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| Officials of Cignal TV and APT Entertainment are all smiles while taking a pose after a monumental contract signing for the early 2020 launch of BuKo Channel, the Philippines' first 24-hour comedy channel. (Image Source: SunStar Online) |
Cignal
TV, the leading direct-to-home pay TV provider in the Philippines, is kicking
off the new year in a big way with the impending launch of the first 24-hour
comedy channel in Philippine television. With APT Entertainment as its partner,
BuKo (Buhay Komedya) is slated to launch in the first quarter of 2020 and will
initially feature past local comedy shows such as Iskul Bukol, Lokomoko U and
Wow Mali as well as all-time favorites from the country's longest-running
noontime variety show Eat Bulaga like Little Miss Philippines and Pinoy Henyo.
The
partnership between the two organizations for the creation of the channel was
officially forged last November 27, 2019 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Makati
City and leading the formal signing were Cignal TV and TV5 president and CEO
Jane Basas and APT Entertainment president and CEO Michael Tuviera. Joining
Basas and Tuviera at the signing table as witnesses to the monumental occasion
were Cignal VP for Channels and Content Management Sienna Olaso, Cignal Chief
Financial Officer John Andal, APT Entertainment Chief Financial Officer Jojo O'
Connor and other officials of the two entities. "This is the beginning of
a beautiful friendship and partnership," said Tuviera.
Through
the new partnership, Cignal TV will provide a platform that will exclusively
air all-time favorite comedy programs from the archives of both TV5 and APT considering
that the main goal is to "reintroduce and rewind" the comedy genre on
TV to old and new generations of Filipino audiences through re-runs of the most
classic and well-loved collections through the years. Though BuKo will mostly
air throwback shows on its initial launch, it will eventually pave the way for new
content to be produced and shown in the foreseeable future including new
versions of classic shows that can cater to the current generation. Among the
new shows for BuKo are those that will star Wally Bayola and Jose Manalo as well
as Maine Mendoza.
BuKo
Channel will be exclusively accessible to more than two million Cignal prepaid
and postpaid subscribers upon its maiden launch. Furthermore, Basas announced in
the signing ceremony that the comedy channel will also have its own digital
streaming service developed by Cignal and powered by APT in which it will be seen
around the world. Nowadays, "two heads are better than one" literally
seems to become a trend for Philippine producers and BuKo Channel is going to be
among the first to redefine that trend.
