I've always been a fan (is that even the right word?) of ABS-CBN. So I was somewhat excited when I…read moregot to intern. The internship of ABS-CBN is pretty cool. They'll orient you for a couple of days. After the orientation, you'll be immersed in their TV shows. That was extremely tiring, but I learned a lot. That immersion lasts for a week. The next couple of weeks, we were attending all sorts of workshops about writing for TV and film and also learning about digital media. If you're thinking of taking your internship in ABS-CBN, I promise that you'll learn a lot. Sure, you'll be shocked at the hours they ask you to report to work (there were days when we couldn't go home anymore). They'll make you go out of your comfort zone by talking to so many people, doing random jobs, and scolding you sometimes for doing something wrong. They'll make you think out of the box during workshops and pitching. But you know what, this is what makes ABS-CBN great. They require everyone to do excellent work and it shows.

ABS-CBN Corporation is one of the biggest and most powerful networks in the Philippines. With…read moresatellite networks on all regions of the country, as well as 360-media efforts, the reach of the network is undeniably something that one cannot miss. Offering quality shows, mobile services, and radio programs, ABS-CBN is definitely one of the powerhouses in the country.

Thank God for my cousins hook-up. What can I say it is hard to come on tickets specially on ASAP…read more It took months to plan and coordinate since we are not from here. But it was worth it since we saw a lot of celebrity. Although the times of the tour was so early it was worth it. I have seen Showtime and ASAP and I enjoyed the shows. However, as an audience you must participate and be lively so that's a forewarning for those who think that you will just come and watch. But seen Yeng, Piolo, KZ, Randy Santiago and new celebs that I don't know.

This is probably my most showbiz post to date and I dedicate this review to my friends and…read morerelatives who always ask me for passes to watch ASAP or Showtime live. Yes Kapamilya, I'm talking about the two noontime shows of ABS-CBN. Whether you're an OFW or a balikbayan, or with a balikbayan friend or simply just crushing on Piolo Pascual or Ann Curtis, I know there came a point when you thought it would be nice to be part of the studio audience for this show. Having friends or relatives working in this TV network can be a plus, but it won't guarantee you seats to these shows, as employees (even the big bosses) have a designated number of slots per month or quarter, and if they've used up their slots on someone else, then sorry. Your best bet would be to avail of the Studio Tours package. For less than 300 pesos, you are guaranteed a spot as an audience of the live show, plus you get to take a peek at other studios and dressing rooms (maybe even the newsroom) inside ABS-CBN. You will be accompanied by a tour guide, usually a cute guy (at least during our time) with a pleasing personality. See? It's really easy. You don't need connections to be able to watch ASAP live. So friends (you know who you are), stop bugging me for those passes! Just kidding. You know I'll do my best to help you (if we're close).

My first cousin, Joseph Jerome Francia is the Vice President and Head of Operations at GMA…read moreInternational: I visited my cousin in his posh office; frankly, the entire broadcast operation is no different than working at the TV Stations in the San Francisco Bay Area. My cousin gave me a tour of the TV Station . . . Funny thing about TV broadcasting-You definitely notice everything while viewing all the control monitors~the talking heads are speaking a foreign language, the commercials are selling products not seen in US grocery stores or malls, the types of TV programming are geared towards a specific audience (marketing), the background scenery/locations are different: The entire mise en scène is like day and night! My cousin visited me when I was working at Pacifica TV Station Channel 8 so, when I visited Manila I said to myself, "Why not visit your cousin Joseph?" So, that's what I did!

GMA has awful production values. Really, really awful. There was one time when I was watching Eat…read moreBulaga, and they literally froze on the title screen for almost half a minute. It wasn't my TV, it wasn't poor signal, it literally just looked like everyone in the production room took a break and forgot to keep the show running. The transitions are choppy, and most of the time, their live broadcasted shows look quite uncoordinated. Their shows and talent tend to have weak cultural and critical impact - they appeal to a very specific target market, but you'll never see anything from GMA trending on twitter or being relevant on social media. Generally, GMA's programs are fairly generic rehashes of the same exact tropes. In cases where they aren't (like the ill-fated My Husband's Lover) they are bogged down by poor writing and acting. The primary advantage that GMA has as a TV station would be, for me, their investigative journalism programs at night. However, you can generally find the same programming at GMA News TV.

Myx has never changed its format. I find it kind of weird that they've never changed the font of…read morethe lyrics at the bottom of the song after maybe a few decades of using that exact karaoke font. Maybe it's because that font has nostalgic value for people? Maybe they think that they're being ironically retro? I dunno, but really, I think it just looks kinda bad at this point. But that's roughly where my criticism of Myx ends. It's still a good music station that has a good variety of programs with diverse music. It's a little odd compared to its rivals MTV and Channel V in the sense that it doesn't actually predominantly play current hits. Some of its programs to, but just as many programs are devoted to playing songs from the 90s to the early 2000s. It's kind of an odd balance ot try and figure out when the kind of music program you wanna watch or listen to is going to come on, but overall, they curate their music very well.

