Is UAAP Women’s Basketball Being Slighted by ABS-CBN Sports?

UAAP Season 81 is well underway.

But while the men’s basketball tournament always gets the attention of ABS-CBN Sports due to its popularity and appeal (that along with the eight courtside reporters for the season), the same cannot be said of the women’s side. There are three factors as to why UAAP women’s basketball tends to get an unfair treatment from ABS-CBN and sports fans in particular.

Lack of Popular Appeal

For the most part, women’s basketball has never been popular in the Philippines. Part of it was due to the absence of a legitimate women’s basketball league and a still-overlying perception that only men can play ball.

UAAP women’s basketball, in particular, only attracts around hundreds, if not less, fans in each game. Which leads to the second factor.

Disparity in Scheduling

Unlike men’s volleyball which is always scheduled before women’s volleyball matches, UAAP women’s basketball schedules always vary in terms of dates and venues. For example, here is the schedule for first round of Season 81.

LOOK: UAAP Season 81 Women's Basketball First Round Schedule pic.twitter.com/tx44TbQ8MZ

— BurnSports.Ph (@BurnSports) September 12, 2018

Looking at the schedule closely, there are three playdates of at least three games that will be held at either the Blue Eagle Gym or the FilOil Flying V Centre. The rest are scheduled on the same day as the men’s basketball games at either the Mall of Asia Arena or the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The fact of the matter is, basketball remains a more popular sport than volleyball and the UAAP usually places the former sport for men in big venues because of its immense appeal. It would be tough for women’s basketball games to be scheduled on the same venue and on the same day as the men especially when popular rivalries such as Ateneo-La Salle come into play.

Loaded Schedule for ABS-CBN Sports

This September alone ABS-CBN Sports has an extremely busy schedule to attend to. In addition to UAAP men’s basketball, the network also covers the NCAA seniors’ basketball, the MPBL and the PVL among others.

ABS-CBN is also expected to air the upcoming 2018-19 NBA season next month. That said, with so many commitments left and right, the network has no room to cover UAAP women’s basketball on television and can only settle for live coverage of the finals come December (but at least it still airs the WNBA as part of its contract with the NBA).

It remains to be seen if ABS-CBN Sports will be willing to change its perception towards the UAAP women’s basketball tournament. For now, though, women’s basketball in the Philippines is a painful work in progress and it desperately needs the public’s help.

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The NCAA Season 92 on ABS-CBN Sports: An Overview

Year 2 (12th overall) of the NCAA on ABS-CBN Sports is now underway.

The 92nd season of the NCAA kicked off last Saturday with the traditional opening ceremonies and the first seniors doubleheader, headlined by the Season 91 finals rematch of arch-rivals San Beda and Letran. The ceremonies were also highlighted by the retirement of San Beda basketball legend Caloy Loyzaga’s no. 14 jersey.

Unfortunately for the fans of the league, the following day’s seniors tripleheader was not aired on ABS-CBN Sports+Action. The reason: ABS-CBN and the NCAA agreed that they will only air games every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for the season, save for last Saturday’s opener.

Not much is changed in the presentation of ABS-CBN’s coverage from Season 91. However, there is a new scheduling format, which include:

• Seniors tripleheaders every Tuesday and Friday unless specified
• Seniors doubleheaders every Thursday, usually preceded by juniors doubleheaders
• Four or five-game juniors slate every Monday

In essence, a week’s worth of NCAA seniors basketball coverage will amount to at most eight games per week. The utilization of tripleheaders and five-game slates on select dates is intended on shortening the duration of the season, however, postponement of games may take place in the event of natural calamities.

Most games will be held at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan. Select marquee matchups will take place at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

This season’s NCAA on ABS-CBN Sports team will include the following:

Play-by-play announcers

• Andrei Felix
• Martin Javier
• Boom Labrusca
• Anton Roxas

Analysts

• Martin Antonio
• Migs Bustos
• Olsen Racela
• Mikee Reyes
• Renren Ritualo

Courtside reporters

• Sarah Carlos
• Roxanne Montealegre
• Myrtle Sarrosa
• Ceej Tantengco

Every game day will feature a number of interactive segments, such as halftime school and player features, ‘Smile, You’re on Cam’ and viewer tweets. If last season’s success was any indication, then expect a lot more of these throughout this season.

