When UAAP Courtside Reporting Is Not a Safe Bet

It is not easy to be a courtside reporter.

After all, it is considered one of the most highly scrutinized positions in the world of sports broadcasting. The best people on the job are those who can relate well to the audience, speak clearly and articulately, and exude confidence whenever possible.

Araneta, what's good?! 😆 Wednesday squad: @martie_bautista for ADMU, @MigsGomez for UE, @jeanagatha_ for UP, & yours truly for FEU! #UAAP80 pic.twitter.com/fKwDInT4YF

— Sydney Crespo (@SydneyCrespo) September 13, 2017

In ABS-CBN Sports’ coverage of the UAAP men’s basketball and women’s volleyball, a courtside reporter is hired not because he/she is pretty or handsome, but because the network wants them to represent the school with both enthusiasm and pride. Unfortunately, there are those who were simply not up to the task.

lights, camera, sports + action! 💡🎥🏀 #UAAPSeason80 pic.twitter.com/COaMlNovXA

— stef monce (@StefMonce) October 7, 2017

Last Saturday, ABS-CBN quietly replaced Nicole Sumagui with Stef Monce as Adamson University’s courtside reporter. No explanation was made regarding the change, but observant viewers saw that Sumagui stuttered at times, was tentative and lacked confidence in her abilities.

Sumagui was not the first courtside reporter to get the pink slip early in the season. There have been two such cases in which a UAAP courtside reporter was replaced before the season concluded.

Prior to UAAP Season 73 (2010-11), ABS-CBN assigned Karen Rozul to be the courtside reporter of National University. But the network replaced her with the late Maan Panganiban when they realized that Rozul was not confident enough for the job.

Two seasons later, NU endured some deja vu when the ineffective Muriel Orais was dismissed in favor of Steph Sy. Sy, like Stef Monce later on, had already exhausted her two-year eligibility, but ABS-CBN reinstated her for a third year due to this untimely circumstance.

For all the talk about the next Pia Arcangel, Lia Cruz, Riki Flores, Aaron Atayde, Nikko Ramos and Laura Lehmann, there are those like Karen Rozul, Muriel Orais and Nicole Sumagui who do not deserve to be in the same room. They may have survived the auditions, yet they failed to translate that into at least one year’s worth of on-the-job training for a future broadcasting career.

UAAP courtside reporting is not an easy task, but if one can survive and fulfill a dream, then it should bode well for their future career paths.  With the second round of men’s basketball plus a full slate of women’s volleyball still to come, all eyes are on the seven rookies and one returnee to see if they have what it takes to be a great UAAP courtside reporter.

Note: Aside from Stef Monce, this season’s roster of UAAP courtside reporters consist of Martie Bautista (Ateneo de Manila University), Eileen Shi (De La Salle University), Sydney Crespo (Far Eastern University), Miguel Dypiangco (National University), Migs Gomez (University of the East), Agatha Uvero (University of the Philippines) and Tonie Moreno (University of Sto. Tomas).

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In 100 Words: Delamar Returns to Radio

Delamar Arias has come out of retirement.

Nearly a year after her departure from Monster RX 93.1 and ‘The Morning Rush’, Delamar shocked the world when she decided to return to the radio booth. But instead of rejoining her mates at RX, Delamar announced that she will instead move to Magic 89.9 on a part-time basis.

Delamar will join fellow DJ/mothers Riki Flores and Andi Manzano for a new program called ‘The Mother Show’. As its title suggests, the show will focus on issues concerning motherhood.

The premiere date of ‘The Mother Show’ is yet to be determined, but Magic 89.9 said it will air on Fridays during Friday Madness. As mentioned earlier, this is only a part-time role for Delamar, but at least listeners are more than happy to have her voice back on the radio.

2015 NBA All-Star Weekend Broadcast Notes

The 2015 NBA All-Star Game will take place at Madison Square Garden. (Photo credit: National Basketball Association)

The NBA’s midseason showcase is a few days away.

This year’s All-Star Weekend will take place in two different venues within New York City. The Rising Stars Challenge and All-Star Saturday will be held at Barclays Center, while the All-Star Game will be played at Madison Square Garden.

