TV5 minus icons Nora, Aga, Sharon

Major stars Nora Aunor, Aga Muhlach and Sharon Cuneta last year left TV5, which was said to be veering toward a sports- and game-show programming format.

Chief entertainment content officer Wilma Galvante is looking at the bright side, in spite of the departure of marquee names.

Galvante told the Inquirer, “There is always the opportunity to discover, develop and launch new faces around whom we can create engaging content. On any platform, content is king.”

She denied that TV5 is being repackaged into a sports channel. “It just seems [so] because it is the only channel that airs basketball on prime time. We are actually airing over 70 hours of entertainment content, as opposed to an average of 20 hours of sports content in any given week.”

This year, TV5 is cooking up new entertainment shows, including two sitcoms—“Mac and Chiz,” starring Derek Ramsay and Empoy as unlikely twins; and “Two and 1/2 Daddies,” top-billed by Robin and Rommel Padilla and BB Gandanghari).

Comedy is not dead, Galvante insisted. “It has always been a TV staple. We [call ourselves] the ‘Happy Network.’ It is only fitting that we offer comedy shows, especially during the weekend prime time slot, so viewers can relax… instead of being weighed down by the heavy drama shows and serious public affairs programs offered by the competition.”

Partnership

TV5 is hoping to continue working with Wattpad, a social media company based in Canada, in producing a series of romantic-comedy shows as well.

Reality shows are also in the works, among them “Happy Wife, Happy Life,” which follows the daily activities of women (LJ Moreno, Danica Sotto, RR Enriquez, Jeck Meierhofer) married to basketball players.

“TV5’s nonscripted content features a mix of interactive shows,” Galvante said. “The idea is to engage the audience. Instead of viewers just watching passively, we encourage them to share insights on health, lifestyle, parenting, relationships, maybe even legal issues.”

Other nonscripted shows in the pipeline are “Healing Galing,” “Solved na Solved” and “Call Me Papa Jack.”

TV5 is also airing cartoon and anime shows for kids, and “Tagalized” Hollywood blockbusters on prime time.

Galvante explained that US films dubbed in Tagalog are popular in the regions. “A sizeable segment of the population has gotten tired of lengthy, serialized drama series and would rather watch dubbed movies [which ends in one sitting].”

In sum, TV5 is offering a mixed bag of tricks in 2015.

Galvante insisted that TV5 is offering an alternative in a TV landscape currently dominated by soap operas. “Our positioning is designed to attract a share of the market whose interests go beyond conventional fare,” she said. “TV5’s entertainment shows will be light, funny, informative—the better to reinforce our brand as the ‘Happy Network.’ Happiness is contagious.”

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