Aside from seniors basketball (with a mid-season all-star game to boot), the NCAA on ABS-CBN Sports will also cover the final four of women’s volleyball and beach volleyball. Highlights from other sports will also be featured on the ABS-CBN Sports+Action highlight show ‘The Score’, hosted by either TJ Manotoc or Anton Roxas.

All games will be seen on ABS-CBN Sports+Action, both in SD (channel 23) and HD (channel 166 and 701). It will also air via live streaming on the ABS-CBN Sports official website.

This season’s theme will be ‘Sports Builds Character: Achieving Breakthrough @Season 92’. San Beda College will be this season’s host.

After the unpredictable ending to Season 91, it will be interesting to see how Season 92 turns out. But if last season’s success was any indication, then wait and see what comes next this season.

A Spectacular Ending for Pilipinas Got Talent

Season 5 of ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ ended on a great note.

For the first time in the talent show’s history, a non-singer won the grand prize of P2 million. Power Duo, a dancing act composed of real-life couple Anjanette and Gervin, was named the grand winner, following an impressive performance in the finale held during the weekend of May 21-22 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Dancing to the tune of the OPM classic ‘Ikaw Lamang’, Power Duo earned an average of 100% of votes from both the judges and the viewers to win the grand prize. Their awe-struck performance in the finale capped off an amazing run for the dance act, who began the season by receiving the Golden Buzzer and kept cruising all season.

Power Duo joins an elite list of winners in the ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ franchise, all of which were singers. They are Jovit Baldivino, Marcelito Pomoy, Maasinhon Trio, and Roel Manlangit.

Aside from Power Duo, the season’s other finalists include:

Dancers

• Crossover Family
• Mastermind
• Sto. Tomas Bulilit Generation
• Power Impact Dancers

Singers

• Next Option
• The Chosen Ones
• Kurt Philip Espiritu

Variety Acts

• UA Mindanao (motocross stunts)
• Amazing Pyra (fire dancing)
• Ody Sto. Domingo (magic)
• Dino Splendid Acrobats (acrobatic stunts)

While the finale went along smoothly, not all performers left the venue standing. UA Mindanao member Bornok Mangosong performed a risky back-flip that ultimately crashed, leaving him in a wheelchair afterwards.

Despite the mishap, the judges still praised UA Mindanao for courageously finishing the performance. Angel Locsin, one of the season’s judges, even gave the group a perfect score.

Overall, Season 5 of ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ was a runaway winner, averaging around 35% and consistently topping the list of the 20 most-watched shows every Saturday and Sunday. To cap it all off, the two-part finale garnered ratings of 33.8% (Saturday) and 36.7% (Sunday), beating the competition on both occasions.

It was indeed a spectacular ending for ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’. While its future is once again up in the air, there is glimmer of hope, since the just-concluded season gave all acts a fair share of the spotlight, capped off by a non-singer in Power Duo winning the grand prize.

Hopefully ABS-CBN can bring back the ever-successful franchise sooner rather than later. For now though, another talent show franchise in ‘The Voice Kids’ is on the spotlight starting this weekend.

PBA, UAAP to Face Off Starting Sunday

The PBA Philippine Cup begins this Sunday, with the San Miguel Beermen trying to defend the crown. The early games of the tournament will go head-to-head with the ongoing UAAP men’s basketball eliminations. (Photo credit: Businessworld)

The PBA and the UAAP will cross paths on the small screen once more.

For the first time, the opening day of the PBA Philippine Cup will take place while the UAAP men’s basketball eliminations are still ongoing. This was made possible by the latter’s most recent calendar change.

Previously, the UAAP men’s basketball tournament was played from July to October. But with most member schools adjusting their calendar to be at par with other foreign institutions, the UAAP decided to move its season opening to September, and with it rescheduled the basketball season from September to November.

