NO WAY UNDER THE SHADOWS OF THE PINOYS: Upstaging the Fictitious Korean Wave in Peru... As always, Sabotage Galore?!

So, the hit Pinoy teleserye in Peru, Cautiva ended its run on Panamericana TV. It was able to maintain the record of all the previous teleseryes there- they all rated higher than the kdramas which have been hugging the bottom of the Peruvian ratings chart for nearly 15 years, tenaciously below all the other countries showing telenovela in Peru.  I posed the question in my last article: Would the Koreans, who for mysterious reasons were still being shown despite their long-standing bottom-hugging performance,  allow themselves to be under the shadows of the  resurgent Pinoys in the prime beachhead of the Korea Wave fiction in Latin America? I already documented here in this blog the many acts of sabotage done on Pinoy stars & films which inadvertently upstaged the fictitious Korean Wave along the way (Read starting from Sabotage #2 below the banner). Just as I suspected, they wouldn't allow themselves to be upstaged & thereby humiliated, be it in Peru or in the backwater Internet pirate sites . Events would consistently prove I was correct.

Very early in the journey of the Pinoy teleseryes in Peru, alleged "Kdrama fanatics" already trashed the arrival in Peru of the second teleserye, La Promesa, after the successful kdrama-busting run of the first, Puentes de amor- another mystery because both Pinoy & Korean novelas were  being shown on the same channel & at different times. More mysteries came: teleseryes from Abs-cbn disappeared (Puentes de amor & La Promesa all rated higher than the kdramas) & replaced by kdramas. Then Cautiva, which became the highest-rating novela at Panamericana TV to levels barely dreamed-of by the kdramas, ended today & will be replaced by another kdrama. Whatever mysterious reasons tied the Panamericana TV management to the unpopular kdramas were stronger than its ratings performance. The teleseryes, which brought unheard of ratings to the Panamericana afternoons, have disappeared from its screen.

Well, it's good to be vindicated. I was the guy who cried wolf, alone in accidentally  discovering two years ago the almost discrete sabotage done on a Pinoy teen film being shown in a pirate Asiatic film site (which turned out to be a propaganda site for the Korean Wave fiction). Given the unexpected resurgence of Pinoy stars & telenovelas in many countries,  I immediately suspected those desperate treacherous moves won't stop & bound to culminate into an open sabotage. The propaganda fiction of a Korea Wave doesn't allow any Asian to upstage the pretension (I actually think, delusion is the better word) of the Koreans.

I asked in a previous post: If they have proven to tenaciously cling no matter how unpopular they were just to continue with the motions of pretending there is a  Korea Wave in Peru, will they be willing to stay under the shadows of the now more popular Pinoys? We have the answer. Apparently they collected on their mysterious tie-up to the insiders at the Peruvian station & the lowest-rating telenovelas in Peru, the kdramas, will continue clinging in the bottom of their rating charts.

 Read the ff. to get a better grip on the topic:

 1. NOT FAKE CLAMOR: THE PROMISE/PANGAKO SA YO on Joy Prime Ghana

 2. CALM BEFORE THE STORM?: CAUTIVA rages in Peru... But why somebody might not be happy?

Read more: 

 1. UTO-UTO SYNDROME: The Folly of Philippine TV

 2. ESCAPING THE KOREAN ASIAN TRAP: Can LA PROMESA do a JANJIKU in Peru?

 3. KAPIT-TUKO KOREAN-STYLE: Anatomy of the Fake Fame & How To Cling Desperately (plus Tips on How To Mob an Unknown in an Airport)

4.   SABOTAGE OF PINOY TELESERYES IN PERU: Now we know why they are bitter & cruel (as if they weren't used to the lowest ratings. VERY "POPULAR KUNWARI" INDEED!!!)

CALM BEFORE THE STORM?: CAUTIVA rages in Peru... But why somebody might not be happy?