The NBA All-Star Weekend will be covered in the Philippines by the following networks:

• ABS-CBN Sports – Rising Stars Challenge on Channel 2. All-Star Saturday and All-Star Game on Sports+Action Channel 23. Broadcast team will be Boom Gonzales and TJ Manotoc, augmented by Turner Sports and NBA TV International feed.
• Basketball TV – All events, plus live coverage of All-Star practice, Adam Silver press conference, and Jam Session. Delayed coverage of Celebrity Game and D-League All-Star Game. Will use Turner Sports, ESPN and NBA TV International English-language feed. Pre-taped player interviews with Riki Flores to be aired throughout the week.
• NBA Premium – All events, plus live coverage of All-Star practice, Adam Silver press conference, Jam Session, Celebrity Game and D-League All-Star Game. Will use Turner Sports, ESPN and NBA TV U.S. English-language feed.

In addition, the NBA All-Star events will be aired via NBA League Pass for Globe mobile subscribers.

The NBA All-Star Weekend in New York City will take place from February 14 to 16 (Manila time).

 

A Viewer’s Guide to the 2014 NBA All-Star Weekend

 

This year’ NBA All-Star Weekend in the Philippines will again be shared by both ABS-CBN and Solar’s Basketball TV.

On February 15-17 (Manila time), the NBA will once again stage its annual All-Star Weekend. And at the midseason classic in New Orleans, hundreds of media outlets around the world, including the Philippines, will be on hand to cover the proceedings.

Here’s is a viewer’s guide on how to watch the NBA All-Star Weekend in the Philippines.

ABS-CBN, Solar Will Use Separate Feeds

ABS-CBN will send Boom Gonzales and TJ Manotoc to cover the All-Star Game. Like last year, the duo will also be on hand to call the All-Star Saturday events. As a result of Boom’s assignment to the All-Star Game, the UAAP women’s volleyball play-by-play for the rest of the eliminations will be handled by Anton Roxas and Eric Tipan. The Rising Stars Challenge on ABS-CBN will likely use TNT’s broadcasters.

Basketball TV and NBA Premium will use the TNT play-by-play for all three events. In addition, BTV will send Riki Flores to do player interviews and document other All-Star events such as Jam Session. Riki’s All-Star coverage will be used on the short segments ‘The Grind’, ‘One on One’, and ’24 Seconds’.

Both networks will be using the NBA TV International feed for all three events.

All-Star Saturday and All-Star Game on Sports + Action

Unfortunately, ABS-CBN Channel 2 will only broadcast the Rising Stars Challenge. The rest of the All-Star events will be handled by sister network ABS-CBN Sports + Action on Channel 23, as the broadcast of these events will be in conflict with ABS-CBN programs such as ‘Matanglawin’, ‘Kapamilya: Minute to Win It’ (last two weeks), and ‘Be Careful with My Heart’.

Expanded Coverage on Basketball TV and NBA Premium

And finally, from February 15-17, most, if not all programs on Basketball TV and NBA Premium will be related to All-Star Weekend. This includes Jam Session, the All-Star Celebrity Game, the NBA D-League’s own All-Star Weekend, Commissioner Adam Silver’s press conferences, pre-event and post-event coverage of the Rising Stars, All-Star Saturday and All-Star Game, and the player practices for the All-Star Game. The NBA TV feed will be used for most of the programs.

With that, I expect both networks to give their best in broadcasting the annual NBA All-Star Weekend. The showcase is a fun and exciting event that basketball fans will surely not miss. After all, it is an ‘All-Star Weekend’, where the league’s best players converge in one roof.

FTT Year 2013 in Review: FM Radio

Another year is about to end. But before the calendar flips to 2014, here is a look back at the year that was in television and radio. This article will focus on the FM radio stations of Metro Manila, with the emphasis on the reformatted stations and DJ lineups.

Reformatted Stations

In July, two FM stations started airing under new on-air identities. ABS-CBN’s DWRR 101.9 rebranded from ‘Tambayan’ to ‘MOR: My Only Radio for Life’, in the process adopting the brand of its regional FM networks. While they still air masa-based music, they started to adopt more love advice shows in the vein of DZMM‘s ‘Dr. Love with Jun Banaag’, which other stations soon adopt.

Advanced Media Broadcasting‘s DWKX 103.5 reformatted from ‘Wow FM’ back to ‘K-Lite’. The rebrand came as a result of the departure of its lead DJ Mr. Fu.  Upon returning to the ‘K-Lite’ brand, they decided to adopt the station’s late-1990s adult contemporary format as opposed to the rock-laden format of later years. Veteran DJs Mondo Castro (from NU 107), Carl ‘McFly’ Guzman (original K-Lite) and Alex ‘Max Speed’ Gotinga (Magic 89.9) would form the core of the new ‘K-Lite’, alongside rookies and other established voices.

