action, anime, entertainment, movies, Philippines, reality show, Sports, suspense, television

Examining Chot Reyes’ Plans for TV5

The Chot Reyes era on TV5 is indeed underway.

Upon his ascension to the position of chief executive officer late last year, Chot vowed to make some sweeping changes to TV5. After all, 2016 was a poor year for the Kapatid network, one marked by the ill-fated VIVA partnership, loss of revenue and programming quality, and streamlining of operations.

This year, TV5 has a new set of programs coming up, one that will include the return of the beloved AniMEGA block. However, this is only a portion of a much-needed overhaul, one that will also include sister UHF station AksyonTV and FM radio station Radyo5 92.3 News FM.

More on AksyonTV and Radyo5 in an upcoming article. In the meantime, here is the master plan that Chot Reyes conceived for TV5 this 2017.

AniMEGA

AniMEGA has long been a staple of TV5’s programming, having been aired since the rebrand in 2008. Unfortunately, it has run on and off for the past several years, to the point that anime fans were increasingly fed up by TV5’s constant mishandling of the block.

Its return this year should give anime fans a new reason to watch, with series such as ‘Attack on Titan: Junior High’, ‘Kantai Collection’, ‘Myriad Colors Phantom World’, ‘Knights of Sidonia’ and ‘Uta no Prince-sama Maji 1000%’ airing on TV5 soon. Hopefully TV5 will no longer regret about reviving AniMEGA ever again.

Brillante Mendoza Presents

The dissolution of TV5’s entertainment department forced the network to rely on outside sources. One of them will be director Brillante Mendoza, who will produce several made-for-TV films and mini-series as part of the ‘Brillante Mendoza Presents’ umbrella.

These days, TV5’s entertainment fare is exclusive to digital media under the Digital5 banner (e.g. ‘Kontrabando’, ‘Forever Sucks’). The addition of Brillante Mendoza, however, made it clear that TV5 is not done collaborating on homegrown entertainment fare on TV.

Philippines’ Next Top Model

It had been nearly a decade since ‘Philippines’ Next Top Model’ aired on TV (via RPN-9). This year, TV5 will revive the said modeling reality show, though it remains to be seen if TV5’s version will be a second cycle or a rebooted first cycle.

TV5 is no stranger to the ‘Top Model’ series, having aired ‘Asia’s Next Top Model’ a few years ago. However, PNTM’s status as either a TV5-produced show or a blocktimer remains to be seen, so stay tuned.

More Tagalized American Series

Finally, TV5 will air new American action series, which will obviously be dubbed in Filipino. Two of them, ‘Supergirl’ and ‘Quantico’, are expected to air during the first quarter of this year.

Of course, TV5 will still air other ongoing series such as ‘Smallville’, ‘Supernatural’ and ‘The Walking Dead’. But for 2017, the women of ‘Supergirl’ and ‘Quantico’ will be in charge.

TV5 is expected to unveil more game-changing programs in the months to come. But at this point, the pieces are now firmly in place, as TV5 vows to be a different station this 2017.

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entertainment, Philippines, Sports, television, United States

FOX Philippines Adds More WWE Programs to Already Loaded Lineup

FOX Philippines continues to strengthen its WWE programming with recap shows Bottom Line, Afterburn, This Week and Experience. (Logo courtesy of WWE)

FOX Philippines continues to strengthen its WWE programming with recap shows Bottom Line, Afterburn, This Week and Experience. (Logo courtesy of WWE)

It is clear that FOX Philippines is drastically changing its lineup for the benefit of wrestling fans.

Since the beginning of November, new episodes of WWE Raw and SmackDown Live are being aired on FOX Philippines within 12 hours of original American broadcast (FOX Sports Philippines continues to air both shows live). Now, more WWE programming awaits viewers of the said channel.

Starting the week of December 5, recap shows WWE Bottom Line, WWE This Week, WWE Afterburn and WWE Experience are placed on FOX Philippines’ regular lineup. They join the aforementioned Raw and SmackDown Live, as well as WWE Vintage, WWE NXT and WWE Main Event, in FOX’s menu.

Previously, Bottom Line, This Week, Afterburn and Experience were exclusive only to FOX Sports Philippines, who prior to nabbing the live broadcasts of Raw and SmackDown Live, were only content to air WWE recap shows to satisfy its commitments. Nowadays, the option of viewing WWE programs is more flexible than ever thanks to the two networks.

