The series airs after ‘Juan Direction’.

With regards to ‘SpinNation’ which is currently airing on repeats, the second season premiere of the program is currently being delayed by Jasmine Curtis-Smith’s taping schedule for her upcoming self-titled suspense/drama series ‘JasMINE’. The series is scheduled to begin this March 25 at 8 p.m., and will also star the likes of Alwyn Uytingco, Matt Padilla, and Vin Abrenica. Along with the weeknight comedy/drama series ‘Confessions of a Torpe’, the two series will highlight another busy month for the Kapatid network, which will also include the PBA Commissioner’s Cup and the US NCAA March Madness.

Speaking of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, the conference begins on March 5, a week after the end of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals. But contrary to what Commissioner Chito Salud had assured, and despite the recent high ratings of the recently concluded Philippine Cup playoffs, the airing schedule from the Philippine Cup eliminations will continue in the upcoming conference, with only the second game of the weekday doubleheaders, first game of Saturday doubleheaders, and both games of Sunday doubleheaders airing live on TV5. However all of the games will be shown live on AksyonTV.

And finally, the US NCAA March Madness will begin in mid-March, and like the preceding Winter Olympics, coverage of the games will be shared by TV5, AksyonTV, Hyper and Cignal HD. With that, good luck to TV5 and its affiliate stations on a busy month to come.

The PBA Needs GMA More Than Ever

The only way the PBA can salvage its television coverage is if it airs on GMA (particularly GMA News TV). But that may only be done once the TV5 contract either expires or is bought out.

This was not a far-fetched idea, but I think the PBA should air its games on GMA in the foreseeable future. In the wake of the issues regarding its television coverage on TV5, the possibility of PBA games on the Kapuso network (or at least its sister network GMA News TV) is as close as it can get.

This was in line with commissioner Chito Salud‘s statement that they will not allow a UHF network to air a PBA game again. There are seven VHF television networks in the country today. Of the seven, only ABS-CBN, TV5 and GMA has a wider reach. However, all three networks have a loaded primetime lineup, forcing the PBA to look elsewhere. In the past, they have aired games on PTV-4, RPN-9 and IBC-13, all three of which were owned by the government. However, neither has the reach nor the technology that the three major networks can offer. While TV5 aired PBA games before (during the ABC-5 era), at the time they were still an ‘alternative’ network, which unlike today’s TV5 is a bit less mainstream than those offered by ABS-CBN and GMA 7.

So why the PBA needs to have its games aired on GMA? First, GMA has two VHF television channels: GMA 7 and GMA News TV 11. Because the former has a loaded programming lineup, the games will likely be seen on the latter, whose offerings were news and public service programs, if nothing else. GMA News TV’s more flexible lineup will make it easier for the PBA to put its games on that network. Second, GMA badly needs sports programming. As written on a previous post, GMA’s only known coverage of live sports were Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. boxing matches, which were infrequent compared to basketball coverage. By inking a contract with the PBA, the GMA Sports division will be legitimized and at par with ABS-CBN and TV5’s sports divisions. And finally, GMA has a wider reach, clearer signal, and the technological resources, keys in which it would help raise the overall viewing audience.

At the moment the PBA and TV5 continue to debate over the coverage of the upcoming Governors’ Cup. If this debate drags on for a few more weeks, audience interest over the PBA may wane over this issue. Look at how ABS-CBN has done to the UAAP; interest over the league rose since it took over the broadcast of the games in 2000. That was sustained growth and progress; unlike the PBA, where despite the resurgence of in-game attendance, it continues to suffer in television viewing audience through five different channels. What the PBA needs is a major network deal with GMA, and barring any major issues in television coverage, the Kapuso network and the PBA may be together for a longer period of time. But not now, perhaps in the foreseeable future.