Caution to the reader: You may notice deviations from the topic indicated in the title and unnecessary side notes. This is done to present a narrative.
This blog site of mine has become stagnant in its activity as I have become busy with the real world (that is completing my requirements for my subjects, I’m now in 4th year and I was completing my internship over at EBC which I pretty enjoyed) and the lack of subjects to discuss.
With this very boring Sunday, I suddenly thought of making this review of Cignal Digital TV’s One News.
Let me share this, two weeks ago representatives from Cignal came over at our house and my mom told me they are there to install our connection. It took me by surprise as it was against my wishes as I was already content with our RCA Digital TV box with a Baron BRL Antenna as I’m able to enjoy our local channels in high definition (PTV 4, Net 25, and INC TV; more on this on my previous post if you have time to check it out), but somehow excited because I missed watching programs on pay TV since we had disconnected from our SKYcable connection in 2017 and decided to settle with digital free TV. At siyempre, ‘di na ako makakapalag kasi nanay ko na nag-desisyon at di naman ako ang magbabayad para doon, ‘di ba?
Oh, where was I? So, eto na. Naikabit na nila yung Cignal namin. As I was exploring the channel offerings (all channels are unlocked for a long time before they activate your plan, as in our case, Plan 490), I came across One News.
One News was launched last May 28 to replace Bloomberg TV Philippines (which has been relegated into a program block on the channel). This was launched to combine the resources of Bloomberg TV Philippines, News5, The Philippine Star, and BusinessWorld, all of which are owned by Mediaquest. I was familiar with it but only saw snippets of the channel through Jove Francisco’s IG stories, Facebook videos, and this SID, which makes the channel all the more promising.
And it indeed was. What I saw was a potential strong competitor to ANC which has been the leader for two decades. Although I disliked the datacast interface which I felt unpleasant as it obstructs the slick production value of the programs, its offerings are compelling.
Say anything you want against Shawn Yao but I must say Rush Hour is a pretty decent morning news program. I can also say that Agenda and The Chiefs are reminiscent of those pundit-hosted news shows seen on CNN and Fox News, and The Big Story makes a strong news program.
Although the channel’s programming is still dominated by taped programs and replays of its live programs, I believe over time the amount of live programming will increase due to demand, and I believe it will make a strong competitor to ANC, as long as MVP takes it seriously in pours in much resources. It must learn from the lessons of News5 which failed to seize on the momentum when given all the opportunities.
That said, I must say watching One News somehow made me appreciate our Cignal connection. Peace out, and have a safe week ahead.
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