GMA 7 turns 60
By Alwin M. Ignacio, Contributor
07/09/2010
Mulawin, Starstruck, Encantadia and Darna — these are some of the programs considered as instrumental to the ascent of GMA 7 to its number-one status. All these shows have common elements: original and fresh story lines, casting coups and trailblazing special effects, as well as that perfect mix of “heart” and “entertainment” values.
Mulawin introduced Filipino viewers to a whole kingdom of half-men and half-birds. Former perennial love team Richard Gutierrez and Angel Locsin starred as Aguiluz and Alwina, who led the battalion of these special creatures. Despite the heavy competition then, the series was a hit and out-rated the rival network’s “mermaid” drama.
Starstruck plucked regular teens from obscurity and made them overnight sensations by putting them through a series of artista tests such as acting, hosting and dancing, to mention a few. The dreaming, believing and surviving so riveted the whole metropolis when finals night came that the cavernous Araneta Coliseum was filled to the rafters! The first franchise gave the public “first prince” Rainier Castillo and “first princess” Yasmien Kurdi and the “ultimate survivors” Jennylyn Mercado and Mark Herras.
Encantadia, meanwhile, presented the lore of warring fairies. With its very haunting opening theme song and the quartet of fairies Amihan (Iza Calzado), Danaya (Diana Zubiri), Alena ( Karylle) and Pirena (Sunshine Cruz) as the guardians of powerful stones, viewers were hooked for months!
Darna further catapulted the network’s primetime slot. Locsin’s incarnation of the heroine was a ratings and advertising winner. To this day, it holds the record of 52.1 percent ratings — the episode when Angel’s Darna finally swallowed the magical stone and was seen in the iconic red costume for the first time.
These are just some of the major achievements during GMA 7’s decade-long reign. Lawyer Felipe Gozon, chairman, president and CEO, and Gilberto “Jimmy” Duavit, executive vice president and COO, are instrumental in making the network the Goliath that it is today.
To kick off their 60th year celebration, Gozon and Duavit met with select members of the entertainment press to present their plans.
Gozon replies to our inquiries in an honest, exact and even sometimes playful way. Duavit, on the other hand, plays it cool and shrewd.
“We have a long history of trying to build our own station and capability without having to pirate talents from ABS-CBN,” Gozon starts the ball rolling. “Up to now, that has always been our policy. If there are talents from ABS that are transferring to us, that means that their contracts have already expired. And they are the ones voluntarily asking us if they have a place here.
“We have never approached anyone with a live contract, and we have never tried convincing anyone to transfer by offering twice or three times their talent fees. We have never done that… yet. Well, you know in showbiz, you cannot always end your sentence with a period,” he laughs.
Despite the network’s fair share of local and international recognitions, the two admit that these accolades push and inspire them to work even harder.
The CEO reveals, “Every Wednesday, we hold a program committee meeting and that is where everything is decided.”
“During the weekly meeting, existing programs are reviewed and evaluated,” adds Duavit. “In the meeting, we discuss all aspects of the show and the ratings, of course. We also confer about shows that are not performing as expected and we map out plans on how to improve the content and ratings. The final decision, of course, is with the chairman, but to a certain extent, decisions can be best described as collegial. What I’m trying to say is, there is no formal voting, but everyone within the group unanimously agreed to the decision; it should always be a majority decision.”
Though the network still enjoys a comfortable ratings lead in metro and mega-Manila, there is a perception that it is going “downhill,” especially on the matter of being a “trendsetter” in terms of creating and producing hit shows. Is the Midas touch gone?
“I have to admit that observations are correct and we are trying to address the situation,” Duavit candidly admits. “I think somehow we have become complacent. Honestly, I have been worrying about that. Maybe that’s why people say it’s easier when you’re running after somebody than when you are ahead. The tendency is to take it easy, just do the same things that you have been doing before. But that is wrong.
“In this very dynamic industry, you have to be ahead of everybody,” he avers. “Even with the viewers, you have to get and know what they want to watch next week. Everything happens swiftly.”