I am still on vacation but I couldn't resist writing this one. So how is the Pinoy teleserye Cautiva/Hanggang Makita Kang Muli faring in Peru? It has been battling the Turkish telenovela Elif which lorded over its time slot since the latter's  opening last year (the Turk slugged it out with another teleserye La Promesa/Pangako Sa Yo earlier, preventing the latter from scoring more than 3.5 points, blunting the what-could-have-been Kathniel upsurge in Peru ).  The other day, while Elif had 7.3 points, Cautiva had 4.6 points. Yesterday, Cautiva upped its score to 4.9, the highest score for a Pinoy teleserye, or Asian drama for that matter, in the Peruvian ratings chart. It is expected to go way past 5 points as its popularity gains.

This development has created an emergency (humiliating) situation to the other Asian being shown in Peru. The Koreans have been shown in Peru for nearly 15 years but they have been generally stuck at the bottom of the Peruvian charts, mainly getting 1-2 points rating, except when the Pinoy teleseryes arrived & the other Asian telenovelas were lifted slightly on the Pinoy's wake (2 kdramas were shown before the teleserye then in the same channel, Panamericana TV). The first Pinoy teleserye, Bridges of Love/Puentes de amor, shot up way past that, up to 4.4, very high rating for an afternoon telenovela then in Panamericana TV. The kdrama preceding it broke through its usual ratings on the wake of the teleserye's surprise success (though as always, still lower than everybody else  showing telenovelas in Peru- lower than the Mexicans, Brazilians, Peruvians, Turkish, Greeks, Filipinos). It was curious that when Puentes de amor ended, its timeslot of 5:30 pm was given to another kdrama, Mundos opuestos, that subsequently inherited its audience & became the highest-rating kdrama (though again, still low compared to everybody else). But soon enough, the kdramas returned again to their usual 1-2 points in the bottom of the ratings chart. The return of another teleserye, La Promesa/Pangako Sa Yo, proved once again that a teleserye will always rate higher than the kdramas. When La Promesa ended , its timeslot again was given to another kdrama, Amor secreto, which managed to retain the audience for a few episodes until it dived again to the usual nook of the kdramas at the bottom of the ratings. The third teleserye to be shown, Cautiva, caused more sensation, & as the strategy of the Koreans to duplicate Mundos opuestos failed, the lackluster track record of the Koreans became more obvious and the  Peruvian forums finally decided the Pinoys are performing better than the Koreans. Some were even openly commenting the Korean dramas be stopped altogether. Despite long years of being stuck at the bottom of the Peruvian charts, for whatever mysterious reasons, the Koreans were still being shown. And now they are being openly ridiculed. How will they cling on, as they have proven they would cling one way or the other just to pretend there is a Korean wave in areas which ignore them?

The blog has confirmed the so-called Korean wave outside East Asia is a propaganda fiction. The vast propaganda apparatus might be noisy in proclaiming the Koreans are very popular but the usual gauges used to detect audience acceptance proved they were practically ignored. The reality beyond the digital propaganda of questionable viewcounts and paid army of trolls is very much dismal. Their permanence at the bottom of the Peruvian ratings chart for nearly 15 years was probably first confirmed publicly in this blog (we also confirmed it in Indonesia & lots of other places). The reason they were being shown in Peru is certainly not due to audience acceptance, they were practically ignored. So why were they still being shown after that long-standing unpopularity?

 The tenacity to remain in Peru & everywhere else is simply amazing. But disquieting, because there lies the dark clouds. The blog also confirmed the forces behind the Koreans are not above sabotaging their competition, especially the Pinoys. This blog has annotated the series of sabotage done on Pinoy stars way back 2 years ago in the Sabotage series (read it below the banner or click Tales of SABOTAGE at the sidebar). The initial sabotage was on the surprise resurgence of Pinoy stars in the Spanish-speaking pirate sites. We discovered these pirate sites were actually designed to promote the Korean wave, using the pretense of promoting Asian artists. But when other Asian artists get hotter than the Korean artists, they were immediately cut down so as not to upstage the Koreans. The Pinoys were apparently pointedly sabotaged in Spanish-speaking sites because the Pinoys were naturals with a Spanish or a Latin American audience. As being proved in Peru right now. 

