PBA on Studio 23

Back in 2008, I was involved in the bidding process to get the TV Rights for the PBA games. I have since moved to FOX and boy, the landscape of sports television has changed in a major way. The games are now going to be on Studio 23 instead of RPN 9 as Solar has entered into a blocktime agreement with ABS-CBN.

This development certainly shifts the power of influence as far as sports broadcasting is concerned, to ABS-CBN. There have also been earlier reports that the NBA games will now also be on Studio 23. So the three most popular leagues in the country will now be on Studio 23, the UAAP, the NBA, and the PBA. This puts ABS-CBN sports as a clear leader in sports broadcasting in the country. I reckon Solar probably did not like the way things were going and needed a change of scenery to right the ship, thus the partnership.

Solar is no stranger to reformatting. They've reformatted RPN 9 a number of times. At the beginning of this year, they announced that ETC and Solar TV are both going to get major facelifts. So this new direction now does not have room for sports.

Hey, just as long as we all still get to watch high quality sports programming, the networks can do whatever they want.

Paulina Elisabeth

There are certain moments that change the course of your life significantly. Professionally, it was when I transferred to Solar and really had full control of growing the Sports Television genre in the Philippines. Launching Basketball TV, taking care of the Olympics, handling the NBA and marketing the Pacquiao fights were all life changing projects.

I think my move to FOX was another since working for a multi national has really opened a lot of opportunities for me as well. I'm pretty psyched at how FOX, NatGeo, Channel V, Star World, and Star Movies have grown the past 2 years. There is lots more to do but the foundation is strong and the momentum is good.

Personally, this week has been one of those life changing times. After two boys, we finally got our baby girl last January 5. I have pretty much stopped updating my blog since moving to FOX a year and a half ago but I just felt compelled to at least upload an entry to signify my daughter's arrival.

The experience of having a child is something that only parents know. It is one of those things in life where trying to describe the feeling would be fruitless. You really just have to live it out and find out how awesome it is. It was an amazing to see Paulina be born into this world. It is obvious that I haven't written anything outside of emails and business letters as I am struggling to figure out what to write in this entry. All I know is that I have this uncontrollable desire to give my whole heart to this girl that I've known for a few days. I am willing to do anything to make her happy.

A great start to 2011 indeed worthy of a blog entry. I'm pretty sure nobody visits anymore so my entries from now on are really just for personal documentation and reference. So I welcome Paulina Elisabeth Bautista Turcuato! I look forward to the rest of my life with you.

NBA Asia Challenge

Ok, so this blog has ceased to get updated on a regular basis. But just had to post some pictures for documentation purposes as I did have a good time talking shop with some NBA and PBA Legends this past week.

One thing really became obvious to me this week was that Alan Caidic is the best Filipino shooter ever and perhaps one of the top ten in the history of basketball. He really is that good. I first saw him in UE and nobody really comes close to his shooting ability. He proved it again during the Asia Challenge.

New York State of Mind?

I can't say I feel bad for Lebron James for falling short again of winning an NBA Championship despite having the best record during the regular season. It almost felt like he expected today's game to be his last this season. There was no yelling at teammates, emotional outbursts, and even an outpouring of emotion from the debacle. At least not that I saw while watching on TV.

I'm not the type of person who believes in karma but every once in awhile I think there might be some truth to it. I was in Macau 4 years ago when the Orlando Magic played the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Venetian. As part of a media contingent, we did have access to some players and some functions during while the teams were there.

One thing that stood out in my mind was how aloof Lebron was and how he was untouchable to anyone outside of his own entourage. Here's a guy who's never proven anything (and still hasn't) in his professional career acting like the God that he probably thought he was because he was being treated like it by everyone around him. We were all able to talk to all the players including Dwight Howard who was uncredibly accomodating along with NBA commissioner Stern. During official functions, Lebron would always just drop by for 10 minutes, surrounded by 4-5 bodyguards, and not talk to anyone outside his teammates or the commisioner's office. So it was difficult to even steal a photo as one of the bodygards covered every angle to get close to the King. After all, he was the main attraction, the guy all of us wanted to see, King James of the Cavs.

