Jay Montelibano thankful for support of TV5; hopes for return of advertisers to Wil Time Bigtime

Bumalik na sa ere ang controversial TV host na si Willie Revillamelast Saturday, May 14, sa panibago niyang show na Wil Time Bigtime sa TV5.

Halos isang buwan din nawala si Willie sa ere dahil sa isyung kinasangkutan nito dahil sa March 12 episode ng Willing Willie.

Magarbo ang set ng panibagong game show ni Willie, lalo pa at may LED screen na nakikita sa studio floor nito.

Halatang pinaghandaan ang pagbabalik dahil sa malaking attraction ang LED floor na ginamit during the opening number ng show.

Ginamit din ito pati sa game show portions tulad ng "Red, White, or Blue" at "Step Yes, Step No."

Nakausap ng PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) at iba pang press ang business unit head ng Wil Time Bigtime na si Jay Montelibano pagkatapos ng show.

"Of course, we're very, very happy," sagot ni Jay nang tanungin siya tungkol sa suporta na ibinibigay ng TV5 sa kanila.

"I mean, TV5 has really been supportive sa amin."

Tanda raw ni Jay ang sinabi ng chairman ng TV5 na si Manny V. Pangilinan sa kanila.

"Like what Willie said kanina, he said that he doesn't want him to quit.

"He told him na his pain is their pain.

"And of course, his strength is going to be their strength.

"And for us, we felt vindicated to go on."

Isa sa mga changes na ginawa nila ay ang pagpapalit ng pangalan. Mismong si Willie raw ang namili sa panibagong name ng show.

"Wil Time Bigtime has a very international sound to it," sabi niya tungkol sa pagpapalit ng pangalan ng game show.

"Willing Willie is a Tagalong term. Naka-wiwili, ka-wili-wili."

"It will be easier now when we go abroad, especially when TV5 will go international.

"The Wil Time Bigtime name is easier to promote.

"And since we changed 85 percent of the content, binago talaga namin yung title.

"It has always been an entertainment-variety-game show. The difference now would be in the games itself since it's a different content.

"If you noticed, Wil Time Bigtime is a segment title na ginawa lang na title of the show.

"Yung Wil Time Bigtime was still retained as the segment title and of course, it's now the title of the show.

"And when we were looking for a title, we weren't looking for any precedent."

Incidentally, sa "Wil Time Bigtime" portion noon ng Willing Willie naganap ang kontrobersiya sa March 12 episode nito, kung saan isang isang six-year-old contestant ang nagsayaw na parang "macho dancer."

FIRST IN ASIA. Tinanong din kung magkano ang nagastos ng production sa nasabing LED flooring. Proud pa nga si Willie na banggitin na ang Wil Time Bigtime lang ang may ganito sa buong Asia.

"It's ours. Kami ang gumastos," sabi ni Jay tungkol sa LED television flooring.

"It's 15 million pesos for the LED floor alone excluding pa the software.

"The back portion LED of the studio, that's about 12 million pesos, and the sides are about another six million.

"They were actually looking at so many catalogues from the U.S. And noong nakita nga itong LED floor na ito, immediately we thought of ways to play games with the LED floor.

"After going through it, we choose this actually.

"And noong sinabi namin sa TV5 na kukunin namin ito, sabi nila na 'ireregalo namin ito sa inyo.'"

RETURN OF ADVERTISERS? Naungkat naman ang isyu kung babalik ba ang advertisers sa show nila.

Isa sa mga dahilan kaya kaya nawala ang Willing Willie last April dahil sa pullout ng mga advertisers.

"I'm confident that most of the advertisers will be coming back," sagot ni Jay.

"Especially now that we changed the title of the show to Wil Time Bigtime.

"If there is anything where they would be alluding to the former show na Willing Willie, at least ngayon it's a totally new show.

"It's a clean slate."

Banggit pa niya, may ilang advertisers na raw silang kausap at personal pa niyang inaasikaso na kausapin ang sponsors para sa show.

"Yesterday [May 13], I met with one advertiser. The other day with another advertiser," banggit niya.

"Actually, the ones that I meet with ay nakausap na ng mga taga-TV5 prior.

"I meet with them after to discuss further details. They're very responsive to what I presented to them.

