Sunday, June 26, 2011

Magandang Umaga:The ABS-CBN Tradition

There is no real record of a morning show (as we Noypis now it today) from Bolinao Corp/Bolinao Broadcasting/ABS-CBN or any Filipino broadcasting firm except for morning editions of the news programs.

The earliest known broadcast of a morning show was actually from ABS-CBN. As it returned full-blast to Philippine TV in 1986, ABS-CBN premiered its first ever morning show Magandang Umaga. Later to be renamed Magandang Umaga Po, the show had Noli de Castro and Korina Sanchez among its hosts.

Outside Manila, ABS-CBN's regional stations launched regional morning editions of TV Patrol. Eventually, morning shows among the regions began to premiere. There's Good Morning Cebu, launched by ABS-CBN Cebu in 1990. There's The Morning Show-Bacolod, launched by ABS-CBN Bacolod in 1993, now on its 18th year. There is Maayong Buntag Mindanao (Good Morning Mindanao), launched by ABS-CBN Davao in 1994, now on its 17th year.

There were other morning shows in the 1990's broadcast from Manila but were in English, not in Filipino.

As it celebrated 50 years in Philippine media and communications in June 1996, ABS-CBN broadcast the first morning show (the first of the morning shows as we know today), making it the pioneer. Hello to Alas Singko Y Medya, originally hosted by Julius Babao, Gilbert Remulla and Panjee Gonzales. Because of the popularity and novelty of ASYM, other Manila-based Tagalog morning shows began to sprout.

It was when Tintin Bersola (of TV Patrol and Sineskwela fame) took over Panjee that the love story between her and Julius blossomed. (Julius and Tintin first met as they shared anchor duties for TV Patrol.) Julius and Tintin left ASYM in 2001 to host Talk TV, but Julius returned in 2002 as main host to the reformatted ASYM, this time called Magandang Umaga Bayan, then Tintin followed in 2003. The Julius-Tintin partnership seemed to be one of the reasons the viewers watched the ABS-CBN morning show series.

More than that, viewers got themselves glued to the latest news, information, public service and entertainment as the ABS-CBN morning show series deliver in a better way.

By 2005, Magandang Umaga Bayan then gave way to Magandang Umaga Pilipinas. It was in 2005 too also that saw the change in the face of morning shows in the regions. Good Morning Cebu soon gave way to Maayong Buntag Cebu/Maayong Buntag Kapamilya. Livelier editions of The Morning Show-Bacolod and Maayong Buntag Mindanao were seen. We see launches of more regional morning shows like Gandang Umaga Kapamilya (ABS-CBN Dagupan in 2007), Naimbag Nga Morning Kapamilya (ABS-CBN Baguio in 2008), Marhay Na Aga Kapamilya (ABS-CBN Naga in 2007), Sikat Ka Iloilo (ABS-CBN Iloilo in 2006), Pamahaw Espesyal (ABS-CBN Cagayan de Oro City in 2008) and Magandang Umaga Socsargen (ABS-CBN Gensan in 2009).

2007 saw the Julius-Tintin on TV gone (but still on radio DZMM) and the birth of ABS-CBN's latest morning show offering

Now we have Umagang Kay Ganda, now on its 4th year. Change in hosts and segments were inevitable but the spirit of public service to the Filipino any time of the day is still there.