When TV5 was launched in 2008, I fully supported it. After all, alternative programming shouldn't be so bad, right? More TV shows on TV means more choices for TV viewers who have no cable connection.

Four years later, and all I can do is shake my head. The fact is, TV5 is floundering. Yes, it is still generating buzz, and its audience share is growing. But its net loss is growing too, perhaps a result of its aggressive pirating of top stars (Sharon Cuneta, Aga Muhlach, and Derek Ramsay come to mind), and its slate of expensive shows with only a few advertisements (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is an example).

So what happened? Simple. Programming became stagnant.

There was a time when TV5 was doing so well in aggressive programming. This was the TV station that brought a noontime program on evening primetime. This was the channel that offered its own Sunday talk show, despite predictions that it won't do so well. This was the channel that had a strong Saturday and Sunday line-up, due to its smart set of weekend programming.

But now, it seems like the powers-that-be at TV5 have backed down and are too cautious to put shows up. Check any set of shows the network announced at the start of a year, and see that a good number of them don't get aired at all. Where's that dance nation show? Where's Kanta Pilipinas? 

Some shows get delayed too much, they should have been canned instead. Extreme Makeover was exciting, until it took a long time before it was aired. Excitement waned by then. Look at Game 'n Go. Wasn't that supposed to be a weekday noontime show? Why wasn't it placed there? It's not like they have another show to put up on weekday noontime, right? (Answer: No, they only have nonperforming koreanovelas right there now.)

TV5's Saturday and Sunday evenings, which the channel had dominated more than a year ago, have also lost their sheen, thanks in part to Talentadong Pinoy. (When will TV5 realize that viewers are tired of this show? It will survive, but only if it is given a long hiatus.)

So what should TV5's people be doing? Be aggressive in programming. Admit that when a show's stagnant, it needs to be taken off the air, or be given a grand makeover.

One grand gesture they could do is to move Willtime Bigtime to a noontime schedule. Yes, versus Eat Bulaga! and It's Showtime. Willtime Bigtime is not anymore winning ratings in primetime anyway, and TV5 is having trouble putting up any show on the noontime block. Willie Revillame's show should have no trouble beefing up TV5's noontime and afternoon block, exciting viewers once again.

Besides, Willtime Bigtime's presence in primetime weakens that programming block for TV5. Getting the variety show out of there leads to exciting possibilities--all of a sudden, TV5 can experiment and put up new shows that can battle GMA-7 and ABS-CBN's set of primetime dramas.

An open primetime leads to good possibilities for the Kapatid network: it can finally air their dramas earlier. Looking back, David Archuleta's mini-soap opera could have gained good ratings if it was aired earlier. I loved that show, but the late primetime schedule was ridiculous.

 It can put up a daily reality show early. Their new artista search will benefit greatly if it can be shown at 8PM, the time when GMA-7 and ABS-CBN are just starting their teleseryes.

Right now, TV5's stagnant weekday primetime is not doing them any good. There are not enough shows to begin with. How can viewers be excited? Hell, how can big stars be excited to become a Kapatid if there are no shows they can go to? Derek Ramsay, Aga Muhlach, and Sharon Cuneta could be doing primetime teleseryes right now, but they aren't. Sayang naman ang malaking talent fee. #rantover

Jessica Sanchez is a contestant on the 11th season of American Idol. I did not need to tell you that, though, since the Philippine media have been bombarding us about her since the show started last January.

This girl.

Playing the race card, the Philippine media have been telling everyone how great Jessica is. In fact, every primetime newscast--24 Oras, TV Patrol, Aksyon--has a daily item about her, perhaps to drum up support for her to win the TV contest.

This support is good on paper, of course, but what actually happens in real life breaches fairness and honesty. In the hopes that Jessica becomes the 2012 American Idol, these media entities have been encouraging Filipinos to cheat.

American Idol is a singing contest in the United States. To get the winner, the show encourages viewers to vote for their favorite contestants through phone calls, texting, or through internet voting. And according to American Idol's official rules, only individuals living in the United States and its territories are allowed to vote.