Panday Kids was “very bad,” Duavit notes. “Siguro may sawa na rin ang mga tao na parang it was more of the same. The public obviously wants something different. I think that what is happening. For example, SIS was one of our stronger programs. The other network pitted so many shows, but it still prevailed. Then Showtime came, talo agad ang SIS. So we decided to put a new one.”
“Despite all these minor setbacks, we are still leading in mega-Manila and we are in a better position now than before,” emphasizes Gozon.
“Before Mulawin, our resources were very meager. We had a handful of stars then. Lahat konti although may pera na kami noon. Now, we are financially comfortable. We just need to do a lot of brainstorming and analysis and planning.”He concludes, “To me, that is a much easier problem to solve. I remain confident that we will surmount this. In fact, we consider this as a wake-up call. I’m glad that it happened now. Hindi yung talagang talo ka na. We are not yet beaten.”
‘The Heart of Television’
To formally celebrate its 60th year, GMA 7 presented an anniversary special at the Araneta Coliseum recently.
The anniversary shindig, titled GMA at 60: The Heart of Television, assembled the network’s superstars, homegrown artists, fresh faces, pioneers and pillars in 12 production numbers to commemorate the company’s milestones over the past six decades.
Trudis Liit, Endless Love and Survivor Philippines Celebrity Edition were also presented as banner programs for this year.
Though some say that it was a spectacular presentation, many opine (including this writer) that all the shimmer and gloss were not sufficient in making the presentation “memorable” or the “talk of the town.”
What Louie Ignacio and his team offered were rehashes of production numbers from SOP, with a higher budget. Only two segments made an impression — the opening number with Regine Velasquez followed by songs representing the different eras and Party Pilipinas resident dancers Yassi and Rocco Nacino’s manga-inspired dance number.
The biggest “slap” that the whole production received was the special song and dance number of Korean pop sensations Beast. Their sleek, precise choreography, lingering bubblegum ditty in their “native tongue” and megawatt charm of the androgynous-looking nubile men woke up the crowd, whose collective shrieks were deafening. Even Duavit admitted casually during the intimate meet with the press, “Ibang klase yung mga Koreano.”
The boy band was a class act because they were proud of their “heritage,” singing with so much gusto and flaunting their culture’s uniqueness to the hilt through a Korean song that nobody understood.
This pride for one’s heritage was what director Mark Reyes and the rest of Party Pilipinas explored and highlighted in their last Independence Day show. As expected, it was a ratings winner and delivered the requisite buzz.
Party Pilipinas’ short-lived triumph was a strong indicator that television audiences are “hungry” and are “clamoring” for anything and everything that is uniquely and proudly ours. Bagong Pilipinas na! We are artistically and culturally “rich” and inspirations may come from folkloric and ballet companies and musical theater showstoppers, kundimans, operettas and sarsuwelas, ditties from the Manila sound and Metro Pop era, new-Filipino tunes from Joey Ayala, Bayang Barrios and Grace Nono, Filipino movie theme songs from Canseco, Cruz and Cayabyab.
GMA 7 could have truly lived up to the special’s “heart” tag with an all-Filipino repertoire as the centerpiece of the 60th anniversary show.
It was also a puzzle why some of most iconic programs of GMA during its “struggling years” did not receive proper credit — Vilma in Person, Urbana at Felisa and others, (which gave us Mr. Truman), Cafeteria Aroma (how I miss Apeng Daldal and Bronson, the gay beautician), Yagit, SST, the afternoon dramas of T.A.P.E., and the award-winning evening dramas of GMA Telesine.
Another segment that they did not do, which could have provided an emotional wallop, was an In Memoriam Video Montage (a la Oscars) tribute. To witness again the “living” images of some of the most important men and women that shaped GMA 7 such as Jose Mari Velez, Louie Beltran, Inday Badiday, Ike Lozada, Helen Vela, Joel Alano, Rudy Fernandez, Marky Cielo and Fernando Poe Jr. could have been an unforgettable viewing experience.
Duavit said that what the network is experiencing right now is a “wake-up call.” As I watched again the anniversary show on TV (I was present during the live show and walked out by midnight. It ended at two in the morning), I realized that their “complacency” was most evident in the presentation. They need to seriously reevaluate their thrusts and give the public shows that are fresh, original and Filipino.
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The Daily Tribune