Could the initial sabotage on the Jadine loveteam when the film Diary ng Panget became big in the Spanish-speaking pirate sites in 2014 (read Sabotage #2) be  a portent? The first sabotage was apparently designed to blunt the connection of a target audience to a competition which has a cultural, & even physical, connection to such an audience. Now, that connection was made in the real world, far from the dark fringes of the pirate world. Worse, they are being humiliated in the real world. What is the next move of the Koreans? In fact, they already made the first move: when the second teleserye was announced after the success of the first, the familiar scene of alleged Korean fanatics noisily protesting exploded (a now-obvious tactic everywhere- despite their low ratings, their miniscule fans are prone to protest be it in Peru or anywhere, no matter how low their ratings are- which reminds me of coup plotter tactics or "terrorists", if you may- where a small group of people use protests- or "terror"- to get their way. Obviously, these people were working from the same script). If they have proven to tenaciously cling no matter how unpopular they were, will they be willing to stay under the shadows of the now more popular Pinoys?

Interesting times ahead in Peru.

Read also:

1. UTO-UTO SYNDROME: The Folly of Philippine TV

2. ESCAPING THE KOREAN ASIAN TRAP: Can LA PROMESA do a JANJIKU in Peru?

3. KAPIT-TUKO KOREAN-STYLE: Anatomy of the Fake Fame & How To Cling Desperately (plus Tips on How To Mob an Unknown in an Airport)

4. SABOTAGE OF PINOY TELESERYES IN PERU: Now we know why they are bitter & cruel (as if they weren't used to the lowest ratings. VERY "POPULAR KUNWARI" INDEED!!!)


NOTE: Somebody copied the comments from a previous article in the pic above into the Comments section, dividing it into 4 segments. Some complained they cluttered the Comments section below but it turned out, some can't make out the letters in the pic so I'm allowing the Comments for now. I get ideas from the Comments of each article & make my spin to them. This group of Comments nicely tackled the situation now developing in Peru.

UTO-UTO SYNDROME: The Folly of Philippine TV

Our TV ratings in the Philippines is comedic in a big way. We have two big multinational rating agencies proclaiming completely different results. On one side, we have AGB Nielsen used by GMA, TV5, CNN Philippines, Net 25, etc while Kantar has Abs-Cbn on the other side. I often laughed at the schizophrenic reporting I read on some sites. One post now could be declaring that Abs-Cbn shows were leading, according to Kantar, while the next post would proclaim GMA dominating, according to Nielsen. The weird situation satisfies the caprice & need of everybody- but still, one wonders, what is the true picture?

Even while I was championing the Big 3 young loveteams of Abs-Cbn, I was always baffled by the station being watched in Manila: be it in a dentist office, a canteen, a government office, etc., it was always turned on on GMA. I mentioned before, even my mother's TV was stuck on GMA. I myself don't watch TV very much, I am mostly connected to the web. Well, except local news.

I mostly thought low of GMA because of how it allows itself to be made inferior by Korean shows (I actually like  GMANEWS TV, mostly it had no political agenda like it should be, but I was often disgusted by the ShopTV & Korean shows that clutter what could be the country's finest news  TV; it could be the most credible news station around, with interesting travel & food shows, without the unrelated clutter).

Lately, in my early evening runs, running 7 kilometers through 2 subdivisions, I was struck by the sound of TV along the way. Again, GMA. I turn around in a public market where I drink buko & eat some fruits for electrolytes, rest awhile & I would see a TV turned on. Encantadia. Alyas Robin Hood. I lambasted GMA before in previous posts because of its unnecessary subservience to Korean delusions, but if you have noticed, I couldn't help lately but feature more & more GMA stars. Its popularity gnawed at me. But somehow, there was a disconnect between the popularity of its shows and the relatively lackluster radiance of its stars. To be sure, the station has great-looking stars but somehow, their visibility in people's screens were not translated into a more radiant stardom. Instead of cluttering its screen with the Korean shows, it could have copied the propaganda methods of the Koreans instead, and presto, it could have had bigger stars because they were easier to sell with their superior looks compared to the plain-looking Koreans.

Encantadia & Alyas Robin Hood are a watershed for GMA. It is resurgent & apparently the ripples have unnerved the competition. Abs-Cbn's strategy has always been to clear its competitor's swamp: recruit its stars, now it has been reduced to competing for the superfluous Korean shows. Which had low ratings mostly so you wonder why they even figure now in the game; they might just be resurrected because they suddenly became the bone of contention so would have to be publicized heavily to become viable.

