December 2007 Archives

By Abigail Kwok INQUIRER.net SKYCABLE is geared up an d good to go. With Solar Entert ainment discontinuing the airing of its shows at SkyCable come January 2008 , the latter has decided to put up new entertainment channels âthat are equally high in entertainment value, if not better [than Solar Entertainment channels] ,â according to SkyCableâs official website. The new channels -- Velvet, Balls, and Maxxx -- have begun airing âpreviewsâ as early as Nov. 7. Come next year, SkyCable will officially launch these three channels, plus five more including Fox Crime, AXN Beyond, Disney Channel, Playhouse Disney, and Ki ds Co. Solar Entertainment has announced that it will be pulling out its channels from SkyCable, which includes ETC, 2nd Avenue, Basketball TV, Solar Sports, Crime/S uspense, and Jack TV. This could be a potential turnoff for SkyCable patrons, a s Basketball TV airs live NBA games, preferred, particularly, by male patrons. Nevertheless, SkyCable has a potential replacement in the form of Balls. Althou gh Balls does not air live NBA games, it does air other popular sports tourname nts like Professional Golfersâ Association (PGA) tourneys, NCAA games, and prof essional football leagues. Meanwhile, Velvet is a channel that targets women au diences. It mainly airs American TV shows, including popular morning show "Good Morning America" (GMA), "The View," "Dirt," "So You Think You Can Dance," and "I Want To Be a Hilton," among others. Notably, Velvet will also be airing "Ame ricaâs Next Top Model," a show first seen on Solar Channelâs ETC. Maxxx channel is geared for the male audience, with âguy showsâ such as "Bullru n," "American Inventor," "Destination X," "Friday Night Project," "World Poker Tour," "Cheat!," "Pros vs. Joes," "Kingdom Hospital," "Cinematech," "Just Jokin g!," "Behind The Music That Sucks," and "Fear Factor." SkyCable is also taking pride in finally being able to air Disney Channel, completing its kiddie channe l lineup. One thing worth noticing is that some of the new channelsâ shows are already be ing aired on other SkyCable existing channels. Lifestyle Network, for example, is already airing "E! News Weekend," while AXN is airing "Fear Factor." But how the programs will fare in the next few months is worth observing. ETC and Bask etball TV have become household names now, and removing them will make a huge d ent in the viewing audience of SkyCable. SkyCable is owned by the Lopezes. An alleged dispute between the SkyCable manag ement and Solar Entertainment is believed to be the cause of the pull-out. Howe ver, the real reasons remain undisclosed. One thing SkyCable promises, though, is an improvement in the shows and the cable service's overall quality. But the audiences will be the judge, of course. Just hearing the pullout of Basketball TV and Solar Sports will probably cause some male viewers to shift cable loyal ties. Browsing through some online discussion sites, I came across some people asking if the new channels are owned or operated by Solar Entertainment. This is inte resting. Maybe SkyCable should boost their PR and make people know that the cha nnels are owned by them, else Solar Entertainment will have the last laugh in t his whole mess. *** Meanwhile, Warner Brothers (WB) has announced that it will be airing the 5th se ason of "One Tree Hill" (OTH) next year. The two-hour season premier will air i n January in America. The show kicks off four years after the end of the last season, where the show âs characters -- Nathan, Haley, Lucas, Peyton, and Brooke -- have just graduate d from high school and are venturing off into college. At the end of the 4th se ason, these friends promised to return to Tree Hill after college. During the 5th season, four years have passed and the "OTH" gang have graduated from college (well, not all of them). They return to Tree Hill and look back o n the events that happened in their lives and look ahead to the future, once ag ain reunited as friends. Controversy has surrounded the teen show when it marked the end of its 4th seas on. Rumors spread that the 4^th season will be the last, prompting so me teens to launch an online petition for the show to continue on with its 5t h season. The newest promo for OTHâs 5th season has been released. Expect to see "OTH" Season 5 on local cable soon!

By Abigail Kwok INQUIRER.net AMERICA, together with the entire world, is holding its breath as the Writers Guild of America (WGA) continu es to hold a strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The cause of the strike was a disagreement concerning writersâ residuals or roy alties in DVD sales and new media profits. According to WGA, writers are entitl ed to residuals or profits made by major networks with DVD and online sales, si nce it is a major source of income of writers during times of unemployment. Hen ce, the WGA has proposed a doubling of the residual rate received by writers, o r equivalent to eight cents per DVD sold. This was promptly rejected by the AMP TP, and the impasse that followed resulted in a massive strike that is coming c lose to paralyzing Hollywood. Below is the official statement issued by both WGA East president Michael Winsh ip and WGA West president Patrick Verrone. This is the full statement released by the WGA on December 3. Among the talk shows affected are "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," and "Late Show with Da vid Letterman." Meanwhile, top-rated TV shows "Heroes," "Lost," "Desperate Hous ewives," "CSI," and "Ugly Betty" also suffered from the strike, announcing that they will be running out of fresh episodes to air come next year. Nevertheless, a number of Hollywood stars have expressed sympathy for the write rs' sentiments, including "Grey's Anatomy" stars Patrick Dempsey, Ellen Pompeo, Katherine Heigl, and Sandra Oh. Politicians John Edwards and Barak Obama have also expressed support for the writers. Currently talks have resumed between WGA and AMPT. The issue still remains unre solved, though, thus putting many actors' careers on hold. Here in the Philippines, the effects of the strike are yet to be felt. Local fa ns of talk shows like that of Jay Leno are mainly the ones affected, as only re runs are now being aired here. But other TV shows like "Ugly Betty" and "Grey's Anatomy" are still airing fresh episodes, so viewers are unperturbed by the in cident abroad. But come next year, when the US runs out of fresh episodes to distribute here, how will local viewers react? On the one hand, it can be viewed as a positive t hing, because maybe it will prompt viewers to patronize local TV shows like the teleseryes aired on local channels. But on the other hand, there is a lso the possibility that others will participate in the protest even when they are miles away from America. As early as now, many Filipinos have expressed con cern over the unsolved issue abroad. Sooner or later, the effects are going to be felt full blast here, and maybe local networks are going to have a party. The end of the disagreement between the WGA and the AMPT still seems far away a nd Americans -- and Filipinos -- can only hope for the best. Can you imagine pa ssing a week without watching "CSI" or "Grey's Anatomy?" We all got hooked on " Heroes" and we all laugh at the satirical comments made by Jon Stewart. Piracy is one thing that contributed to this mess. Piracy has affected the prof its earned by writers, actors, producers, and even major TV networks. It brough t down their profits, and in turn, caused a chain reaction that affected even t he writers' residuals. In fact, Hollywood stars are now bearing the brunt of th e effects of piracy, as major networks are cutting the pays of these stars and even demanding concessions from talents to cope with rising budgets and decreas ing profits as a result of rampant piracy. Will there be an actors' strike anyt ime soon? Which leads to the question, what if a writers' strike also occurs here? How wo uld society react? Would they be as sympathetic as Americans are? Or would they turn their backs on the issue instead? After all, the Philippines is one place where pirates abound, incurring losses for industries all over. Nevertheless, the WGA strike is an eye opener for the local entertainment industry and should not be ignored by Filipinos.