TV5 'wiser and better' after 'Willing Willie' controversy
TV5 Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Bobby Barreiro said the Kapatid network is “wiser and better” after their flagship program “Willing Willie” (now “Wiltime Bigtime”) was involved in a controversy and suspended last April.
“Matagal na kami sa industrya, maraming beses na kaming dumaan sa mga (controversy). And with the experience, ang challenge talaga is how to bounce back,” Barreiro told Yahoo! OMG! Philippines and other members of the press during TV5's regional launch in Cebu City.
TV5's primetime variety show faced a roadblock less than a year months after its premiere when the program was criticized for featuring a six-year-old boy’s performance of a “macho dancer” routine. The show went on hiatus in April 11 following a series of pullouts from advertisers and was suspended by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board in May 3. The program returned as “Wiltime Bigtime” May 14.
Barreiro added that, like the network, “Wiltime Bigtime” host Willie Revillame is “wiser and better.”
“('Wiltime Bigtime' is) doing very well. Nakakarecover nya. The other advertisers are slowly coming back. The advertisers are slowly coming back. The rating is also starting to come back. We're also excited about the games. Maganda yung games. Maganda yung reception. The lines are back, pumupila na ulit yung mga tao,” he explained.
Barreiro said he's aware the program still has its share of haters, especially after the controvery, but admitted that “we will not be able to please everybody.”
“We will have lovers and haters. I guess we respect their opinion on their programs. Mayroon talagang ayaw sa ganitong talent, merong gusto sa ganun. That's the way we operate. And that's the world that we live in. We just have to deal with it,” he said.
As with the previous regional launches in Dagupan City last December and Davao City last February, “Wiltime Bigtime” served as the highlight of the network's launch in Cebu City. The launch is meant to expand their audience in Visayas.
Their main goal, he said, is to cover 95 percent of the country by the end of 2011.
“We're pretty close to (the target). After the major markets like Cebu, medyo malapit na kami,” Barreiro said.
One of their plans for Cebu is the development of original entertainment and news content for the network. “Aksyon Bisaya” will be TV5 Cebu's first venture into a local news broadcast, with local entertainment programs in the works.
“We believe that we should be addressing the likes and wants of our audiences. And definitely in Cebu, they really want more local content,” he said.
With the network's nationwide expansion and the development of properties such as Aksyon TV (TV5's 24-hour all-news UHF channel) and AKTV (the primetime sports block on free TV channel IBC-13), Barreiro admits that their growth has been aggressive. And they wouldn't have it any other way, explaining that the network knows it has a lot of catching up to do with ABS-CBN and GMA.
Barreiro added, “If we don't twice or thrice or ten times as hard as the others, we will never be able to catch up.”