I expected more from Abs-Cbn because it was supposed to be bigger. I could cut GMA more slack because it was supposed to be weaker. But both forgot they were big powers in many areas of the world because of the teleserye.

For all the low self-regard of the Filipinos in their home grounds, they figure high in  international waters. The teleserye is one of the biggest telenovela products in the world, competing in many areas of the world...& wonder of wonders, it is bigger than the Korean drama series in all the areas where they meet head on. How could they have been fighting over a product whose claim to ratings just came from propaganda in the local arena? Now they just might be forced to participate in the propaganda so they can sell their folly. And in the process make bigger their competition.

They forgot they are helping sell their competition which has been sabotaging them as they tried to make headway into the world (read Tales of SABOTAGE at the sidebar). Will it stop sabotaging them considering it doesn't have their looks (despite their propaganda that they are the most beautiful Asian "according to Asian themselves", the looks are the biggest reason why the Koreans were the perennial bottom-dwellers in the Peruvian & other non-Mongoloid charts for a decade now)  and their successes despite the lack of a propaganda machine?

Pinoys lack appreciation of their strengths. It appears we are still at the easily impressionable hillbilly stage, and seeing our biggest broadcast stations acting like uto-utos from the boondocks is really baffling...

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BWA HA HA HA HA LIST

Actually, I was not aware of this particular 2015 list.  Nobody bothered to take it seriously because it was so ridiculous. It was a day when the meaning of Beauty became synonymous with Comedy. Pity, nobody lingered to savor the joke. More out of revulsion? I only got to know it yesterday. The undermining of resurgent Pinoy teen stars are still ongoing like I described in the Scandals series though it evolved into subtler undermining tricks after it was first exposed in this blog: in a forum where some Pinay teen actresses were being lauded, this list was suddenly uploaded, clearly intended to undermine. As expected, the list turned into a laughingstock instead. Apparently, the list is still constantly recycled in the propaganda network of the villains: they most likely treated it as a propaganda coup, though it was practically useless because only a few bother with them anymore anyway. They don't have to admit it but they have simply become washed-up years ago. The only noise remaining comes from their propaganda outlets. For a special purpose?

The list of supposedly "most beautiful people" were dominated by ordinary-looking South Koreans so that promptly destroyed its credibility. There was no hassle because there were no subscribers or readers who would withdraw their membership for pure revulsion (For one, when I use lists in this blog,  I use only accountable ones from magazines or subscription websites where ridiculous lists can mean withdrawal of  subscriptions or membership altogether). It was a website like any website, but apparently it was handy for psy-op operations like this one. Needless to say, it failed to deliver .

I decided to write about this now because it appears the villains have upped the level of  their delusion. Inadvertently, the new developments suggested a bigger conspiracy which would need updating our understanding of this issue. The hallmarks of a tired playbook were there: say some truths but speak more lies that could be confused with the truths. Show some really beautiful faces and insert simple faces that must be confused as beautiful too. The gimmick has become hackneyed: the list was simply ignored (though even true beauties Kathryn Bernardo & Liza Soberano were used as supporting cast to give credibility to the charade).

In the usual conversations about beauty among friends where beautiful people is the favorite topic, Koreans still don't figure at all though their propaganda machine is rampant here. The list was actually hilarious: the houseboy-looking rocker was supposedly one among the "Top 10 most handsome in the world" though I couldn't find any among my female & gay friends who doesn't think he's ugly. Gigantic leap indeed from being ugly to the Top 10 Most Handsome in the world, that's hard to beat! The "most beautiful girl of the world" was just as ridiculous: she was not ugly but definitely looked out of place among the really beautiful ones in the list (and none among them were her countrywomen).
         
 The problem is that the more credible lists might be degraded by ridiculous lists such as this. Of course, we know this pseudo-affirmative gimmick has been done so many times before by pretentious campaigns that people are now jaded. Many, like me, laughed when they actually saw it. So did all my friends.

