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| Something for every Juan & MariaAuthor: Maridol Rañoa-Bismark Gone are the days of the one-size-fits-all cable channel. Changing times call for changing styles. And this means skewing programs tailor-fit for Juan, Pedro, Tomas, Maria, Ana and Gina. Juan, Pedro and Tomas want sports, adventure, crime stories and seduction. They want to see bikini-clad ladies, boxing matches, wrestling bouts. Maria, Ana and Gina, on the other hand, go for fashion, beauty, drama and romance. They want handsome hunks, the latest fashion and makeup trends, love stories. SkyCable executives see the writing on the wall. So they have come up with three new channels to meet these needs. Thus, the recent launch of Velvet, Maxxx and Balls (official launch is in January 2008). Velvet caters to what the cable channel calls “the global Filipina”: forward-looking, in tune with the times. Thus the talk show The View, featuring Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Elizabeth Hasselback, Joy Behar and Sherri Shepherd. Then there's the morning staple Good Morning Other key shows are the award-winning drama series Huff and Dirt, starring Courteney Cox Arquette. Star-struck viewers will have a field day with E! True I Want to be a Hilton focuses on every woman's dreams to be as rich (although not as notorious) as the controversial Paris Hilton. This is seen in the reality show's contestants, who go through challenges that test their knowledge on art, culture, beauty and fashion. Want to test your knack for separating the straights from the gays? The dating game show Gay, Straight or Taken may offer some answers. The boys, on the other hand, have Maxxx Channel. The aim is to raise the adrenaline to an all-time high, the way most men want it. Thus, the car chases in the reality-based car racing show Bullrun and mixed martial arts in International Flight League. Macho men with roving eyes may just identify with the people in Cheaters, a reality show that hounds infidels. The third channel, aptly called Balls, is heaven-sent for sports fans. In the lineup are the coverage of the recently-concluded 2007 US Open, the US NCAA Basketball and Football games, ATP and WTA Tennis, Euro PGA and LPGA Golf and others. As for men who go for nonmainstream but popular sports, there are programs on wake boarding, long board, car rallies, etc. Coming up with these three new channels may look costly at first. But Cable Channels and Print Media head Jose Ramon Olives would rather focus on its long-term pay-offs. “Today's consumers have their specific niches. We need to target these niches to be effective,” he observes. Thus, the three new channels' lineup of different shows for different audiences. The strategy complements the goals of company's sister magazines. Olives notes that those who read about stars in ABS-CBN's Star Studio, The Buzz and K magazines are the same people who watch Velvet Channel's entertainment-oriented shows. Men who subscribe to Maxim, Metro Him and Metro Active magazines, on the other hand, will most likely watch shows on Maxxx and Balls channels. “It's the marriage of print and cable,” says Olives. He adds that the aim is not just about getting the biggest share of the cable channel audience pie. Olives thinks it goes way beyond raking in profits. Instead, it's about something bigger. It's about training the Pinoy to widen his horizons and becoming a global citizen. The imported shows, Olives hopes, will make the Pinoy look beyond the four corners of his room and think big. There's a whole wide world out there to see and savor. That's what Velvet, Maxxx and Balls want to tell the viewer. It may take some time. But you've got to start somewhere. Olives goes on to say that this is SkyCable's answer to ABS-CBN's slogan, “In the service of the Filipino people. “ Big words, these. But they're worth a look-see, especially in this season of all-out commercialism. Source: The Philippine Star |
