Timow's Turf

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 Perhaps due to the outdated, strict criteria of PMPC and KBP coping with the lingering crisis of 2020, this indeed occurred.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...

FOR DECADES , Philippine entertainment was controlled by gatekeeping, with success tied to playing by the "Press Clubs" or private organizations' rules for TV awards.  But last week, FAMAS—the country’s oldest and most prestigious award body—decided to stop watching from the sidelines. The inaugural FAMAS Broadcast Arts Awards , set for May 4 at Manila Hotel, is more than a new event date. It's a deliberate move to challenge the "antiquated mindset" that has caused Philippine TV awards to fall into favoritism, network bias, and irrelevance. The PMPC Problem: A Legacy of Favoritism To understand why the FAMAS expansion is crucial, we must confront the elephant in the room: the PMPC Star Awards for TV. Since 1987, the Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC) has held a near-monopoly on recognizing television excellence. However, longevity does not always equate to integrity. The Star Awards have long been marred by whispers—and often shouts—of network favoritism. T...