NEW, BUT THE SAME

From my Manila Standard Column, Game Winners Feb. 11, 2011

There has been so much talk about the PBA moving to Studio23. There was some who even assumed that Studio 23, under ABS CBN will take over the PBA coverage. Yesterday it was finally made clear. Solar TV will still continue producing the PBA games and will only buy air time from Studio 23.

Solar’s head of PR Tek Major shares “We are happy to announce that SolarTV has entered into a blocktime agreement with Studio 23 for the free TV telecast of the PBA games for the 2nd and 3rd conferences this year.”

There were concerns about Studio 23 being a UHF channel which was a concern of the PBA Board, but after evaluating it, they were convinced that Studio 23 has the technical capabilities. It was pointed out that UHF and VHF channels are not much different in terms of strength nowadays.

Because Solar TV is reformatting the shows they air on RPN 9, the sports shows were no longer a fit in their programming. “But this is something we shared with the PBA a year ago. It wasn’t sudden”, clarifies Major.

Their other sports programs like the NBA which on certain days airs on RPN 9 could also be moved to another free TV partner. Ms. Major still does not say with finality if they’re getting airtime with another network or if it will also be on Studio 23. “We’re working on airing the NBA on a block time basis. But right now it’s just one of the options due to the reformatting.”

Solar TV’s CEO Peter Chanliong assures that they will continue to give their full support to make these next 2 conferences “better than ever”. And that is a challenge for the production team.

A number of the behind the scene people have been jumping form one network to another, whoever is covering the PBA, that’s who they work for. Their experience is what lands them the job with whoever is the TV coveror.

It takes a special breed of production personnel to cover the PBA games. More than the deep knowledge and understanding of the game, technical know-how, the creativity, and the commitment, it takes a lot of passion, and an amount of trust with the PBA community and the personalities which they’ve built.

It’s hard to get some players to do a scripted line during a shoot if he’s not comfortable with you. The coaches wouldn’t always allow you to go inside the locker room, or pester him during the game if he wasn’t familiar with you. You won’t be privy to some inside information if you don’t know the ins and outs.

The challenge now is for the production team to make the most out of the next two conferences and make it even better. Not just for Solar TV’s sake but also for their own. Their future depends on it. And this goes to the on-cam talents as well.

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