AKTV TAKES PBA TO NEW HEIGHTS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 12 Aug 2012
MACAU ? TV5 is taking on an expanded role to help the PBA and its players reach out to more fans and further expand gross sales while boosting its own drive to recoup its huge investment.
Bobby Barreiro, chief operating officer and executive vice president of TV5, on Saturday said the network is committed to further stoke fan interest, giving them a more personal and up-close look at the league and their favorite players.
"We want to get more fans involved, more engaged in the PBA, especially with their favorite players," Barreiro said as he outlined the general thrust the network is taking for the PBA's 38th season set to start on Sept. 30.
"The games have become more exciting with the improved brand of play and our role is to communicate that to the public," added Barreiro.
The coming season marks the second year of TV5's five-year contract worth close to P1 billion to air the games, almost P700 million of it in cash.
The network had a big hand in the success of the league's recent banner season that generated more than P100 million in record gross sales and this contribution was lauded by no less than the PBA Board and Commissioner Chito Salud.
Following TV5's initial airing of the games through AKTV, the average audience share for the in Mega Manila was 9.2 percent, up from 6.8 percent the previous season. That was highlighted by a 27.4 percent rating during overtime of the Commissioner's Cup finals deciding game between eventual champion B-Meg and Talk N Text.
According to Barreiro, more sponsors are now lining up for advertising spots.
"That only means that the PBA remains a viable vehicle in which companies can effectively market their products and services," said Salud.
The past season saw the Manny V. Pangilinan-owned station is also helping steamroll an outreach program in at least 50 different barangays, where players held clinics and mingled with fans.
As a result of the network's aggressive drive, various fan clubs have sprouted, banding together to form such groups as "B-Meg Planet," "Petroniverse" and "TNT Nation," giving the league's original and trend-setting fan club, "Barangay Ginebra," stiff competition.
"The fans now are more active, more involved, so we want to tap on that energy," said Barreiro.
The challenge now, as Salud pointed out, is for everybody in the league to build on the unprecedented success of the season just past.
"The theme will still be 'Kampihan Na' but with a twist," said Salud, then allowing Barreiro to divulge some details.
"We want to present the players' and teams' other side," said Barreiro. "There will be more features on their personal lives, what they usually do off the playing courts."
There will only be one overriding theme throughout the rest of TV5's coverage. "Our ultimate goal is to get more Filipinos involved in sports," said Barreiro. "In this case, it is basketball and the PBA."
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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