This means that the elimination round of the UAAP men’s basketball tournament will now have to compete with the PBA Philippine Cup once the latter opens in October*. Both leagues primarily play at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and the Mall of Asia Arena; thus, they need to agree in advance on the availability of both venues.

Sunday’s PBA Philippine Cup opener at the Big Dome will feature the customary opening ceremony, followed by a game between the Star Hotshots and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. On the same day, the UAAP will hold a men’s basketball twinbill at MOA, pitting UE and UP, and La Salle and FEU.

The PBA games will be aired on TV5, AksyonTV and Sports5.PH, with a radio broadcast on Radyo5 stations. The UAAP games are currently seen on ABS-CBN Sports+Action, Balls HD 195, iWanTV and ABS-CBN Sports official website.

* The UAAP men’s basketball games previously took place alongside PBA import-laden tournaments (e.g. Fiesta Conference, Governors’ Cup).

UAAP Cheerdance Expected To Be Overshadowed by AlDub-Pastillas Battle

The NU Cheering Squad will try to win their third consecutive title in tomorrow’s UAAP Cheerdance Competition. The beginning of the event will be up against the highly-trended AlDub and Pastillas Girl skits. (Photo credit: GMA News)

The ever-popular UAAP Cheerdance Competition will now face some tough odds this year.

The 22nd edition of the event will now be held in the middle of the men’s basketball tournament, unlike in previous years where it was held at its conclusion. In addition, the event will be held on a Saturday, as opposed to Sundays in past editions.

This means that the Cheerdance Competition will now have to take place on a day when some member schools still hold classes. But that’s not the only problem the event will face.

The early portion of the Cheerdance Competition will take place while noontime shows ‘It’s Showtime’ and ‘Eat Bulaga’ are still ongoing.  The highly-trending Pastillas Girl and AlDub skits are expected to make life tough for viewers of this year’s Cheerdance Competition, especially considering the combined 37 million tweets of both skits last Saturday.

This does not mean that this year’s UAAP Cheerdance Competition will no longer be a juggernaut for netizens everywhere. With the help of a livestreaming service provided by ABS-CBN, there is still a possibility that the event would end up in Twitter’s trending topics.

After all, whenever the Cheerdance Competition takes place, there are four things that the viewers will always point out in this event:

• courtside reporters in cheering attire
• elaborate props and risky maneuvers
• a beautiful guest host
• suspense and uncertainty of announcing the top three finishers

That said, a good challenge awaits the UAAP Cheerdance Competition this year. More than the performance of the eight cheering squads, the event is about making an impact amid all the odds stacked against it.

The 2015 UAAP Cheerdance Competition will take place at the Mall of Asia Arena. It will air on ABS-CBN Sports+Action, Balls HD 195, iWanTV and ABS-CBN Sports official website beginning at 1:00 p.m.

A Short Overview of UAAP Season 78

UAAP Season 78 opens this weekend with the opening ceremonies and four men’s basketball games in two venues featuring all eight schools. (Photo credit: PhilStar.com)

A new era in the UAAP gets underway.

UAAP Season 78 begins tomorrow afternoon with the customary opening ceremonies at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, followed by the UP-UE and Adamson-UST men’s basketball matchups. It will be followed by another doubleheader this Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena, featuring the La Salle-NU and Ateneo-FEU matchups.

This will be the 16th season of UAAP coverage on the ABS-CBN family of networks*, and the first in the new September-May calendar. After signing another five-year deal, ABS-CBN Sports expects an even wider multi-platform coverage of UAAP events, as they continue to capitalize on its rising popularity.

For more information on the participating schools, courtside reporters and announcers, visit the official ABS-CBN Sports website by clicking this link, and also visit their Facebook and Twitter accounts.

(*) Games will be aired on ABS-CBN Sports+Action, Balls HD 167, Balls SD 34, iWanTV, and ABS-CBN Mobile. Finals of the men’s basketball and women’s volleyball events are expected to air on ABS-CBN Channel 2 on a weekend.