Proof from http://www.americanidol.com/faq

However, there are Filipinos who choose to ignore this rule. They happily vote for Jessica Sanchez, through many methods I will not anymore publish here. And instead of condoning these cheaters, the Pinoy media is happy to encourage them to do it.

The media may not have televised or printed these unfair instructions, but their silence on this matter is deafening. And since I work in the media myself, I know some of my colleagues who publicly post these methods.

Besides, public forums for these media entities are filled with posts of Pinoys proudly declaring how they are cheating. Take these posts from a TV media's Facebook feed:

Dirty cheaters.

This phenomenon is ironic, since the current political climate frowns down on fraud and dishonesty. Majority of Pinoys are calling for the heads of former President Gloria Arroyo and Chief Justice Renato Corona for alleged fraud, so shouldn't they also avoid committing this type of wrongdoing?

But it's not surprising really. Many Pinoys kind of live in a world where they do no wrong. They are the first to cry racism when foreigners criticize them, but then completely deny how they are racist to local foreigners like Indians and the Chinese. Similarly, for them, cheating is not cheating when they are the ones doing it.

Completely in denial.

For a more articulate take on the matter, read this: Indolent Indio

This is my review for TV5's Valiente remake at PEP.ph is below. 

The show is an uneven effort, with a fast-paced plot riddled with plot points that are utterly useless (like Gardo and Theo meeting prostitutes on Day 1, and Theo's mother facing a quick corruption charge on Day 3). 

In addition, casting inexperienced young actors as the young Gardo and Theo weakens the show. We're supposed to be glued to the plot because of the relationship between the two, but using weak actors makes it harder for viewers to believe.

Last night, February 10, I was at GMA-7's Studio 7 to watch the finale of Survivor Philippines Celebrity Doubles Showdown live. This was the second time I did that; I also covered Akihiro Sato's win last season.

As a big fan of Survivor, covering live is a fun experience. Plus I got to interview the winner, whom I did not like that much, so I got to act like a bitter jury and accuse him again. Which was fun. #kidding

Here are my notes to this Survivor season:

• The title is a mouthful. Mentioning it as an acronym does not help either.
• The title is long because it is a Celebrity season. GMA-7 should make a normal season next for a shorter title.
• GMA-7 should make a normal season so I could join.
• The Survivor finale stage was confused. It had Aztec/Mayan poles, bull skulls from Mexico, and native bulol sculptures from the Philippines. GMA-7 says let's all be liberal and mix cultures together and pretend the fans do not notice.
• Betong's win is a result of his "paawa" plea. No one can deny that. 
• Betong says he has heart, and he played the game without stepping on anyone. Fans believe it, but hey, did they forget that he and Maey were instrumental in two betrayals? Gino's boot, and Arnold's boot. Betong and Maey are not as clean as how they claim to be.
• Questions I asked Betong during the interview/interrogation time: his paawa effect, if he really is poor as he claim to be, if he deserves to win, if he and Maey are in a romantic relationship.
• Betong told me he has a large credit card debt, and he'll use the P3M to pay it off.
• More than half of the studio viewers are Betong fans, less than 20% are Mara's fans, and 10% are Stef's fans. This is not because their fans are fewer; it is because Betong is an employee of GMA-7, so his friends got almost all the tickets to the finale. And that's unfair.
• Stef Prescott is stunning in her yellow gown. 
• Angelicopter was absent, and did not show up.
• Angelicopter's fellow quitters Ellen Adarna, Filo Cucueco, and Jackie Forster showed up. I wish they didn't.
• Ellen Adarna is a bitch. During taping, she always screamed her head off near Maria Isabel Lopez's ears, because she's a bitch and can't let go of what happened in the island.
• I wish Maria Isabel Lopez slapped Ellen Adarna into eternity.
• Did I mention Ellen Adarna is a bitch?
• Did you know that only the last half of the finale was shot live? The first half -- composed of interviews and introductions -- was shot an hour earlier.
• After the break in the shoot, Ellen Adarna was among the castaways to come back late from dinner. Cue jokes: Ellen already quit the live finale so she's not coming back.
• At one point during the live show, while the first pre-taped half is being shown on TV, Maria Isabel Lopez walked from the castoffs seats to her daughter Mara in the center of the stage to whisper something in her ears. Mara then had to go to the jury's seats to talk to Arnold about it.
• I think the whispering was about Ellen Adarna's action to spite Maria Isabel Lopez.
• Ellen Adarna can't let go, can she? Maria Isabel took her down in the game. That was IN THE GAME. She should move on.
• Former castaways were present: Season 1's Marlon Carmen, Zita Ortiga, Chris Cartagenas, and Chev Macias; Season 2's Tara Macias; and Season 3's Aubrey Miles, Ervic Vijandre, Moi Marcampo, and Jon Hall. I remember that their seasons were better than this season.
• The recap video still mentioned the Stargazer's predictions. Which were total failure. So I wish we forget about it. And remember that it was a waste of airtime.
• Next season, GMA-7 should cut out the stupid fillers like the Stargazer scene. 
• Richard Gutierrez was a better host now than before. That is a true compliment.
• Unlike before, Richard did not shout "See you next season, mga katribo!" at the end of the live finale. So is there a next season at all? Or maybe he won't host it?

