Cignal Steps In for Incapable TV5

The lack of an entertainment division on TV5 has forced its affiliates to pick up the slack.

Satellite subscription service Cignal recently launched its entertainment division, with the intent towards distributing content to its online and satellite television platforms. The newly-launched Cignal Entertainment will kick things off with the mini-series ‘Tukhang’.

The two-episode pilot will air July 22 on Colours and Sari-Sari Channel. It will star James Blanco, Karel Marquez, Mon Confiado, Jake Macapagal, Janna Victoria, Butch Francisco, Yul Servo, Archi Adamos, Jerould Aceron and Zandra Summer.

Cignal Entertainment will also have a few other offerings in store for its subscribers. They are:

Born Beautiful – The sequel to the critically-acclaimed movie ‘Die Beautiful’, it will star Christian Bables as Barbs. The story will pick up from the time Trisha (Paolo Ballesteros) died.

The Orbiters – This original series will star Cedrick Juan, Malak So, Bob Jbeili and Victor Anastacio. It will be directed by Miko Livelo and Dominic Lim.

Sleepless – Another independent film that is being transformed into a television series, it will star Albie Casino, Mara Lopez, Trina Legaspi, Acey Aguilar, Shaira Mae and Martin Escudero. Directed by Prime Cruz.

Feels Like Forever – An original series that focuses on love and other things that can happen in 24 hours. It will be directed by Sigrid Andrea P. Bernardo and Ivan Payawal.

With the exception of ‘Tukhang’, all of Cignal Entertainment’s upcoming series will be produced by The IdeaFirst Company. The company’s president, Perci Intalan, is a former entertainment head at TV5.

The only way to go is up, and as TV5 focuses more on sports, news and imported entertainment shows, Cignal makes sure that the entertainment aspect within the MVP Group will not go down quietly. The division is still young, but with the help of independent producers such as IdeaFirst, all the hard work should be worth it.

Now let’s just hope that the new Cignal Entertainment will not fall from grace the same way TV5’s entertainment division did. This is a prime opportunity for Manny V. Pangilinan to bounce back, so make it count.

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KimXi Tandem Returns in The Story of Us

The love team of Kim Chiu and Xian Lim are back on the small screen.

Nearly two years after their previous series ‘Ina, Kapatid, Anak’ (with a few box-office hit movies in between), the duo returns to television via the upcoming ABS-CBN drama ‘The Story of Us’. The series debuts tonight as a replacement to the just-concluded hit series ‘On the Wings of Love’.

Kim and Xian play the roles of Tin and Macoy respectively. They were childhood friends turned lovers growing up in El Nido, Palawan with hopes of a better life for themselves and their family.

Their relationship took a huge turn when Tin decided to meet her estranged mother in the United States. Living separately from one another, their relationship grew sour, until five years later, Macoy met Tin in New York in hopes of starting over as a couple.

Still, it will not be easy for them to resume their relationship after a long time apart. It is up to them to find a second chance in love and survive amid these changes in their individual lives.

‘The Story of Us’ will also star Aiko Melendez, Gardo Versoza, Susan Africa, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Bryan Santos, Mara Lopez, Alyanna Angeles (as the young Tin), and Zaijan Jaranilla (as the young Macoy). Richard Somes will be the director of the series.

Following the footsteps of the ever-successful ‘On the Wings of Love’ will not be easy for ‘The Story of Us’. But then again, based on the KimXi tandem’s previous teleserye success, they should do just fine on this newest series.

That said, expect ‘The Story of Us’ to make a quick impression early on. And that should also cause concern to its upcoming rival in GMA’s ‘Because of You’, who failed to make an impact against ‘On the Wings of Love’ for a majority of its run.

‘The Story of Us’ airs weeknights after ‘Dolce Amore’ on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida.