Korina Sanchez pulled a surprise early this month when she officially returned as a Kapamilya via a contract-signing on a co-production deal for her show Rated Korina.
But, perhaps, it wasn’t that much of a surprise as the broadcast journalist always felt she never left ABS-CBN.
After the TV network was denied a franchise renewal in 2020, “many of us were told, ‘You are now freelance,’” Korina recalled during an intimate interview with The STAR and other entertainment press.
“Immediately, I looked for one sponsor to pay for a skeletal staff and I went on Facebook. During the pandemic, all my interviews were on Zoom.
“Very soon after, Brightlight picked me up under now-Bacolod Mayor Albee Benitez. At first I couldn’t understand what it was all about. ‘Basta he’s gonna pay for your production.’ Ah ganun, whatever, kahit saan ako lumabas, not knowing he had a deal with both A2Z (which had a partnership with ABS-CBN) and TV5 to come out simultaneously.
“Practically, I never left ABS because soon after, bumalik na rin yung airing ko dun, although the producer is Brightlight.”
Korina said she is “eternally grateful” to Brightlight for taking up the producing cudgels for her program, formerly Rated K but has since been renamed as Rated Korina.
“Even if (eventually) they (Brightlight) sort of discontinued and downsized, wow, for the entire pandemic, we were happy.
“For three years, our salaries were commensurate to the salaries of ABS-CBN since its heyday kasi ganun ako mag-pasweldo ng tao, parang to me, people were needing it and we were braving all the threats and the dangers of pandemic.
“So, all throughout the pandemic, may work kami. That’s why I kept telling my staff… sobra kayong swerte, kaya pwede ‘wag niyo na akong bigyan sakit ng ulo, pwede ba, alam mo yung ganun? (laughs).
“Most of the guys who started with me are still the same guys who are with me with the new arrangement with ABS-CBN.”
No burning of bridges
3Korina was able to “return” to ABS-CBN because “I don’t believe in burning bridges.”
“The only constant thing here is change. In this business, it’s hard to burn bridges, I don’t believe in that. My personal style is I keep it to myself and it’s always best to be diplomatic about it. Kung naubos na iyong diplomasya… maybe if you’re talking to the 30-year-old Korina, halika giyera tayo, but now, ‘di kasi ganun… Lahat na nagbabago,” she said.
“True enough now, the lines have no more delineation. Your mortal (enemy) before, BFF (best friend forever) mo na ngayon. Such is life. The most unheard of and the most improbable scenarios have happened like the closure of ABS-CBN and the (collaborations) of ABS-CBN and GMA, and the shows of ABS-CBN are also shown on TV5. So ganun na ngayon. That is also the personality that I want to adopt.”
Though she never took it against ABS-CBN, she couldn’t help but question why she was let go by the network back then.
Korina recalled, “When I was going to sign with Brightlight, alam kong wala na ako sa ABS pero parang meron pa akong hugot na, ‘Bakit niyo pa ako pinakawalan?’ (My ABS-CBN show) Rated K was one of the most viable, was one of the cheapest to produce, was award-winning and was the best promo platform for all your artistas. I mean, why? It almost doesn’t make sense.”
But just before her contract-signing with Brightlight, she said there was an attempt to make her stay.
“Sabi ko kay (talent manager) Girlie Rodis, ‘Girlie, magpapaalam ka ng mabuti kasi magpipirma na tayo. Alam kong wala na tayo sa kanila pero yan ang original kong pamilya, mga magulang…’ Eto mag-sa-sign up na tayo sa TV5, and suddenly, they said, ‘Can Korina please not sign?’
“‘It was just in the flurry of things that matters were lost in translation. We just didn’t realize what became of Korina at that time.’ So that’s what they said. I said, ‘It’s a little bit too late for that because we already negotiated, we have a timeslot, we’re signing tomorrow,’” she shared.
Korina, however, received the “most important” piece of advice from ABS-CBN president and CEO Carlo Katigbak that would change the future of her place in the business.
“At that time, I was going into a situation that I’ve never been in because dati, empleyado lang naman ako, and now I’m coming in as a producer,” she shared.
“(Carlo) said, ‘Please tell Korina to own her show. Make sure of that before you sign.’ That’s what we did. We changed the personality of the program and had it patented and Albee was so generous, OK na. Because of that, the next three years became my most lucrative. We were visible in niche markets, even though smaller, because gone are the days of 40-percent ratings.
“With the niche markets and really good sales team, we really flourished. With the changing media landscape, creativity is not monopolized, it’s free for all. Or, even all my creative ideas from before that I wanted to do, we were able to do.”
Korina as producer
Korina the producer is fully activated through Viktory 8 Media, Inc., a company she put up in her 20s for her then hosting jobs. She never imagined it would serve her well now that she’s pitching and mounting programs herself.
From Rated Korina, she has expanded her horizons via two more programs — Korina Interviews on Net25 and TicTalks on TV5 — during the pandemic.
The former chief correspondent of ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs said her training at ABS-CBN prepared her for this career trajectory.
“Bihira din yung on-cam ka, ikaw din nag-iilaw, umuupo sa editing, ikaw din nagpipintura sa sariling mong set, ako yun. Ako din ang EP (executive producer), so ako din ang numero (accounting). My training was all-around. That was priceless.
“Because of that, I was able to become a producer and host of all three shows at the same time. I thought it would be easy, but it’s tiring. However, the job is actually manageable.
“When Brightlight decided to downsize, I thought, who’s gonna be my producer now? I can, of course, use my money but I think it’s more secure if I have a partner. Besides, where am I going to air?”
It was during an encounter with Vice Ganda at a wake that would pave the way for Korina to reconnect professionally with ABS-CBN executives — Katigbak and Cory Vidanes (chief operating officer for broadcast) — and work anew with ABS-CBN.
“Out of the blue, Vice texted me, ‘Korina, call me up. I was just with Tita Cory Vidanes and Carlo.’ Sabi niya, pumunta ka na dun, hinihintay ka na. Mag-pitch ka na sa kanila.
“Because of that tip, I made an appointment. I was so overwhelmed with that one meeting and they said, ‘Ano ka ba? Dito ka na sa amin. Welcome back home!’ Ganun lang ka bilis. This was about a month before we started airing Rated Korina (with ABS-CBN) last month.”
Rated Korina airs Saturdays at 6:15 p.m. on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live and A2Z, and still on TV5 at 9:45 p.m. The show is also available for streaming on iWantTFC and TFC.
The only challenging part in an otherwise seamless process to seal the co-production deal was negotiating with them no longer as an employee but as a producer.
“When we were talking, I told Carlo, ‘Do you remember that you advised me to own my show?’ ‘Oh, did I do that?’ Sabi ko, ‘Do you regret it?’ ‘No, you know what it tells me Korina? Let’s be co-producers.’
“So, of course, I have less exposure if I don’t co-produce, but it also gives me an edge about content… I have a say on my content. So, the arrangement is that everything is half down the line — sales, investment, transparency — they were so easy.”
Homecoming
It was a memorable homecoming for Korina, what with the contract-signing event on her comeback as Kapamilya. It was her first time ever. She never experienced it when she was part of its newsroom.
“You can take the girl away from the birthplace, but you can’t take the birthplace away from the girl. In this case, you can’t take away the ABS-CBN in Korina because this is where I grew up,” she said at the event.
Korina was proud to say she was one of the media company’s original employees.
“Our newsroom then was only four people — Becky Cabral, David Nye, Vic Lima and me — one long table, three typewriters, four chairs. So parang bakit ako magko-contract signing with flowers and all? So now, pagpasok ko sa ABS-CBN, natatawa ako na nakikiliti ng konti, wow, ganito pala ang feeling na may contract-signing. Hinilera nila lahat ang lumang tao para at home ako. It was very heartwarming.”
Under Viktory 8 Media, she also plans to venture into movies and series in the future. She already bought a movie script and is hoping for the right co-producer to come along.
“That’s why I pray for energy, the media landscape now is very exhausting. It can be lucrative, you can scratch that creative itch all you want, but you need to have the energy to do it all at the same time.”