Yesterday, February 6, was the premiere of It's Showtime, ABS-CBN's new noontime show. Did it live up to the hype?

The answer is, not yet.

It's Showtime is a reincarnation of Showtime, the Kapamilya channel's highly-popular talent show that previously aired before noontime. With It's Showtime, the old show seems to be leaving it's previous tag as a home for incredible talent so it could be a full-pledged noontime show.

It's Showtime's producers thought that to convert Showtime into a noontime show, they need to add new segments to lengthen the running time. So we saw these segments yesterday: Sine Mo 'To, The Singing V, Pitik Bulag, Arte Mo!, and Rock Clock.

The last segment, Classic Showtime, is the old format, condensed. Showtime is known to discover incredible talent, so it was surprising that the new show relegated its strongest segment at the end.

It is more surprising because the new segments weren't as strong as Classic Showtime for them to be the show's opening segments.

The first segment, Sine Mo 'To, was a live sketch that recalled Lunch-A-Funny-Tym. While hilarious and admirable for heightening audience participation, it should be shortened to avoid dragging.

The Singing V, meanwhile, was a mini spin-off of the previous show The Singing Bee. It took two of the show's gaps, although it was not exciting enough to warrant that length. The rules were also confusing, because they were not explained well before the game started.

Pitik Bulag also had confusing rules and too much length--seven minutes were spent introducing the contestants and the game mechanics before any game was played.

Arte Mo! and Rock Clock are It's Showtime's main prize-giving segments. With a little tweaking, these could be as big as the classics, like Laban o Bawi, or Pera o Bayong.

One good thing about It's Showtime's is that the chemistry of the hosts is still there. At times, the camaraderie between Vice Ganda, Anne Curtis, Vhong Navarro, Karylle, Billy Crawford, and Kuya Kim is enough to save the bad segments. The other hosts need improvement.

Yesterday's episode was It's Showtime's first one, so it is expected that it would hit snags. So how can it be improved? Here are some suggestions:

1. Make Classic Showtime the show's centerpiece, instead of relegating it to the end. Open the show with the introduction of all the acts for the day, then show a game in the next gap. In the following gap, show the first act's performance. Then another game, another act, etc. End the show with the announcement of the winner.

2. Cut the segments that do not work.

3. To avoid confusion of the rules, record a short VTR of these rules and show them before any game is played.

4. Let the other hosts, particularly the new ones, hold the mike. Do not overexpose the main hosts by giving them all the juicy segments.

5. Do not focus on the competition. The producers of It's Showtime should focus on giving the show its own identity first. The new format looks like it was made to go head-to-head with Eat Bulaga! The old format was better, so they should try to bring that back.

(Also published in PEP.ph)