N.B. – This was published in The Lobbyist (November 9) where I write a column (Subtext).
What’s showing in primetime television? A game show of a smaller broadcast station gets pitted against the early-evening news programs of the two giants. While it still lags behind ratings-wise, its ability to draw a big audience this early prompts the current ratings leaders to shake things up in their primetime programming.
ABS-CBN decided to replace TV Patrol news anchors Julius Babao and Karen Davila with former Vice President Noli de Castro and returning broadcaster Korina Sanchez. GMA 7 is reportedly reformatting 24 Oras, forcing news anchor Mel Tiangco to cut short her vacation due to the urgency of the situation.
I’m sure Willing Willie host Willie Revillame who is now with TV5 is smiling from ear to ear as his former home ABS-CBN and GMA 7 desperately try to maintain their lead over TV5. That Revillame was able to convince Valenzuela City Councilor Shalani Soledad to co-host Willing Willie caught many by surprise. After all, she rarely granted interviews about her personal life and was projected as shy. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that she remains a “hot copy” given her status as the so-called ex-First Girlfriend.
That she remained silent in the past months about the status of her relationship with President Noynoy Aquino makes the public even more curious about how she is doing now. If only to see her again, I’m sure Willing Willie would end up with a higher audience share in the weeks to come.
We can expect a change in viewing habits as Willing Willie, known for giving away millions in prizes from Monday to Saturday, is expected to get higher ratings. I have this fearless forecast for one simple reason: Game shows like this are expected to have a huge following because of the constant promise of a dole-out, if not outright poverty alleviation, for a lucky few. Even if Revillame is wont to deny it, the main attraction of his show is the millions of pesos given away by various advertisers. Take away the prizes and Revillame would still get an audience due to the “other” main attraction – the scantily clad women who dance (read: gyrate) in the background. Revillame is right when he mentioned on the air that news programs cannot give away millions of pesos like his show does.
Much as it is commendable for people to help others, Revillame cannot deny that he is being paid millions of pesos to do his everyday job of hosting this game show, and that the prizes do not come from him but from big businesses that do so not out of corporate philanthropy but product placement.
If ABS-CBN and GMA 7 want to shake things up, they should do so in the context of correcting the “infotainment” nature of the delivery of news and focusing more on the context and content of social reality. Stooping to the level of discourse promoted by Revillame – that of forgetting about the “bad news” and just tuning in to a few hours of fun and prizes during primetime – would only be counter-productive to the shaping of public opinion.
My unsolicited advice to ABS-CBN in particular: Try “getting even” with your erstwhile prized ward by finally exposing what he actually earned while hosting Wowowee at ABS-CBN, particularly the lucrative deals he had with his sponsors.
As far as the two giant networks are concerned, they could try to reformat TV Patrol and 24 Oras in a way that the news would focus more on the context of burning issues. This way, the most-watched primetime news would become effective in creating a critical mass of citizens. While this does not guarantee higher ratings, at least the giant networks would finally be of service to the nation as relevance gets pitted against escapism.