50 years of Pinoy TV

In1950 an engineering student from the University of Santo Tomas by the name of Jose Nicholas spent countless hours in the workshop experimenting with sending off images, applying what he had read about Vladimir Zworykin and other inventors of early television. Nothing much resulted from the experimentations of this enterprising student, but three years later, in 1953, actual television broadcast would happen in the Philippines. The landmark event was not the result of local invention or ingenuity. A local enterprise imported the new technology that would jumpstart the introduction of television in the country.

Like what happened with film and radio before this momentous event, local entrepreneurs took the faster route of importation than the tedious task of invention. But the importation of the technology of communication is quite different from importing other technologies, like the refrigerator, for example. To make use of the hardware of television, you need the software, i.e. the programs to show. Imported programs did come with television and for decades dominated the medium. However, the history of Philippine television has been a history of reinvention to redefine programming to make it a truly Filipino medium.

It was an election year in 1953 when Antonio Quirino, whose family owned the Bolinao Electronics Corporation that operated a number of radio stations in San Juan, Davao, Dagupan and Naga, thought of importing television that was fast becoming a necessary fixture in American homes.

But this thought was far away from using television to further the family business. His brother, Elpidio, was the President of the country who was running for re-election. Antonio knew that the arduous national campaign could take its toll on his sickly brother. Television could be his brother’s secret weapon. The President would not only be heard, he would be seen as well by the electorate delivering his speech right from the confines of Malacañang Palace. Thus, Quirino applied for a franchise and dzaq was assigned to broadcast television signals on Channel 3.

Since it was a pioneering period, the Quirino campaign machinery included in its plans the installation of television sets in public places like restaurants, church, plazas, hotels and even hospitals. The ploy was ineffective; the new medium did not reach the homes of the national electorate. The voters connected more to the personal approach of the other candidate who projected himself as the man of the masses, Ramon Magsaysay. The majority of voters chanted "Magsaysay is my guy" and danced to "Mambo Magsay-say" that was aired on radio.

Antonio Quirino did not succeed in getting his brother re-elected, but he saw the potential of television to bring information and entertainment to a wider public. Channel 3 continued to broadcast from atop the supermarket on Florentino Torres St. Knowing that the campaign failed because of the lack of television sets in Filipino homes, Quirino’s Bolinao Electronics Corporation planned the development and marketing of the new household fixture.

The television station, on the other hand, was called the Alto Broadcasting System or abs and was managed by an American expatriate named James B. Lindberg. As part of a commercial broadcast company, it now placed a premium on profit than on any other consideration. The programming was dominated by American canned shows; this was not surprising since television broadcasting was just starting in the country and nobody was an expert in this field yet.

Together with the imported technology came the software. Some programs that were broadcast through the 50s included Candid Camera (the precursor of programs like Wow, Mali!); Highway Patrol, a police adventure series starring Broderick Crawford; I Love Lucy; the phenomenal situation comedy that made household names of Lucille Ball as the wacky wife and Desi Arnaz, her real-life partner, as the Latin husband.

Other popular sitcoms were Life with Father, the "father" of programs like Father Knows Best and "grandfather" of Seventh Heaven; and the Eddy Cantor Comedy Theater featuring the big-eyed comedian whose signature goodbye was the rolling of his eyes. Gene Autry was a staple western series. I Led Three Lives introduced to local audiences the espionage adventure series. Mr. District Attorney, an early legal drama, was the precursor of programs like Perry Mason, and later shows like Law and Order and The Practice.

While the new television audi-ence was exposed to American canned shows, local productions were broadcast live. Pista ng Caltex, a variety program sponsored by the leading oil company, featured the comedian Pugo and other entertainers. Tawag ng Tanghalan, an amateur singing contest in which contestants singing off-key were stopped by a bell, was hosted by comedy duo Lopito and Patsy. Games shows were also popular, like Unahan sa Kampana and Kualta Na. Children had their fun in Vi-Milk Party and Children on Parade. And, of course, there was also the news program like Tomorrow’s News Aired Tonight. Local programs were few, but they were the early signs of Filipino te-levision that would build the mass audience.

