The TV5-Cignal group needs to immediately rethink its broadcast setup for its sports offerings, given that the said industry is slowly crawling back to normalcy.
In a blog post on this site last year, it was discussed why the Reliance-based media group needed a spillover channel (nicknamed One More) in some form or another. It was clearly a red flag then, as during the time when the said piece was published, the Philippine Basketball Association was staging daily tripleheaders, while the Premier Volleyball League was roaring to kick off a brand new season. Not to be left out, the Summer Olympic games in Tokyo, after a year of delays, will also push in a few days’ time then.
The PBA-PVL-Olympics juggle
The date was July 17, 2021 and the PVL was staging opening ceremonies and inaugural games for the conference. One Sports, its official broadcaster, aired those events live, with a simulcast on Cignal TV’s One Sports+. At the same time, the PBA, which was having daily tripleheaders then, was relegated to its own Rush channel on Cignal and digital platforms, triggering a massive backlash from the league’s loyal fans. TV5, for its part, could not slot in the PBA, as that date fell on a Saturday, when the Kapatid network is also fully-loaded with entertainment programs and instead aired the affected PBA games early morning of the following day.
Then the great storm that was the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo, which the TV5-Cignal group had acquired the broadcast rights to a few years back, was already a few days away. Knowing the amount of events in that quadrennial event, there’s been a fear that the network would have a scheduling conflicts in the broadcast of the quadrennial games, thanks to its other sporting commitments.
Lo and behold, it did happen. On July 26, 2021, the Philippines’ bet Hidilyn Diaz competed for the 55kg women’s weightlifting event that occurred at around 8:00 pm (Philippine time). There, Diaz won the elusive first gold medal from the Olympics. The historic moment, however, was not seen on free TV, as TV5 clinged onto its commitment of airing entertainment shows from ABS-CBN, while One Sports was broadcasting PBA and PVL that day. Cignal TV viewers who had access to an Olympic pop-up channel are part of the lucky group that have witnessed that live on television. Online, there was also coverage on the platforms owned by Cignal and their affiliate, Smart.
As reported by Bilyonaryo, that drew the ire of the public who wanted to see Diaz taking home the first gold for the Philippines in almost 100 years since the country first participated in the games.
The UAAP-PVL dilemma
Fast forward to the present times, March 2022, the dilemma continues to haunt the TV5-Cignal group. Just last Saturday, the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) returned for the first time in two years and that also marked its first live broadcast day on One Sports and the Varsity Channel on Cignal. But due to the safety precautions in place, the UAAP Men’s Basketball season will be abbreviated and be shorter than its usual length by imposing a quadruple-header game days every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
Because of this schedule, the PVL, which was also staging its quarterfinals, will be affected. Again, as TV5 could also not just step in, given that it airs a streak of entertainment shows on both its afternoon and primetime blocks every T-Th-S. So, to give way, the PVL was only aired via One Sports+ on Cignal and digital platforms. As an effect, this left PVL fans dismayed.
With this cycle seemingly repeating every now and then, the TV5-Cignal group must heed to the demands of the fans of its sporting properties and make a proactive (or perhaps, it could be reactive) decision as soon as possible.
Expand Reliance’s offerings on DTT
While they have somehow met those by streaming matches on online platforms, the fans continue to clamor to air the games live on free TV. Therfore, given that their free-to-air stations have various commitments, then a digital terrestrial TV channel could be the only viable option left for them.
As mentioned above, the solution may lie on the previously suggested One More channel.
As TV5 continues to expand its entertainment and news offerings, One Sports continues to be overloaded with sporting commitments, One More could be key in helping ease that problem. Instead of asking fans, especially those who are now on digital free TV, to switch devices, it would be easier to convince them to simply change the channel. It would also make the broadcaster become much more flexible, especially during time when multiple sporting events would occur simultaneously.
To give example, here’s how it can look like with One More in the mix. Let’s say it is a Saturday, entertainment shows will be on TV5, the UAAP games will be carried by One Sports, while the PVL can be put on One More.
Meanwhile, on days when there is a special coverage, such as the Olympics, Asian Games, and SEA Games, One More could serve as the extension of One Sports — ensuring that the broadcast will be seen on free TV, with One Sports (if needed) can attend to other commitments if they happen to fall on the same day as those events.
Now, during sporting events of national significance, like the event of Hidilyn Diaz where she hauled the country’s first Olympic gold medal, either TV5 or One Sports, depending on the type of show they air, could preempt whatever programming it airs for those, given that both 5 and One Sports have the biggest reach amongst Reliance-based channels. In lieu, One More would take in the affected programs that were supposed to air at that particular time. In short, OM will work like how a usual spillover channel will be like stateside.
Now, why would it be easy to make One More a spillover channel? Well, as discussed previously, it the proposed channel would have a programming grid that will consist of reruns and movies, genres that are both easy to preempt at any given moment. The sample schedule was already given in the prior IFTB on this topic.
While it was already answered last time, some of you reading this may still wonder: why should they bother creating One More, when they already have One PH on DTT? The quick answer is, to prevent another AksyonTV from happening. With One PH’s strong brand in news and public service, making it a spillover channel could eventually spell disaster in one way or another, especially during times when One PH will have to cover breaking news stories. Thus, to prevent future complications like that, a new channel built as a spillover to begin with would be the best solution.
To know more about the One More suggestion, read the original post from July 2021 here.
A TV channel is expensive to launch, but putting live games for free on social media wouldn’t as be…
Perhaps, a cheaper alternative to One More will be putting the games on free online platforms, such as (but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube). Currently, the Cignal Play streaming app offers this feature, but is only limited to the simulcast of the games airing on TV5, One Sports, and PBA Rush. One Sports+ and UAAP Varsity Channel remain exclusive for premium or paying subscribers.
By putting matches on the primary social media platforms known to many, the public will be exposed to the sport beyond the highlights usually posted after the games. After all, sports is best enjoyed live, even not in the venue itself, but at least in the device where you watch it. Add to that the same feeling when something is free, surely people will be more eager to go and watch on the platforms wherever their favorite athletes, sports, or leagues are available. At the very end of this is the possibility that it may also attract more fans.
This approach could also be the perfect response to what GMA Synergy is currently doing for the NCAA. Apart from its free television broadcasts on GTV, the games are also seen on the social media accounts of GMA Sports. Thus, securing a multiplatform broadcast.
Come on, One Sports has 3 million subscribers on YouTube, of course people would know where it is right away. So that is one less problem for them, especially that they have already established their base of fans.
With the TV5-Cignal group’s thrust and commitment to broadcasting sportins continuously expanding, it must also recognize the fact that the two channel approach on free TV that it currently employs may soon reach its tipping point. Thus, expanding team Reliance’s options where they can air their properties can be a good way to not just appease their viewers, but also ease the risk of their TV channels getting overwhelmed in the future as more sports, and other events return to the scene.