Why ABC 5 couldn’t take off

The latest blow to Philippine television is ABC 5’s decision to end all its local productions. Public affairs programs have stopped taping and even the stars of the entertainment series have been told about the cancellation of their respective shows.

Channel 5, however, may entertain blocktime producers in the future and will definitely keep the PBA. ABC 5 big boss Tonyboy Cojuangco is said to be going full blast instead with his new business – mobile TV and this is where he is going to concentrate from this day on.

The future of ABC 5 is, therefore, uncertain and this is unfortunate because this network – originally owned by the Roces family – definitely has a place in the TV landscape and I hate to see it go back to oblivion... the way it did during the martial law years.

I don’t have the official history of ABC 5, but pre-martial law viewers remember it as a network identified with quality programming. Its news program (The Big News aired at 9 p.m.) was the most credible and its anchor, the late Jose Mari Velez – with his perfect enunciation – will always be remembered as the best newscaster in the history of Philippine television.

For entertainment fare, it had Dance-O-Rama in the early ’60s and this was made into a movie by Sampaguita Pictures and it starred Susan Roces and Jose Mari Gonzalez.

Marlene Dauden’s drama anthology Salamisim (also made into a movie) actually began on Channel 5 and eventually moved to ABS-CBN Channel 2 as Panagimpan.

Even more prestigious was Balintataw (produced by Cecile Guidote-Alvarez and directed by Lupita Kashiwahara), which became the training ground for the likes of Lino Brocka, Elwood Perez, Joey Gosiengfiao and Nick Lizaso.

Channel 5 also produced what I believe was the best horror series on television: Lino Brocka’s Malikmata.

Unfortunately, all of the station’s efforts to produce quality productions were flushed down the drain with the declaration of martial law on Sept. 21, 1972.

For 20 years, there was no Channel 5 at all. The network was reopened only in 1992 when it was bought by businessman Edward Tan.

The new ABC 5 lured some of the biggest names into the station during its first few years of operations. Pops Fernandez was one of its first stars and she starred in the weekly musical series POPS.

But instead of competing side by side with ABS-CBN and GMA 7 (which were already pummeling each other back then), ABC 5 even fell behind the government-sequestered RPN 9.

"The fastest growing network." That was the slogan of ABC 5 during its reopening. When it started canceling its shows one by one, however, even its employees began joking about how the slogan should be changed to "the fastest canceling network."

Looking back, I had this feeling even from the beginning about how Channel 5 would have difficulty taking off. This was in 1992 when I was very active doing television reviews.

I felt that ABC 5 would have a hard time making its mark among viewers because for 20 years, it was off the air and television sets back then (those manufactured in the Philippines in particular) were not programmed to carry Channel 5.

I don’t know if they still have those models today, but in the early ’90s, there were still a lot of TV sets that had rotary knobs to change channels and Channel 5 was automatically skipped during channel surfing. Some television sets had to be reconfigured to get Channel 5 and I have no idea how many among the masses (who matter in the ratings) did that. I believe that was one of the reasons why Channel 5 had difficulty making its mark during the early years after its reopening.

ABC 5, however, still persevered through the ’90s and introduced new formats like the gag show Tropang Trumpo and Dayanara Torres’ dance show Eezy Dancing – both of which were eventually cancelled after only a few years.

I guess one problem of the network is how to keep its stars – or shall we say how to keep its stars alive after that long drive to the studio in Novaliches. Those of us on TV have this joke among us about how the studio of ABC 5 is "only 10 minutes away from Baguio." Of course, that’s an exaggeration. It’s not really that far if you think about it. Traffic going there is just really bad.

ABC 5’s studio in the ’60s was in Pasong Tamo – then still grassland. But back then, it was easy for, say, Boots Anson to travel from UP (where she was a student) to the Pasong Tamo studio for Dance-O-Rama because there was no traffic.

But to go to Barangay San Bartolome in Novaliches today is murder. I remember when Aster Amoyo still had her Isang Tanong, Isang Sagot show on Channel 5 and she requested me to be there for her birthday celebration.

The show aired at 9 p.m., but I had to leave my house (in La Vista – already in Quezon City) before 5 p.m. to avoid the rush hour traffic. Having said yes to that invitation that required me to travel all the way there will always be my most precious gift to her. I never returned to the network since.

If Channel 5 finally stops churning out its station-produced shows, what will it do with its Novaliches studio? My suggestion is to turn it into something like a bed and breakfast business. Oh, what a hit that would be among northbound travelers. Remember, it’s "only 10 minutes away from Baguio."

(On Thursday: Why I believe Channel 5 was unable to take off even under new management.)