The Super Liga Is Now on Sports5

The Philippine Super Liga will have a new partner in Sports5. (Photo credit: Business Mirror)

After a two-year partnership with Solar Sports, the Philippine Super Liga decided to switch gears for the benefit of free TV viewers.

Starting this season, the PSL will be seen exclusively on Sports5’s free TV outlets. Most games will be aired live on AksyonTV, with select games to be simulcast on TV5.

Sports5 is no stranger to airing the PSL. During the volleyball league’s first season, a select number of playoff games were aired on the Sports5 channels, with Solar Sports then responsible for the production.

This time around, however, every game will be produced by the Sports5 team. The move to free TV should benefit not only the viewers, the fans and the volleyball community, but also the league itself, as it aims to sustain the growth and popularity of women’s volleyball in the country.

The 2015 PSL All-Filipino Conference will kick off this Saturday, March 21. Six teams will participate in the tournament: Cignal HD, Petron Blaze, Philips Gold, Shopinas.com, Foton, and Mane ‘N Tail.

Most games of the tournament will be held at the two Pasay City venues: Mall of Asia Arena and the Cuneta Astrodome. A few other games will be held outside Metro Manila, all for the benefit of provincial fans.

A new season should bring bigger opportunities, and for the Philippine Super Liga, a move to free TV will mean a lot to the league’s growth and success.

UPDATE: The Philippine Super Liga will continue to air on Solar Sports, with live games on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. The games on the Sports5 channels will feature Taglish commentary, while the games on Solar Sports will feature English commentary. However, Solar Sports will now carry the Sports5 feed, similar to the arrangement made during PBA games in both Sports5 and Fox Sports Philippines. 

ABS-CBN Hits Big Again with the ‘Tulong Na’ Shirts

ABS-CBN’s ‘Tulong Na, Tabang Na, Tayo Na’ shirts were initially conceived for charitable causes, but its immediate popularity led to two successful concerts on November 16 and December 10.

When Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) struck the country a month ago, it left a trail of dead bodies, fallen trees and damaged structures. After the typhoon’s impact became all too gruesome for the human mind, the international community started donating sums of money and relief items for the victims of Haiyan. And ABS-CBN was among those who came to the rescue.

Days after Haiyan left the country, ABS-CBN launched their charity shirt bearing a fish-like symbol and the phrase ‘Tulong Na, Tabang Na, Tayo Na’. The shirts became available at the ABS-CBN Store in the network’s Quezon City headquarters last November 12, and was later sold online through Shopinas.com and at Ayala Malls in the country. It was also sold during various ABS-CBN-sponsored events such as mall shows.

The ‘Tulong Na’ shirt became an immediate hit thanks to its cheap price (P250) and strong message, not to mention additional publicity thanks to 30-second ads, a telethon, and television programs featuring ABS-CBN personalities. And last November 16, the Kapamilya network held a benefit concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, with the shirt being given for free to ticket buyers.

The said concert from November 16 was such a success that another concert was held at the same venue last December 10, again with the ‘Tulong Na’ shirt distributed along with the tickets. ABS-CBN typically holds a Christmas concert at this time of the year, but on this night, the concert was about raising hope and prosperity to the victims of the typhoon. The concert entitled ‘Kwento ng Pasko: Pag-asa at Pagbangon’ will be aired in a two-part special this weekend on ABS-CBN.

In many ways, the popularity of the ‘Tulong Na’ shirts capped off a successful year for ABS-CBN. With top-rated programs outplaying the opposition almost every day, and with more potentially successful programs in the works, the Kapamilya network is definitely poised for bigger things this 2014.