My college professor friend thinks the South Koreans are being used. The question is for what purpose?  I first thought that this was a simple pro-Mongoloid campaign but my  friend had a different take: This looks like a pro-Mongoloid campaign on the outside but the fact that the promotions done were lopsidedly in favor of the South Koreans over the Chinese & Japanese (who incidentally have far bigger markets & relatively more interesting culture & people) revealed  another story. Throwing some crumbs to the Chinese & Japanese  was just done to recruit them to a Mongoloid campaign which actually has its ultimate aim in their own denigration, especially to the Chinese, the main target. For example, China & Japan were given 4 slots each in this Top 100 list but 8 were given to the South Koreans. More critically,  they were made irrelevant in the international  promotion infrastructures given to the Koreans. For one, the Koreans were even allowed to use the illegal pirate sites for promotions  and we know who actually control these sites. The Korean promotion is to give them a headstart as the trendy & beautiful Mongoloid face of Asia, undercutting the ascendancy of the soft power potential of the resurgent Chinese, the feared cutural hegemon of the near future. An unorthodox  geopolitico-cultural war?

What do I think? Frankly, I couldn't care less. People have long seen through these tired social engineering  gimmicks. My only concern is that now that their perennially unrequited desire to be the most beautiful Asian is undercut by the popularity of the Cute Pinoys who became resurgent despite the lack of a propaganda machine, what will that make of the Cute Pinoys? More sabotage?

SCANDAL!!! PART 6: I Can Not Be Corrupted, Sorry! It Won't Be Fun Anymore so No Way

About 5 days ago (August 6, 2015), the figurehead of the propaganda front masquerading as fan club of Pinoy artists in the Post-Soviet space contacted me in my VK account and offered me to relieve him in his post. That in effect, I can become the new administrator AKA figurehead of their propaganda front whose lies I just began to document and expose (so far I exposed one in my blog & another one in my VK account). He admitted that at least 95% of what they were publishing were true (only 5% were lies?) but he claimed it was his companions who did those without his knowledge. I'm not judging him if what he's saying was true, he might have been actually used because it's de rigueur that propaganda fronts use innocent figureheads to pretend plausible deniability. Needless to say, I rejected him outright. Not out of any emotional reasons, but more on practical considerations. The propaganda front was established there for a particular reason and they are not to stop now. But the fact they were found out, documented and exposed has already produced the effect I was expecting: they have to make it appear they are not what they actually are and make good 100% in what they are doing. The Pinoy artists will only benefit for the meantime. In fact, I've toned down my VK account, limiting myself only to publicity of the Pinoy artists with films being shown in Kazakhstan and let them feature more Pinoy stars. I only do this for fun, but that's their career.

Above is part of the message of the Admin of the Fake Pinoy Group (We use direct Google translation  in order that I won't be accused of putting my own interpretation): "I have noticed that you are keen on Filipino culture, you do not want to become the administrator of the group? Will no longer be propaganda, and I will give all the control to you. I have very little free time"

 But of course, the 5% lies are what that front is about. It's just a matter of time, every animal has its own DNA which it has to act upon... but even then, we've been tipped off beforehand, we will be there waiting.

 Now, if they indeed had seen the light and reinvent their genes, so much the better. Anyway, their work is really puny in the scheme of things. The Pinoy artists have already made inroads that even the villains haven't achieved in that area, and Pinoys won't need them as much as they needed to piggyback on the Pinoys in the limelight. As we have shown, this front is used by the villains to capture the Pinoy fans as ready captive for South Korean propaganda (Scandal 4 & 5).

 With this latest turn of events, we saw how they really operate, but which I expected because that's the textbook procedures in counterpropaganda: coup d'etat at the top. Reminiscent of the move to turn in the stars who were the original target of the initial sabotage, or the blatant influence on admins of some local fan clubs.

 Frankly, I don't find the South Koreans as threats. They have very obvious deficiencies which are fatal roadblocks to their big ambition (Plastic Surgery has its limits, for one). It's actually funny that they were caught doing what they were not supposed to be doing (just like the politician being caught dipping his fingers to the pie: if he was not caught, nobody would have been the wiser). But these are mere hiccups if they want to set things right.

