Network war beginning of Channels 9

June 1, 2014

In celebration on its 54th anniversary of Philippine television history, Radio Philippines Network (RPN) is now join the growing number fo free TV stations in Metro Manila making the competition for viewership and advertising revenues even stiffer. The Kasama Network is the aggressive of Solar Entertainment, together with the country's number 3 station IBC-13 (The Kapinoy Network) to assert its dominance in the industry.

Wilson Tieng, Solar Entertainment president and CEO and is now RPN-9 chairman, said in a recent press conference briefing that the network paves the way for the segmentation of the network's audience. "What's happening now is the definition of viewership by way of income strata," he explained. "While the sequestered TV station turned into the broadcasting giant IBC-13 research tells us that the majority of Channel 13 viewers belong to the C-D-E classes, there is RPN that tapped potential viewership belonging top the upper and middle A-B-C markets which would normally prefer English language (read: American) programs and now expand of C-D-E market for those Filipino language (read: Filipino) programs for the masses."

With teh relaunch of the new leader network and as IBC Channel 13 streamlines its programming to focus on local programs, IBC could corner between 85 to 100 percent of the TV audience in Metro Manila alone.

And that's possible with the station's 100-kilowatt transmitter which Tieng said assures the viewers of crisp video and audio reception. Existing other channels have a reception, the reason perhaps why media buyers are convinced about their effectiveness. "That scenario would definitely change as we go on the air last June 29, 1960," Tieng added. "When we made our proposals to them and presented the program packages that we plan to include out programming grid, we assured them that RPN-9's reception would definitely compete with the network war in VHF stations. It seems that their requirement is reception."

The newest network, said president nand CEO Robert T. Rivera, has been designed to project something like a regulat TV station, "Except perhaps the fact that it will carry all English and Filipino language programs, including the Filipino newscast at 6:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. English newscast." The station will initially operate with the satellite broadcast.

"We will definetely expand our programming, and even this early we are already mulling several locally produced shows. In the meantime, we are concentrating on the imports that we have in our valuts."

The station's programming grid is divided into blocks. World-Class US Primetime which will put on the air foreign canned programs: Mission: Impossible, Law & Order (Friday 5 p.m.), 24: Live Another Day (Tuesday 5 p.m.), Survivor: One World (Thursday at 5 p.m.), Community (Saturday at 6:30 p.m.), Revolution (Monday at 8 p.m.), Chicago Fire (Monday 7:30 p.m.), Smallville (Saturday 8:30 p.m.), NCIS: New Orleans (Thursday 8:30 p.m.), American Idol (Tuesday and Thursday 7:30 p.m.) and The Walking Dead (Tuesday 8:30 p.m.). With asamang Telenovela will put on primetime telenovelas: Mentir Para Vivir (6 p.m.) and Porque el Amor Manda (10 p.m.) as well as the imports of Koreanovelas: Wonderful Life (3:30 p.m.) and Dear My Sister (10:30 p.m.)

It became Anime sa Umaga on weekdays (9:30 to 11 a.m.) with the anime hits like Dragon Ball Z (9:30 a.m.), Crayon Shin Chan (10 a.m.) and K-ON! (10:30 a.m.). Some cartoon imports of the Kids Shift on weekends with the animated series for kids like Pop Pixie (Saturday 7 a.m.), Magic Wonderland (Saturday 7:30 a.m.), Trollz (Saturday 8 a.m.), Ben 10: Alien Force (Saturday 8:30 a.m.), Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (Saturday 9 a.m.), The Simpsons (Saturday 9:30 a.m.) and Johnny Test (Sunday 7:30 a.m.)

Primetime starts at 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. from Monday to Friday, 2 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on Saturdays and 2 p.m. to 12:45 a.m. on Sundays will surely be familiar to the audiences.

Throwback titles like MacGyver (Mondays 5 p.m.), The X-FIles (Monday 8:45 p.m.) and NYPD Blue (Wednesday 5 p.m.) will be back on the air plus new locally produced shows on Philippine primetime television, including two new comedy programs, two game shows, reality show, soap opera, drama anthology, musical variety show and the Tagalog movies featuring the legendary of Bong Revilla.

Among them: My Family's Lover (weeknights 9:30 p.m.), a soap opera is a teleserye combined the mix of drama, romance and family drama starring a drama actor Albert Martinez and beauty queen Ruffa Gutierrez with the promising child star Andrea Brillantes directed by Joel Lamangan; two Philippine local version of the top-rated US game shows such as The Million Peso Money Drop (Saturday 7 p.m.) hosted by Rafael Rosell and The Price is Right (Sunday 7 p.m.) hosted by Tom Rodriguez becoming the million-peso prized phenomenal; Pinapangako Mo (Saturday 7:45 p.m.), a drama antholgoy featuring the real life stories is hosted by Coney Reyes; Boses Tinig Pinoy (Saturday 9:15 p.m. and Sunday 8 p.m.), a reality show for the national singing contest hosted by German Moreno with a judges are Anthony Castelo, Aileen Papin, Pilita Corales and John Nite in a chance to win P1,000,000 million pesos for the singing champion of superstars; John en Nova (Saturday 10 p.m.), a comedy sitcom top-billed by comedians Roderick Paulate as John and Nova Villa as Nova; Kemis: Kay Bayani Ako (Sunday 5:45 p.m.), a gag show starring Bayani Agbayani; Superstar (Sundays at 9 p.m.), a musical variety show is hosted by the pop superstar Angeline Quinto for the sing and dance performers of musical numbers and Bong Revilla Cinema sa RPN (Saturday 10:45 p.m.) will feature the action-packed Pinoy blockbuster movies from legendary Bong Revilla.

The station also will offer the local news and public affairs programs: Newswatch Morning Edition (5:30 a.m.), a morning newscast anchored by Teresa Guanzon; Masarap na Almusal (weekdays 5:30 a.m. simulcast over DZKB Radyo Ronda 1242), a unique teleradyo of morning show hosted by Alex Tinsay and Vivienne Gulla; Newswatch Morning Edition (weekdays 12 noon), a noontime newscast anchored by Jeffrey Zaide; a top-of-the-hour news capsule RPN News Break and the flagship Filipino news program Arangkada Balita (6:30 p.m.) anchored by the veteran anchorman Bing Formento and Angelique Lazo. There is also NewsWatch (11 p.m.), the longest-running English late-night newscast on Philippine television which is anchored by the veteran broadcasters Eric Eloriaga and Cristina Peczon; and Arangkada Balita Weekend (Saturday 12:30 a.m. and Sunday 6:30 p.m.) anchored by Kilo Pangilingan and Cielo Villaluna.