State of National Television Assessment (SONTA)

(First of two parts)

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo already gave her SONA or State of the Nation Address last Monday amidst rallies from both pro- and anti-Gloria camps. Before that, Sen. Panfilo Lacson also came up with his TSONA or True State of the Nation Address. Somewhere between President Arroyo’s SONA and Sen. Lacson’s TSONA was former President Joseph Estrada’s SONIA or State of the Nation Inspite of Arroyo. I thought Mr. Estrada’s SONIA was cute – although we may have to remind Erap that "in spite" are two words.

Not to be outdone, I’ve decided to come up with my own SONTA or State of National Television Assessment.

So what is the true state of national television (only the commercial networks and not cable)? Read on and I hope you agree with my assessment.

• There are only two networks that matter today – ABS-CBN and GMA 7. Although I am lucky to belong to the no. 1 station – GMA 7 (this is not a biased observation – the station can provide anyone with the ratings sheets, which advertisers and even ABS-CBN also have), I don’t think the current scenario is healthy for the TV industry. If you are not a cable subscriber and you want to be entertained, informed (?) and educated (oh, forget that – you don’t get that from commercial TV anymore), you have no choice but enjoy ABS-CBN and GMA 7’s programming, which are basically the same. If there is a comedy show in one channel, expect a comedy program also in the rival station.

• ABC-5 remains a poor third in ranking and its status will stay there for as long as it carries the PBA, which sadly is no longer as popular as it used to be. Sure, the PBA keeps this station afloat financially because despite the games’ decreased popularity there is still an audience for basketball in this country. But then, if you have the PBA occupying a large chunk of the primetime schedule, how can you improve your programming? Even its early evening news Sentro (which I have to say has a good pool of news reporters and anchors – John Susi and Ali Sotto) cannot develop a steady following among the viewers because it is just being inserted in between games on PBA nights.

However, I cannot blame ABC-5 for carrying the PBA games because 1) It makes money for the station and 2) There is still prestige to this more than three decades old institution.

• Channels 4, 9 and 13 have become a wasteland. I feel particularly bad for RPN-9 and IBC-13 because these two networks had their glorious years in the past (pre-sequestration).

During the day, both networks sell endless products – from physical fitness gadgets (that I swear do not work – I’ve tried some in the past) to kitchen knives. At night, RPN-9 has old canned series of US programs and American wrestling, while IBC-13 has local volleyball games and some where-did-those-come-from? local productions. I sometimes see JM Rodriguez anchoring a show. The kid is talented, but I still can’t make out his program. Maybe I’m just too old to be his audience.

• Channels 4, 9 and 13 have been reduced to being mere vehicles for Malacañang propaganda – or to put it more bluntly, for Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s "pampaganda". I’m telling you, it’s like in the Marcos days again.

While I do understand that the people running those networks were put there by Malacañang, do they have to turn these stations into a showcase for all of Mrs. Arroyo’s supposed accomplishments? In all fairness to former Presidents Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada, I don’t remember them using those government-controlled stations as mouthpiece of their respective administrations. In the case of Mrs. Aquino, she was even being lampooned by the award-winning comedy Sic O’Clock News, which used to air on Channel 13.

Unfortunately, we have some (I did not say all) sycophants in these stations and now that Mrs. Arroyo’s presidency is in danger, expect the people running these networks to work even double time to stay in power. (To be continued)