"We actually feel vindicated and we thank MTRCB for that."

MTRCB GUIDANCE. Isa sa mga condition sa pagbabalik sa ere ni Willie sa telebisyon ay ang daily monitoring ng Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) sa kanyang show.

"We give them [MTRCB] a tape of what we air after," sabi ni Jay.

"It's for them to assess if we violated any of their guidelines or their rules.

"As far as we are concerned with Wil Productions, we have the internal TV5 Ombudsman who looks after the content."

Dagdag pa niya, "It has made us more aware of our social responsibility, our responsibility as media people.

"Nabanggit naman ni Willie iyan kanina during the show na we are more conscious now.

"We are really after the welfare of the show and the people.

"If you also noticed, wala kaming children as contestants.

"Mayroon kaming moratorium from TV5 and we are here to follow that.

"If before, it was purely entertainment na we were highlighting the contestants, now it's really based on hope and of character and of the spirit.

"We want to use them as examples of life-changing stories."

Reade more >>

Willie Revillame returns to television on May 14 with a new show called "Wil Time Bigtime"

After more than a month of taking a breather from his hosting duties on TV5's primetime block, controversial TV host Willie Revillame will host Wil Time Bigtime, a reformatted show in place of Willing Willie.

"I Wil be back! Bigtime sa saya at bigtime sa papremyo ang handog natin sa ating mga Kapatid na hindi bumibitaw at walang patid ang pagsuporta sa ating programa. Ang pagbabalik natin ay para sa bawat Pilipino dahil sila naman talaga ang bigtime dito. Sa Mayo 14, magpapatuloy ang oras ng saya at pag-asa," Willie expressed in a statement sent by TV5 to PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) this afternoon, May 11.

Wil Time Bigtime will air at 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and at 6:30 p.m. from Monday to Friday.

It will feature new games and a newly-designed set "that will utilize an LED (light-emitting diodes) floor and new software technology for a whole new TV experience."

The show's business unit head, Jay Montelibano, calls it a "visual feast" for viewers of all ages.

Valenzuela City councilor Shalani Soledad will return as Willie's co-host.

TV5's statement also calls Willie's return to TV as "an overwhelming call for a new and family-oriented primetime viewing with less bad news and crime reports."

Wil Time Bigtime replaces Willing Willie, Willie's previous variety and game show on TV5 that ended after a major controversy last month.

Willing Willie's last episode aired on April 9, a Saturday.

Willie, who is also one of the show's producers, decided to take the show off-air after critics—composed of government figures, celebrities, and ordinary Filipinos—hurled serious accusations of child abuse at him.

The criticism was directed at Willing Willie's March 12 episode, which featured a six-year old boy who gyrated to explicit hiphop music during the show's talent portion.

Willie, who was amused, encouraged the boy to repeat his performance, and called him a "macho dancer." 

In answer of the criticism, Willie and TV5 denied that there was child exploitation in the episode.

Similarly, the boy's parents told the media that they found nothing wrong with their child's talent.

But despite the denial, many of the show's major advertisers pulled out their advertisements.

On April 8, Friday, Willie delivered a vitriol-laden tirade against his critics. Willie also expressed his decision to take the show off the air, adding that he will spend time off to think if he should still return to showbiz. On May 3, more than three weeks after Willing Willie went off-air, the MTRCB released a one-month suspension order against the show. 

The regulating body's investigation led it to conclude that the show was in violation of a law against "immoral and indecent broadcasts" that does not resemble Filipino values.

MTRCB's decision counted Willing Willie's self-suspension in the one-month period. Therefore, it allowed Willing Willie to go back on-air on May 9.

MTRCB also stated that should Willing Willie go back on-air, TV5 is required to apply for its airing permit on a per episode basis.

It is unclear whether Wil Time Bigtime will be subjected to this MTRCB requirement, since it is a new show

Reade more >>

MTRCB suspends Willie Revillame's Willing Willie for 1 month

(UPDATE) The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) is expected to rule on Thursday, April 7, on the controversy over the March 12 episode of TV5's early evening variety show "Willing Willie" where host Willie Revillame goaded a tearful six-year old boy, Jan-Jan Suan, into doing a sexually suggestive dance while the audience laughed at him.

Reade more >>