DJ Lineup Changes

Magic 89.9 created a huge roar from the radio community when they suspended ‘Good Times” Mo Twister, Tin ‘Suzy’ Gamboa and Noelle Bonus in June for an alleged sex-related joke. As a result, Sam Oh and Gibb from 99.5 Play FM filled in to host ‘First Thing in the Morning’. Mo would later return from suspension last December to co-host the program.

Meanwhile Noelle was moved to Play FM to co-host ‘The Playground’ with Nikko Ramos, while Suzy was reinstated by Magic to host ‘The Big Meal’ with CJ ‘the DJ’ Rivera. Suzy was moved because of Riki Flores’ transfer to ‘PopStop’. Riki was moved to pair with Andi Manzano after Jessica Mendoza left Magic for her post-graduate studies in Boston.

Other notable DJ departures include RX 93.1’s Jinri Park (studies), Play FM’s Tim Yap (other commitments), and Jam 88.3’s Julz Savard (vocalist for Save Me Hollywood). And as mentioned, defunct Wow FM’s Mr. Fu resigned before the reformat, eventually finding a new home on 106.7 Energy FM.

Outlook

The FM radio landscape for 2014 will be more or less predictable. Some stations will reformat, while notable faces will either move to other stations or depart entirely. And the worst part of it all is that 90.7 Love Radio and 101.1 Yes FM will continue to boast their claim as the top two stations. Nevertheless, the incoming year should bring hope and prosperity for radio stations trying to reach out to a specific audience, and to maintain the kind of music they play.

 

What’s Up with Mo Twister Lately?

Mo Twister is back on the air, but only on podcast, as listeners of ‘Good Times’ found a way to connect with the controversial host on the new medium.

Two months ago, Mo Twister and his ‘Good Times‘ morning program on Magic 89.9 was slapped a five-month suspension in part to an alleged sex-related topic that is deemed inappropriate for a morning program. To fill in the void, Magic brought in 99.5 Play FM DJs Sam Oh and Gibb to host a new morning show ‘First Thing in the Morning’. And it looks like Sam and Gibb’s show is here to stay, at least for the time being.

So what’s up with Mo Twister lately? Well, he is currently hosting ‘Good Times’ via podcast, and recently he also hosted the popular and heavily criticized ‘Forbidden Questions‘ segment from his Los Angeles ‘headquarters’. It appears that his suspension from Magic 89.9 is not hindering his on-air career. Meanwhile his partners Noelle Bonus and Tin ‘Suzy’ Gamboa have moved on to other programs. Bonus moved to sister station 99.5 Play FM, while Suzy reunited with CJ ‘The DJ’ Rivera to host ‘The Big Meal’ at noon. Suzy took over hosting ‘The Big Meal’ on a permanent basis after Riki Flores moved to the ‘Pop Stop’ with Andi Manzano following the departure of erstwhile on-air partner Jessica Mendoza.

With Mo relegated to the sidelines, at least for the time being, the morning show of Sam Oh and Gibb is developing as a better alternative to the otherwise offensive and controversial ‘Good Times’. And that’s a good thing for morning radio programming, as programs such as Monster Radio RX 93.1’s ‘The Morning Rush‘, Mellow 94.7‘s ‘The Wake Up Show’, and 99.5 Play FM’s ‘The Playground’ aimed to be healthier and ‘kid-friendly’ radio programs, something that ‘Good Times’ obviously lacked. And why? Because mornings is where the kids wake up to go to school, and the radio is usually the first piece of entertainment for children on the road.

While Mo will be back on the air, Magic 89.9 may have found the perfect radio duo in the morning. And sorry Mo, Sam Oh and Gibb are a better radio combination than you alone.

Speaking of podcasts, the hosts of Magic 89.9’s nightly radio program ‘Boys Night Out’ recently launched their podcasts, which are recorded every Monday before midnight. In doing so, hosts Eric ‘Slick Rick’ Virata, Anthony ‘Tony Toni’ Bueno and Sam ‘Sam YG’ Gogna have also made the decision to move their popular ‘Confession Sessions’ segment exclusively to the podcasts, in order to add more sexually-oriented language that may be inappropriate to live radio. The move of ‘Confession Sessions’ to the podcast is also good for radio, as the more offensive style of conversation heard on the segment may be inappropriate for the younger listener.