On March 8, 2020, Kapatid sports fans were delighted with a surprise from TV5 and Cignal. All sporting programs and specials across the two platforms and online now share a more cohesive branding that is One Sports.
Initially launched as a standalone satellite TV channel on January 9, 2019, it had become a near-mirror channel of 5 Plus, especially during live telecasts of the NFL and PSL. Thus, the rebrand of 5 Plus on March 8 comes as a no-brainer, as it would definitely fit into the mold.
But, what came as a surprise was the retooling of both the Sports5 department and ESPN5 block on TV5 to that align to the said brand. Well, to their defense, the word ‘One’ would definitely be obsolete if it hadn’t been adopted by the two abovementioned parties.
With the rebranding and merger of Sports5, ESPN5 (the TV block), 5 Plus, and Cignal TV’s original One Sports channel to One Sports, it’s now time to have that kind of synergy elsewhere in the company, in their news division, particularly.
In May 2, 2018, Cignal TV premiered a news channel that shall replace the then-Bloomberg TV Philippines. In order to make it possible, the group called in the help of TV5’s News5, newspaper companies The Philippine Star and BusinessWorld, and the team behind Bloomberg TVPh. As a result of this collaboration, One News was formed, a 24/7 English news channel with most of its programs supplied or line produced by each of the participating organisations.
Two years on, One News proves to be successful in their own right as the channel proves to be a viable competitor to both CNN Philippines and the ABS-CBN News Channel. The Big Story, BusinessWorld Live, Agenda with Cito Beltran, and the most-heralded The Chiefs are all popular among viewers.
Over at News5, the TV5 news department has been consistent in producing news and information shows for the mothership, One News, and Radyo5 / One PH.
Now that News5 is no longer doing things exclusive for 5, it’s about time to let them have the “One News” banner instead. To make things more interesting, the group shall also open themselves to the idea of combining the TV production and digital teams of Philstar into the present News5. That way, we can see more talking heads giving their thought-provoking opinions to the current state of everything, among others.
Also, it would make One News a more formidable brand as it is not exclusive to the Cignal platform anymore. Adding 5, digital, and even print would make it the Goliath of the Philippine news industry. Eventually, it might help MediaQuest cement its reputation as a news and sports powerhouse.
But, wait. We still have one more One-branded channel: One PH.
Ever since its launch in February of 2019, its proven itself to be popular among middle class viewers, with its array of programs ranging from Radyo5 simulcasts and station-produced shows that are not broadcasted on the FM band.
A better idea for One PH would be a merger with the Radyo5 brand. Perhaps, it could be like One PH 92.3 News FM or even One PH FM. Yeah, it might not sound good, but you get the point. Making One PH aligned with the radio station will make it known to the masa that News FM caters to.
As TV5 and the rest of the MVP media group converges, it will be an interesting tale to see these things materialize in the future.