It is the Philippines’ longest-running newscast in the vernacular.
Today, ABS-CBN’s flagship primetime newscast ‘TV Patrol’ is celebrating its 37th anniversary.
The program debuted on March 2, 1987 as part of ABS-CBN’s relaunch as the ‘Star Network,’ an era that gave viewers other remarkable programs like ‘Palibhasa Lalake,’ ‘Chika Chika Chicks,’ among many others.
At launch, ‘TV Patrol’ was anchored by Noli de Castro, Mel Tiangco, Frankie Evangelista, and Angelique Lazo — who is the first-ever showbiz anchor of the newscast.
According to Freddie M. Garcia, who was ABS-CBN’s general manager at the time of the program’s launch, the title is derived from ‘Radyo Patrol,’ ABS-CBN’s pre-Martial Law news radio station that was later retooled for the post-EDSA Revolution DZMM on 630 kHz.
Within a year of its launch, ‘TV Patrol’ was able to clinch its position as the top-rating newscast in the country, besting rivals from other stations that continued to use English as their medium.
Fast forward to 2020, the program became a notable piece in ABS-CBN’s history, when it became the last-ever show to air on the network after it was issued a cease-and-desist order by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
After that, ‘TV Patrol’ briefly became a cable-only newscast for over a year, before returning to free-to-air television in January 2022 via A2Z.
In June 2023, it also resumed its audio simulcast on radio upon the launch of DWPM Radyo 630.