I thought to myself, this guy if he doesn't start to appreciate how good he has it, will not become one of the all time greats. Ok, maybe I'm being too hard on LBJ and he's still young enough to realize that having his current attitude of entitlement will not get him to the top of the mountain, nomatter what title is bestowed on him. Or maybe he can't help it since everyone around him treats him like he doesn't have to work for anything anyway. Whatever the reason, the deep down fire and desire is not there to win right now and he better find a way to get it if he wants to be more than a Dominique Wilkins who was known for athletic ability and that's about it. He definitely doesn't want to take over the title "best player never to win a championship".

Lebron is the most talented player in the league. Heck maybe of all time. If he ever finds the heart, the respect for the game and the fans, and the overall gratitude, maybe he can enter the same realm as Michael, Magic, Larry and Kobe, the true modern day basketball greats.

Is Mayweather a PR Genius?

Mayweather put on an awesome technical display of boxing yesterday as he dismantled Sugar Shane Mosley to remain undefeated in his professional career. But outside of the boxing purists who enjoyed every single second of the technical display, everyone else probably was bored to death watching the fight.

I liken it to the San Antonio Spurs led by Tim Duncan who won championships without any flare or excitement compared to Magic's showtime and the Jordan/Pippen show. Same result, just a difference in how it was done.

But when all is said and done, yesterday's hyped fight probably exceeded the 1M PPV mark at $65 a pop along with over $11M in gate receipts. I doubt many of those who watched felt they got their money's worth. I'm glad I didn't pay to watch the fight. But even if we all knew that Floyd isn't really an exciting fighter, we all still wait in anticipation curious what will happen.

It's because of what Money Mayweather does and says in between fights. He knows how to push the right buttons, to excite, piss off, and get every interested in his uninterestng style. I think he is a genius at getting people to pay attention. Over the top statements and unexpected moves keep people guessing and really glued to what he does.

So whether the Pacman/Mayweather fight happens (and it probably will), Floyd Mayweather will figure out how to keep people interested in Floyd Mayweather.

Movement to Make a Difference

We at the National Geographic Channel had been planning the run since the regional directive of doing something for Earth Day. We needed to start a movement. We needed to raise awareness on what each of us can do for climate change. We needed people to start caring more for our planet.

It is so heartwarming and very refreshing to have achieved all we set out to do this morning. The sea of humanity wearing the same shirt whether black (for 10K) or grey (3K and 5K) along with green bandanas was just an awesome sight to see. You get inspired thinking and planning on how to move people and get them to care. To see it happening in front of our eyes gave me goosebumps. This is why I signed up to work for the National Geographic Channel. We made a statement to the world that we do care and are willing to sacrifice (waking up at 4am plus donating P500-P700 is a good start for sacrifice). We had to print extra shirts to meet the demand.

We got thousands of pictures of the runners hodling a cardboard pledge to do what they can to help battle climate change in the NatGeo village after the run. It certainly is a great sign for a movement to get people to care more. We will post all these pictures to inspire thousands of others. All of us have different capacities to impact climate change. Some are in a position to impact thousands or even millions. Others, just themselves or their household. Whatever it is, the important thing is that all of us does our part.

I hope if you ran, the experience was good for you and you felt the unity and inspiration. We will follow through with the Design Against the Elements project and make sure we build that first third world disaster resilient community. For all who weren't able to make it, making a difference is a lifelong process and I hope you get to be part of the next one.

Let's not wait for the next disaster to start making a difference, it just takes too much resources and effort. Let's do what we can now. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

NatGeo Island Sweep

Most people go to Boracay for rest, relaxation and of course to party the night away. So it was refreshing to see the number of volunteers who showed up when we organized a beach cleanup event to raise awareness on the need to sweep our most popular beach.

Many groups have organized beach cleanups before and this one is no different. I guess the main difference is that we were able to get many groups together to really have a show of force and make a statement. There had never been a cleanup in Boracay this scale before. Different groups were able to do it but no more than 100 people at a time.

So you can imagine the inspiration generated when over 400 people showed up to volunteer to clean the Island. From tourists, the locals, foreigners and Filipinos, everyone had so much enthusiasm and energy on a Sunday after all the parties were done.

So three straight days of events for the FOX International Channels. Thank you to all who attended and made it happen.