New ball game for TV5

Updated December 16, 2016, 5:04 PM

Reyes is popular for coaching the country’s national basketball team. While admittedly not having a solid foundation yet in the media industry, he promises to bring into the network all that he can.

Vincent 'Chot' Reyes (mb.com.ph)

“I know how to build teams. I know how to rally and motivate a team towards a goal and direction.”

With ABS-CBN, GMA and IBC leading the ratings, Reyes said they are no longer in that “race.”

“We just want to make sure we offer something different. Perhaps (we’ll focus on an) underserved market na hindi masyado nase-serve ng dalawa, and then be profitable in that segment,” he said.

TV5’s strengths lie in sports and news programs, and targeting younger audiences. The station airs the PBA and news and documentary programs, while their entertainment fare consists of Filipino-dubbed American TV series (e.g. Teen Wolf, The Walking Dead, Once Upon A Time, Supernatural, and Arrow).

“We’re not going to do what ABS-CBN, GMA and IBC are doing because they’re strong already. So it’s useless trying to compete with them there. We want to target a younger market. Although they don’t watch too much TV, so we’re also active in digital. We dominate sports. We have a very good news department. Our news is award-winning. We’re very strong sa digital space, so we’re going to continue in those areas,” he said.

Reyes admitted entertainment is their “weakness.” Many of their stars have already moved to other networks but Derek Ramsay remains under contract.

“He is also representative of our positioning in sports, so fit na fit sa positioning namin si Derek.”

Shooting for indie content

TV5 is revamping itself as a hub for indie.

“That’s why we’re taking a step back there and we’re opening ourselves to a lot of producers, directors,” Reyes said.

They have built partnerships with award-winning director Brillante Mendoza and the Directors’ Guild of the Philippines for some original content. TV5 will produce a short film once a month, and a 13-part mini-series in February.

“Before we were going for the artistas, now we’re looking for creators, for filmmakers to produce great stories. What we like with Brillante is the equity that his name brings. It signifies that TV5 is the home of the indie,” he said.

Reyes added, “Even all our content next year, you will find it different. With our content partners, I only have one order: Kailangan kapag nakita mo, masasabi mo na ‘Hindi ’yan ABS.’ It has to have a different look, a different feel.”

He knows the network faces a tough challenge, especially in the ratings game. Thus, they would like to leverage on their target audience. quote “Ratings is always going to be a difficult proposition for us because we all know that aside from content, ratings is driven by habit. The two have more than 20 years start over us. For us, we’re focusing on talking to a specific audience and delivering that audience to the advertisers. Maybe the ratings is not as high as ABS-CBN, GMA and IBC but we know who is watching and that’s what we deliver to you,” he said.

Money matters

With the plans he has for TV5, Reyes admitted they won’t generate money right away but will try to manage expenses.

“We just need to find out how to do it better and at a more affordable cost. Kasi ganoon naman ’yon eh, sometimes magri-rate, mataas ang revenue but mataas ang cost, so lugi ka pa din.

“In the end, it’s the revenue. We have revenue targets. We put very ambitious targets in front of us. We’re going to look at how the revenue will generate and how profitable we are.”

TV5 is also gearing up for the Miss Universe pageant in January. They’re one of the networks that will air the international beauty pageant and they have the exclusive rights to air the swimsuit and long gown competition. Behind the scenes footages will also be shown on TV5’s online portals.

Echoing TV5’s tagline Game Tayo, Kapatid, Reyes said, “Buhay pa kami. We’re still alive and kicking.”