Is AksyonTV becoming TV5’s News TV and S+A?

The baffling saga of AksyonTV continues with the addition of Tagalized American action programs and films. Here is Timow’s Turf with more insight on this issue.

Timow's Turf

AksyonTV turns 6 years old today but it quickly erodes its initial purpose.

SIX YEARS ago today, while viewers are awaiting for GMA News TV’s launch, TV5 jumped in unannounced over Channel 41; AksyonTV, the first news channel on free TV, was born.

They used to air round the clock as a slap of Channel 11’s broken promises to live their mantra, “Oras-oras, alam ko” but karma struck back in 2013 due to cost-cutting measures by the management as well as NTC’s rules and regulations for affiliated free-to-air TV stations.

The identity crisis

The era of being a homogeneous news channel began its decline when AKTV on IBC ended on May 31, 2013 by carrying over their committed sportscasts as they also covered the Sochi Winter Olympics a year after.

Recently, News5’s public affairs programs airing on AksyonTV became merely reruns with no motive to create new episodes. Since last year, EZ Shop…

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What If: Action Movies and Programs on AksyonTV?

AksyonTV’s airing of Tagalized American action movies and shows from TV5 could give S+A a run for its money, if they want to proceed with this plan. (Photo courtesy of TV5)

Action movies and canned shows on AksyonTV? Why not.

Much has been said about AksyonTV’s increasingly declining quality in the six years since its debut. From its glory days as the first 24/7 all-Filipino news channel, to the current channel that lacks any identity whatsoever, the short but informative history of AksyonTV has been well-documented.

But other than the occasional outpouring of live or tape-delayed sporting events, not to mention a few surviving Radyo5 and TV5 simulcasts, AksyonTV has nothing else to offer. Every day, the station fills its vacant hours with infomercials from EZ Shop, Shop Japan and Shop TV, as well as defunct News5 original programs, much to the dismay of this writer.

As time went by, many proposals to reinvent the channel were made, with the rebrand of AksyonTV into the all-sports channel AKTV (the former name of the IBC-13 blocktimer) the most prominent of all. But like all proposals, any hope of materializing could fall into deaf ears.

If the proposal of turning AksyonTV into an all-sports channel doesn’t work out, perhaps a more radical programming change is needed for this seemingly moribund channel to survive. And that means bringing in a piece of TV5’s entertainment shows to AksyonTV.

With so many vacant hours to offer during idle periods, AksyonTV could use these times to air Tagalized foreign movies under the MovieMax sa AksyonTV banner. Modeling it after S+A’s Action Movie Zone block with an emphasis on action and superhero films is a more likely scenario given AksyonTV’s possible rivalry with ABS-CBN’s sister channel.

AksyonTV could also use this time to reair TV5’s canned foreign programs, if not add new titles. Considering that shows such as ‘Supernatural’, ‘Arrow’, ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Teen Wolf’ fall into the action category, this seems like a perfect fit as well.

These are just possible scenarios, but if AksyonTV wants to survive, these shows could help them do so. After all, no one wants to see a channel that is ‘walang kwenta’ and irrelevant in this day and age.

Sports5’s Disservice to the Philippine Superliga

 

The ongoing PSL Grand Prix has been criticized for the lack of full live coverage on AksyonTV, particularly during the 3:00 p.m. games. (Logo courtesy of the Philippine SuperLiga)

Women’s volleyball in the Philippines is as popular as ever.

While the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament usually garners the biggest headlines from January to May, two other leagues also vie for the top spot in the sport’s hierarchy. On one corner is the 12-year-old Shakey’s V-League, and on the other corner is the FIVB-recognized Philippine SuperLiga.

Although the SVL has become a hot commodity of late with the entry of ABS-CBN Sports, the PSL also gained some traction thanks to its participation in the just-concluded FIVB Women’s Club World Championships. Unfortunately for the PSL, one obstacle prevented them from gaining the ultimate respect of volleyball fans.

That obstacle happens to be the league’s delayed coverage of select games on AksyonTV. The PSL usually schedules 3:00 p.m. games on a select number of dates, but for whatever reason, AksyonTV does not air the games live in favor of EZ Shop, a filler show whose broadcast is optional at best.

In contrast, Wednesday and Saturday 4:00 p.m. games of the SVL on S+A were aired on tape delay at 8:00 p.m. instead, due to conflicts with ABS-CBN Sports’ coverage of the UAAP men’s basketball tournament. Overall, ABS-CBN Sports had a valid excuse for their SVL coverage, whereas Sports5’s PSL coverage had no alibi to show for.

The non-coverage of select live PSL games only adds to the poor reputation of AksyonTV. Already criticized for its overreliance on TV shopping blocks and old news programs, AksyonTV’s unreliability only got worse with this snub.

At this point, the PSL may never catch up to the older SVL in terms of overall popularity. While the PSL does have the game’s first superstar in Rachel Ann Daquis and the championship core of the DLSU Lady Spikers, the SVL has Alyssa Valdez, the superstar whose charm and unparalleled power packed big arenas during her years as an Ateneo Lady Eagle.

That said, it is up to both Sports5 and PSL to work together and promote the league further. After all, they deserve a lot of respect from the volleyball community.