In the mid-50s when the population in the country was 12 million, there were about 6,000 television sets or about one for every 2,000 Filipinos. Since not too many households in the community had television sets, TV viewing became a neighborhood affair, with TV home owners opening their doors or windows to their neighbors. Television viewing was a community event.

In 1957, after four years since its establishment, the Alto Broadcasting System sold its shares to the Chronicle Broadcasting Network of the Lopezes. According to Antonio Quirino, the reason behind the merger was not financial but political expediency. The Quirino family had lost its political clout. Under the management of Eugenio Lopez, abs-cbn became the premier network in the country. Before the end of the decade, on April 1, 1959, the network’s sister station, Channel 9, went on the air, with Jaime Navarro as production manager.

The canned shows from the US increased with musical programs like The Perry Como Show, westerns like Tombstone Territory and Annie Oakley, and detective stories like Dragnet. In the meantime, local shows continued to be aired live with programs like Chelsea Dancetime, Pacosta Hit Parade, Darigold Jamboreee, Tia Dely, United American Tiki-Tiki and Operatang Sampay Bakod.

It was a clear day in March 1950 when a young American who served as a war correspondent tinkered with a second-hand transmitter and broadcast a news program from the fourth floor of Calvo Building on the Escolta. bzbb was born and broadcasting became a family business for this expatriate and his Filipina spouse. After a de-cade, this enterprising self-made broadcaster would be known on television as Uncle Bob.

Robert Stewart raised money to purchase a surplus transmitter and two used cameras, applied for a te-levision frequency, and in 1961 the station that would be the fierce competitor of abs-cbn was born. Stewart’s Republic Broadcasting System broadcast on Channel 7. J.J. Calero, one of the early advertising managers of the period, notes that the business-savvy war correspondent put one over the abs-cbn stations by selling one-minute slots for commercials, when the practice then was requiring advertisers to buy entire programs.

More stations started broadcasting in the 60s–the Associated Broadcasting Corporation on Channel 5, the Manila Broadcasting Company on Channel 11, and the Inter-Island Broadcasting Company on Channel 13. abs-cbn, which had transferred from Aduana, Intra-muros, to its new headquarters on Roxas Boulevard, continued to dominate on Channels 3 and 9.

Programming of canned shows, mostly American, was the usual practice. Popular shows were Combat, the war adventure featuring the heroism of American soldiers against the evil personified by the Germans; Mission: Impossible, more familiar to the contemporary audience is the movie adaptation with Tom Cruise; action-adventure-crime series like Mannix, 77 Sunset Strip and The Untouchables; dramas in a hospital setting like Ben Casey and Dr. Kildare, precursors of E.R. and Chicago Hope; and the staple westerns like Wild Wild West with Robert Conrad as the hero, a role that would be played more wildly by black actor Will Smith in a movie adaptation.

Local programs had to contend with this foreign programming–and quite successfully, it must be noted. The 60s saw the rise of te-levision talents, especially in the musical programs. Freddie Cochran, the flamboyant announcer, directed the inventive "every hour on the hour" live promos for abs-cbn. Pretty girls appeared on camera, sold the sponsors’ products, and segued smoothly to the following program.

Soon, Cochran directed a full-blown musical program like the Lucky Strike Show with singer-socialite Nelda Lopez Navarro. In the early 60s, Cochran took turns with Mitos Villareal and Fritz Ynfante directing Asia’s Queen of songs Pilita Corrales in An Evening with Pilita. In the afternoons, a young Boots Anson-Roa hosted Dance-o-rama on Channel 5. Dancetime with Chito practically saved Uncle Bob’s fledging station, with Chito Feliciano and his friends as the early version of the DIs (dance instructors). Oras ng Ligaya, a variety show, featured the comedy of soprano Sylvia la Torre, and radio-movie comedians Eddie San Jose and Oscar Obligacion.

Movie stars also crossed-over to television–Dolphy and Panchito did their comic antics in Buhay Artista, e.g. the regular song number with Panchito singing seriously and Dolphy doing the wacky translation ("Bahay kubo kahit munti " would be translated with a straight face by Dolphy into "Nipa hut even if it is in the penitentiary"); the inimitable movie love team Nida Blanca and Nestor de Villa in the Nida-Nestor Show with comedy and dance routines.