Despite that, however, there is still a question of whether or not FOX Philippines will recommit themselves to airing live pay-per-views. For now, though, that is out of the question, considering that ‘The Walking Dead’, by far the network’s most popular property, airs new episodes that could come in conflict with WWE pay-per-views.

Speaking of pay-per-views, FOX Philippines did air a SmackDown Live-exclusive pay-per-view when it aired WWE TLC last November 27. Still, it remains to be seen if they will indeed continue with this newfound commitment, now that the upcoming Raw-exclusive pay-per-view WWE Roadblock is slated for next week.

In other news, the replacement show for WWE Superstars, WWE 205 Live, is now being aired on FOX Sports Philippines. With that being said, FOX Philippines could find a way to accommodate this new program sooner or later, but for the time being, the program is exclusive only to FOX Sports Philippines.

Overall, FOX Philippines’ addition of more WWE programs is a good decision considering the renewed popularity of professional wrestling in the country. However, one week’s test is not enough so it’s up to them to keep this momentum going.

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action, entertainment, movies, Philippines, television

What If: Action Movies and Programs on AksyonTV?

TV5's Tagalized American action films and programs could give AksyonTV a little boost given the latter's irrelevance of late. (Photo courtesy of TV5)

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.

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entertainment, Philippines, Sports, television, United States

WWE Raw and SmackDown Airs Live Next Week, But FOX’s Problems Resurface

WWE Raw and SmackDown will air live starting next week on FOX Sports Philippines, with a same-day replay on FOX Philippines. (Photo credit: WWE)

WWE Raw and SmackDown will air live starting next week on FOX Sports Philippines, with a same-day replay on FOX Philippines. (Photo credit: WWE)

WWE fans in the Philippines are in for a big surprise.

Starting next Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, new episodes of WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown will now air live at 8:00 a.m. on FOX Sports Philippines. Same-day replays will air within 12 hours of original broadcast on FOX Philippines.

With viewers becoming more dependent on WWE’s social media accounts to follow the action as it happens, it was only imperative for FOX to make this drastic measure. After all, the success of WWE Live in Manila last September only furthered wrestling fans’ desire to watch WWE programming on a regular basis.

Although the announcement was enthusiastically welcomed by WWE fans in the country, there are still some issues to address. Last Monday morning in Manila, many viewers awaited the live telecast of the Raw-exclusive Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on FOX Philippines, only to be greeted by replays of ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘American Dad’.

The erratic WWE pay-per-view scheduling issue on FOX Philippines has been well-documented since it fully acquired the company’s broadcast rights in 2014. There were times when WWE pay-per-views were aired on the channel live, and there were other occasions when it first aired within 12-13 hours of original broadcast.

And just recently, FOX began to focus more on the flagship Raw brand once the brand extension came into play. As a result, SmackDown-branded pay-per-views were not aired, and to make matters worse, SmackDown itself was aired on a one-week delay.

While FOX Philippines should be excused for not airing Hell in a Cell live (thank you ‘The Walking Dead’), their indecision is an inexcusable one. Come on, FOX Sports Philippines also airs WWE programming (mostly recap shows), so why not transfer those live pay-per-views to the said channel.

As for the delay and subsequent snubbing of SmackDown and its related programs, it is unfair to do such a thing. Both Raw and SmackDown are equally important and must-watch shows, and deemphasizing either one of them is insulting to any wrestling fan.

As both FOX networks move on to upcoming pay-per-views and episodes of Raw and SmackDown, one thing is certain: no one wants to be left behind. For wrestling fans, this is a promise that FOX will have to fulfill in the weeks ahead.

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entertainment, Philippines, suspense, television, United States

In 150 Words: The Walking Dead Arrives on TV5

It was only appropriate that ‘The Walking Dead’ will come to TV5.

The hit American suspense series, which also airs on FOX Asia and in Filipino on FOX Filipino, will make its free TV debut this Thursday at 7:00 p.m. on the Kapatid network. And to make it more interesting, people dressed as zombies made their way to various Metro Manila hotspots to promote the upcoming series.

The entry of ‘The Walking Dead’ seems fitting for TV5, since most of its programming now consists of TV shopping blocks, canned American shows and foreign movies. Still, don’t expect ‘The Walking Dead’ to air the same way it did on FOX Asia, as stringent MTRCB rules regarding violence and horror will come into play.

Hopefully ‘The Walking Dead’ will not be a one-timer on TV5 the same way sister show ‘Outcast’ did. If they can make it beyond week 1, that may help boost its confidence.

 

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