 As I mentioned, I made a deliberate decision to limit myself in my VK account on the stars with films shown in Kazakhstan (or any place in the world where they are hot, for that matter). That is now beginning to be felt on my blog. This blogging is supposed to be fun, and I find it more fun monitoring the inroads of the Pinoy stars in their international forays. So far, I find only few of our local stars as interesting and it would be more fun zeroing in on only those who are interesting.

 As to the question of James Reid, have I really turned my back after the Houseboy-looking Rocker incident? My change in tactic was just a coincidence. In the beginning, I fed mostly Jadine articles because I was always thinking of my South American readers, my initial international readers. Moreover, ever since I stoked a diversionary intrigue to deflect the blowback of the Para Sa Hopeless Romantic flop on the Jadine love team, readers have looked to this blog as a Jadine fanatic. Wrong, it was just that I saw some bad moves, and it was like instinctively saving a baby from being run over by a speeding car. But the fact that I was mostly featuring the team limited my audience. When I started featuring Lizquen, the deluge of the readers made me really think but I played it slow so as not to offend. Then I got my perfect alibi: the Houseboy-looking Rocker incident was a perfect time to shift gears. I actually received unsolicited emails which said they understood. Whatever they understood, I am not sure. If ever On The Wings Of Love is shown in Kazakhstan or anywhere else, I'll be promoting them again. The Houseboy-looking Rocker Incident didn't mean a thing: James Reid will still have his handsome face so that means the villain still lost. They sabotaged him because fans loved his handsome face in the first place.

ESCAPING THE KOREAN ASIAN TRAP: Can LA PROMESA do a JANJIKU in Peru?

So how is Pangako Sa 'Yo/ La Promesa faring in Peru?

Just recently, we were witness to a relatively lackluster start which ended in a skyrocketing finish of Pinoy teleserye Pangako Sa 'Yo/ Janjiku in Indonesia. In Peru, the teleserye has also started slow, will it finally pick up as it hurtles on to the finish line? In both cases, they were shown in relatively "un-stellar" channels. In Indonesia, the ascent of Pangako Sa 'Yo/ Janjiku created a wave that lifted the local channel shows to the top. Will the same thing be duplicated in Peru?

La Promesa is being shown in a station that is called by Peruvians as "cold antenna" (antenna fria)", just like TV5 in the Philippines. Panamericana TV generally fares low in the ratings. Just like MNCTV before in Indonesia in the beginning when  Janjiku was shown. But we saw later that as Janjiku rose up the Indonesian  charts in the homestretch, it took along with it to the top of the ratings the sinetron shown before it and the one shown after it (the former Ayu Ayu Anak Depok City & Untuk Selamanya for the latter). See first table where Ayu Anak Depok City was #7 while Untuk Selamanya reached # 14. It is not a surprise that both Ayu Anak Depok City & Untuk Selamanya dropped out of the Top 20 when Janjiku ended its run.

This phenomenon was also seen in Peru when the first Pinoy teleserye , Bridges of Love/Puentes de Amor, was shown. For almost a decade, South Korean dramas were shown in Peru but they were always at the bottom of the Peruvian rating charts, generally  earning 1-2 points as a matter of course  (hilariously, this perennial unpopularity was constant  but  their many Spanish propaganda websites were also constant in proclaiming they were popular). But when Puentes de Amor  unexpectedly became the top telenovela for the Panamericana station, earning double those normally earned by the kdramas, the kdrama shown before it was suddenly lifted too (earning up to then unheard-of 3 points). Moreover, the slot of Puentes de Amor , which was later given to another kdrama, inherited the ratings of Puentes de Amor for a while.  That should have made them happy,  but when another teleserye was bought (Pangako Sa 'Yo/ La Promesa), the now familiar strategy of scenes of "avid" Korean fanatics suddenly protesting exploded (they were perennially at the bottom of the ratings-  it's too much a stretch to believe they always manage to convert miniscule fans into combative fanatics, be it in the Philippines or Peru, but it seems this strategy was effective enough to "massage" executives, be it in the Philippines or Peru). It was surprising because both the South Korean & Pinoy teleseryes were shown in the same channel & at different times, so it makes you wonder why they trashed the Pinoys.  But it's easy to understand what was happening if you look back over the pattern of past events described in this blog- the constant sabotage of Pinoy artists in the international arena as described in our previous posts (See Tales of SABOTAGE in the sidebar). Especially that we first detected the sabotage done in a Spanish-language  pirate website when the  Pinoy film  Diary ng Panget became a hit among the Spanish-speaking Asian film fanatics. It was obvious that they didn't want to be upstaged by another Asian, especially Pinoys sharing the history and physical features of the disputed market. Now they were actually humiliated by Pinoy teleseryes in a Spanish-speaking public space.