In 1967, Cecile Guidote produced the groundbreaking drama antho-logy Balintataw. Armed only with "the validity of a concept", Guidote, who started with Fr. James Reuter’s TV productions Santa Zita and Mary Rose and Teenagers, reminisces that she was able to persuade Channel 5 to pick up the idea. The drama anthology, which featured the adaptation of literary works, was hosted by Robert Arevalo. Lupita Concio was television director, assisted by stage directors like Joey Gosiengfiao, Nick Lizaso and Lino Brocka. Writers Mauro Avena and Alberto Floren-tino did their stints as literary managers who coordinated the work of the playwrights. Balintataw would raise the level of television drama through its "commitment to good literature", Guidote stresses in an interview.

Another notable drama antho-logy was Panagimpan with Marlene Dauden, popular movie actor who appeared in dramatic love-triangle movies. Charito Solis, a movie ve-teran from the studio years of the 50s, also had her own Charito Solis Show.

The landscape of Philippine broadcasting was being mapped out and, although there were a number of truly creative efforts, it was clear that the design was commercial. Nonetheless, a non-commercial, educational station was attempted by the government in January 1962 through its Philippine Broadcasting Service. Under the management of pioneering broadcaster Francisco "Koko" Trinidad, the station broadcast educational programs and talk shows with luminaries like stage actress Tita Muñoz. However, the attempt was short-lived. After a year, pbs signed off permanently. The reason was not entirely financial. The pbs was simply taken off its broadcast frequency. abs-cbn was broadcasting on Channel 3 and it was argued that pbs, broadcasting on Channel 4, was interfering with the commercial station’s signal.

The Radio Control Office, the government agency that took charge of frequency allocation at the time, played a major role in killing pbs. The rco was used and abused by politicians, until it came to be known as "Radio Controlled Office". How was this possible? Broadcast frequencies are finite; therefore, it is necessary to rationalize and control their allocation. Broadcasting companies get their franchise to broadcast on certain frequencies and it is Congress that takes charge of franchising.

In the 60s, the rco was harassed by politicians especially during election periods. The number of radio stations "normally" increased during the campaign months before the elections.

The power of media became increasingly apparent in the 60s. A phenomenon of this decade was the media combines. By the late 60s, the following trimedia combines existed: Manila Chronicle was affiliated with the abs-cbn network of radio stations and television Channels 3 and 9; Manila Times with abc radio and television Channel 5; Evening News, with mbc radio and television Channel 11; Philippines Herald, with Radio Mindanao Network, including Channel 13.

In 1969, a national election year, the media were harnessed by the administration in power. Ferdinand Marcos was seeking re-election as president with his vice-president, Fernando Lopez, who belonged to the Lopez family that owned the abs-cbn network, so it was only logical to use media resources of the family. But, in the 1969 elections, the campaign machinery of the Marcos-Lopez tandem was not satisfied with the two television stations of abs-cbn and its radio stations. The Nacionalista Party held an extravaganza called Bandwagon ‘69. On election eve, the program started at 7 pm on the abs-cbn channels. At 11 pm, all other stations were already broadcasting the same extravaganza. Antonio Quirino’s dream of using television as a political campaign tool was realized a decade and a half later, for better or worse, in Bandwagon ‘69.

Before the end of the decade, Channel 9 was re-allocated to the Radio Philippines Network. Channels 3 and 9 of the abs-cbn network were re-configured to broadcast on Channels 2 and 4, respectively, a possibility that was never made known to Francisco Trinidad and the pbs. All the vhf channels had been assigned to commercial companies and the Philippine Broadcasting Service lost its broadcast frequency and with it the chance for a non-commercial educational station.

abs-cbn also introduced color in 1966. The addition of this new technology would make Philippine television more alive and fun and, consequently, it would attract a bigger audience, the consumer base that advertisers were looking for. There was no stopping Philippine television from becoming big business. Moreover, the 60s also showed that television could be a powerful political tool. Marcos knew it; he used the medium to power his reelection bid; he would seek to control television and other media to secure his dynasty.

This articke is excerpted from the Channel Kultura monograph on television. The Channel Kultura monograph and vcd are available at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. For details, call CCP Broadcast Arts at tel 832-1125 loc. 1702.