TV5 is kind of a weird entity. Introduced fairly recently, TV5 suffered from existential crisis…read more They lacked talent both in front and behind the camera, and struggled to find an actual market that they could target their programs after. The bulk of their programs aren't produced that well - most end up being quite poor rehashes or reactionary programming to the shows of other networks. There are some programs that have unique and interesting concepts and storeis (including a teleserye about AIDS called Positive) but they are bogged down by the not-great production values and writing. They were sort of at a loss for what to do, relying heavily on Willie Revillame for a while until they had a magical godsend of being the home of Filipino basketball, airing the PBA and international games of Gilas Pilipinas. While I don't follow local ball, I think that it's probably the bright spot in their programming, along with a few reality competitions such as Talentadong Pinoy and Who Wants to Be A Millionnaire. To some extent, TV5 has some decent programming - the only thing for me that really needs to improve is their standard for quality across their programming. Eventually, I think TV5 will catch up to its competition. When, I'm not sure.

I was kind of surprised when I found out that CNN Philippines was, well, a thing. I've been a long…read moretime viewer of CNN's global news network. Whenever people ask me why I know so much about global issues, I always tell them that I mostly just watch CNN. CNN's aggressive coverage, pointed commentary and tendency to deal with an expansive set of issues has sort of become the formative roots of my worldview. That's why, when I was channel surfing, I was really happy to find that CNN has brought its brand to the Philippines and created a local news network. I was excited, and was hoping that CNN has brought its type of attitude to journalism to the local news sphere. It's not that. For the most part, it's probably because CNN Philippines is in its infancy stages. It's not a fully developed TV network, and it's fairly slow coverage, blah production values and inability to get the people actually related to the issues to interview is probably a result of that. It's not a bad station; the endeavor is admirable and they cover most of the relevant news items, however, it's still quite lacking. There is the framework of an intelligent news station present there, but it needs a few more years in the oven. Maybe I'll start watching it regularly in around half a decade. Hopefully, it'll survive until then.

ABS-CBN Sports & Action used to be known as (dun dun dun) Studio 23. Why they changed the name, I…read morehave no idea - but along with the change in the title came a drastic change in programming. Gone are the Filipino dubbed Supernatural episodes and random horror movies - generally the programming is kind of like a localized version of AXN, though with mostly the sports-type stuff in their schedule. The main draws of the channel, I think, are their coverage of the NBA and their coverage of UFC. Basically, they air NBA games live (including all the finals games) as well as airing live episodes of Fight Night. The rest of their programming is pretty bland and lackluster - they air a few extreme sports shows, a few exercise and wellness shows, and they air a few trashy action and thriller movies here and there. Generally though, the only reason to watch this station are for free NBA and UFC viewings. Hopefully, they get some more original programming in the future, especially since the NBA season is fast ending.

As reality-drenched and weird MTV is the US is, MTV Philippines has managed to, surprisingly, be…read moreall about the music. The thing I like the most about MTV PH is that it doesn't syndicate reality shows or run animated comedies, they just focus on the music element that makes MTV what it is. Even MYX often plays random in-house reality contests or campus interview shows. MTV really just plays music almost around the clock. As for their music programming, MTV is highly hit based. Unlike MYX, they don't play older or weird alternative tracks that often. They also don't indulge in Karaoke hits. For the most part, they stick to their local or global charts, with some occassional live concert footage or K-Pop music. MTV's real appeal is that it's the kind of TV channel that you can just play int he background when you're having like a party or have friends together and you're just doing something completely different.

Jack TV is, well, essentially the male counterpart to ETC. If you check, they actually have some…read moreoverlapping shows if they are unisex oriented. For example, Glee showed at the exact same time on Jack TV and ETC for the duration of the series' life. Jack TV shows plenty of male-oriented TV shows, primarily sitcoms, action shows, and odd sketch shows. Jack TV is actually a pretty great station, with very consistent programming. Just watch Jack TV for a few hours and you will recognize its male skew. They show literally all of the DC superhero shows (Gotham, Arrow and Flash), stuff like Saturday Night Live and The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, and a few solid drama shows like Suits and Hannibal (which is my favorite show on TV, so that's great). Jack TV, in my opinion, probably contains some of the best shows that you can find on a Filipino channel. Sure, you kind of have to sift through some not so great shows, but it's overally a very high quality channel.

PLAY FM follows a different format from most other radio stations in the sense that they don't…read moretalk. They normally talk for a minute in between 3 or so songs, just to say some greets or do some quick weather or time updates, but never for longer than that. There's no conversations, interviews, or news, just lots and lots and lots of mainstream music. Their music is pretty much the same as their other Top 40 station brothers RX and MAGIC but the format is really what makes them distinct. Personally, I listen to radio most of the time to get the talking, the content that's like a value added to the music. But sometimes, you just wanna listen to the hits without the talking in between. That's the reason why PLAY FM is such good counterprogramming to the rest of the radiosphere here in the Philippines. PLAY FM does a good job standing out from the crowd.

99.5 PLAY FM is one of my more frequented radio stations whenever I'm out for a drive. They deliver…read morewhen they say that their DJs don't do jibber jabber, and they really focus on the music. They hardly talk for over a minute, and I don't think I've ever heard an interview going on or a call being taken. I particularly enjoy Throwback Thursday where they play songs from the late 90s and early 2000s all day long, but it kind of makes me sad that they'll be playing mid-2000s songs soon enough. The American Top 40 on the weekends is surprisingly pretty entertaining too, when they get Ryan Seacrest to count down 40 songs over the span of 3 hours, talking about the latest American celebrity news and bringing in celebrity guest speakers (I didn't think I'd ever hear Iggy Azalea or Nick Jonas taking an interview on my radio ever). Definitely my favorite station!