The showing of La Promesa was delayed due to dubbing issues. Meanwhile, at this point, there were hossanas in their propaganda press that the persistence of the South Koreans after a decade of low ratings were paying off (understandably, nobody mentioned of the effect of Puentes de amor). It was written that "it was good they persisted" (understandably also, nothing was mentioned  what were the quid pro quo in exchange for the miracle of being shown for a decade despite their permanence in the bottom of the ratings).


Their gloating was short-lived, however. The kdramas soon returned to their familiar places in the bottom of the Peruvian ratings when La Promesa was finally shown. Below is the typical ratings of the shows of Panamericana TV. The 3 kdramas (Cuando un hombre ama (1 point), Los dos madres (0.8) , Melodia del Destino (1.4)) are permanent fixtures in the bottom of the ratings.

If you look at all the shows being shown in Peru- as always, they were at the bottom in the lowest-rating station..

As has been confirmed by this blog, the Pinoy teleseryes have always trounced the South Korean kdramas where they faced off everywhere in the world. In Peru, like everywhere in South America,  the South Koreans never managed to elevate the status of Asians, it just made them permanent in the bottom of the ratings. The arrival of a Pinoy teleserye therefore assured the teleserye of a dragging baggage. Could the teleserye trascend the heavy prejudice to Asians wrought by the unpopular South Korean dramas in the preceding decade? Fortunately, Puentes de Amor managed to soar a bit to heights not reached by the other Asian, but it's clear that the marketing of Pinoy teleseryes should be so  designed so as not to be trapped into being merely Asian, contaminated as it is by the long-standing South Korean permanence at the bottom of the ratings. The relative popularity of Pinoy teleseryes in Peru derives from their Asian Latin appeal, and we just hope the Latin appeal will engender enough connection to finally get off the Asian trap cultivated by the Koreans in the bottom of the ratings. La Promesa hasn't exactly reached yet the heights of Puentes de amor- but it is picking up.  Will it shoot in the homestretch too like in Indonesia?

KAPIT-TUKO KOREAN-STYLE: Anatomy of the Fake Fame & How To Cling Desperately (plus Tips on How To Mob an Unknown in an Airport)

I'm a keen student of the use of Propaganda and that is probably the appeal of Showbiz to me (that is, besides Politics, another propaganda-driven enterprise). Most of the reality we see is mostly propaganda, especially politics. And once you see the "script", "reality" loses credibility, like what is happening to the mainstream political press where it is not so taken seriously anymore these days. While the gullible would still be expected to be the majority, there would come a time when you are not sure anymore, like now. When the tricks have been revealed, the magic is gone. You can feel the shift in  the dynamics & everybody can appreciate the true  reality more clearly once the propaganda was unmasked.

Same in Showbiz. If you have read the biography of the Rolling Stones, you would have known the various tricks to propel their popularity. When they were just starting, their manager hired people to scream, to present a fake popularity which the gullible entertainment press lapped up & consequently wrote about a hot new band, triggering the subsequent bandwagon of real fame (they still had no money to bribe in the beginning so the innocence of the press was genuine).

Reading the Comments in this blog actually led me to discover another propaganda mirage. One of the biggest propaganda creation is the so-called Korea Wave. At a time when the so-called Korean boybands supposedly sold hit albums after hit albums (when nobody could be heard singing their songs), the local producers thought there was a new trend so they created their copycats as usual instead of investigating who was the real buyer of the albums. While previous trends (which up to then only came from the West) produced local hit groups, nobody among the Kpop copycats succeeded. Was there really a trend, or just a propaganda ruse? True, songs from boybands a la One Direction were hot locally in the airwaves- but why the immediate demise of the local kpop copycat bands? Were some here, who were supposed to know better, still not capable to distinguish the true from the fake before committing their cash to a supposed trend?

