August has ended, but the turmoil in Philippine broadcasting continues. If you were expecting a polite update, turn back now. I missed August because work was a nightmare and the monsoon rains were downright traumatizing. We’re safe, the roof stayed on, thank God, but my heart goes out to my kabalens out there still wading through floods that take a week and three business days to drain. Anyway. Where am I? Right—watching the internal decay of Philippine media. While actual water flooded our streets, my feed was inundated with a whole different kind of sewage: corporate bootlicking, fanatical delusion, and tribal brain rot. The Absurdity of the Kapamilya Financial Mirage Let’s begin with the height of financial delusion: ABS-CBN defenders backing their Eurovision Asia coverage and commitment. They just had their Selection Night last weekend to represent the country for the main continental event this November. For years, trade forums and pipe dreams have discussed an Asian counterpart...
The Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), a longtime Philippine cinema authority, recently decided to branch out. After decades of handing out golden statuettes, someone within the committee thought, " Podcasts and midday TV are booming—let's create a spin-off!" Perhaps due to the outdated, strict criteria of PMPC and KBP coping with the lingering crisis of 2020, this indeed occurred. Enter the 1st FAMAS Broadcast Arts Awards. It was billed as a grand evening at the Manila Hotel celebrating the best in TV, radio, and digital media. But when a legacy film institution enters the chaotic realm of broadcasting and internet culture, chaos ensues. To gauge how well the academy’s refined tastes match reality, a poll was conducted among everyday listeners and viewers, who predicted winners in 28 categories (two were excluded due to open-ended questions). The results? The statistics expose a huge, absurd gap between public favorites and the FAMAS judges’ choices. He...