PHILIPPINES — In 2014, TV5 made some radical changes in its programming that enhanced its viewership. That caught the attention of the Gawad Tanglaw Awards which has honored the network with no less than 10 accolades this year.
When the academe-based award-giving body holds its awarding ceremonies for the best achievements in media in the past year on February 19, the lion’s share of the trophies for news and public affairs will go to News5′s programs, which were rebranded only last July.
The early evening newscast “Aksyon” was named Best News Program while one of its anchors, News5 head Luchi Cruz-Valdes, tied with Bernadette Sembrano of ANC’s “Dateline Philippines” for Best Female News Program Anchor.
Cruz-Valdes’ own late night news magazine show, “Reaksyon”, won Best Public Affairs Program for the second straight year while “Aksyon sa Umaga” bagged Best Male News Program Anchor for Lourd de Veyra and tied with UnTV’s “Good Morning, Kuya” for Best Morning Program.
Best Public Service Program went to another reformatted show, “T3: Enforced” (formerly “T3: Reloaded”), headlined by Tulfo brothers Ben, Erwin and Raffy.
A surprise winner in the Best Actor category is Martin Escudero for his starring role in “Positive”, the first TV series in the country that dealt directly with the subject of HIV/AIDS. Martin tied with ABS-CBN stars Piolo Pascual of “Hawak Kamay” and Coco Martin of “Ikaw Lamang” for the award.
Two returning shows in 2014 were also honored by the Gawad Tanglaw as “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” won Best Game Show while “Talentadong Pinoy”, which paraded new hosts Robin Padilla, Mariel Rodriguez and Tuesday Vargas, tied with ABS-CBN’s “The Voice of the Philippines” for Best Reality Talent Show.
In sports, TV5’s top-rated coverage of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was among the three winners of the Developmental Communication Award for Comprehensive Coverage special award.
Also winning a special award for Natatanging Gawad sa TV-Patalastas is the PLDT Smart Foundation’s moving commercial, “Gabay Guro: Tribute to Teachers”. The PLDT group took over the management and operations of TV5 in 2010.
The Happy Network’s 10 awards are a big leap from the six Gawad Tanglaw honors that it won last year and is only second to the 15 awards going to ABS-CBN.