 One could expect novelty as an initial kick to a phenomenon but when a bandwagon did not arrive for the fake one, the ruse would eventually implode. Like what has happened with the Koreans. Actually, if you read the propaganda sites created to pretend popularity, it is humming the usual pretend narrative as if nothing happened. But, as a reader once commented, it took a little blog like ours which pricked the balloon of propaganda. Suddenly, reality focused: low-rating of kdramas, no Korean melody in the airwaves (no  budget to support their own albums for a decade?), etc. That is how flimsy the "popularity" was, you don't have to do much, just redirect the attention to the fact. This also happened in Peru: if you read Korean propaganda, they were very popular in Peru. But this blog discovered that they were shown there for almost a decade, true- but all those time, they were in the bottom of the Peruvian charts, earning 1-2% rating, managing to be noticed slightly only when the Pinoy teleserye Bridges of Love (Puentes de Amor) was shown there & consequently upgraded Asian profile. One can only guess the reasons how they managed to be shown for a long time there with those low ratings and it's definitely not due to their popularity. What was clear was, as one reader put it, their lack of shame in pretending popular & clinging kapit-tuko in a market which has been resistant to them for a decade. What better proof of unpopularity?

Frankly, all of these should have been  something to just laugh about. But unfortunately, they were apparently willing to sabotage a fellow Asian- the Pinoys-  just so they could delude themselves & believe their own  propaganda (read Tales of SABOTAGE in the sidebar). Part of the kapit-tuko package of delusion? It's obvious they will sabotage (more assiduously) for a long time yet.

These are interesting times because they are undertaking big efforts to reshape back reality to the narrative of their propaganda. Their propaganda machine is doing double-time in regaining whatever momentum they thought they had. Unfortunately, the basic reason why they didn't succeed, & won't succeed again, is (as one reader put it) they didn't look the part. They can't change how they look no matter how Plastic Surgery advances, or how strong the propaganda noise, so we know how this still would end up.

But at least, we could learn from their propaganda tactics. We definitely should be wiser before we commit our cash to a supposed trend. Also, we could definitely use the modus operandi of using fake fans. One can always blame  fake fans as scapegoat- they can be as noisy or  combative when protesting for you no  matter if you are a permanent inhabitant of the bottom of the ratings like when they protested the Pinoy teleserye "La Promesa" in Peru when they sensed the Pinoys had more appeal to a market which rejected them for a decade. Oh, anyway, the fake fans don't have to be combative always- they have their other uses too. They can be ordered to mob you no matter how unknown you are in the airport.

COMEDY HOUR & Other Suspenseful Stories: ... Meanwhile, in Colombia, Fil-Colombian mestizo journalist Manuel Teodoro reports on the Pinoy Drug War in "SEPTIMO DIA" Caracol TV

There are many things happening in Pinoy showbiz, both international & national. But they pale in comparison to what's currently offered by politics. Both local & international. You find yourself wondering which was in fact more entertaining- politics or showbiz? Really, there is no contest.

I have to admit, politics has been lately dishing out more laughs hands down. I've actually somewhat stopped treating it seriously for sometime now. Despite the many wars, international politics came out somehow hilarious for years, but lately, the domestic front has joined the fun, been busy twisting itself whichever which way for more laughs, as if making up for lost time. With the incarceration of the biggest comedian, Leila De Lima, it simmered down for a while but many emerged recently to take her place in the comedy store. Most people today have the opinion we are in the most dangerous phase of recent modern history because of hectic international geopolitical games, but somehow the danger is upstaged by the many ridiculous events going on at the same time. You know it was not intended to be so, therefore you are sure, some major change is just off the corner. Added suspense. Dark humor, anyone?

It turned out my hunch was right all along- even when I was a student, reading all the political theories & so-called expert opinions, there was something not quite right, as if the arguments were contrived & not really convincing. Really, putting people in boxes & expect them to think & act according to the rules of the boxes? Very unnatural all along, don't you think? The old gimmick of over-rated experts talking so you should just go along  have become hilarious as the experts themselves turned out to be the biggest flops of them all, the self-important media turned out to be as mercenary as the most corrupt they attacked, etc. Worse, the old self-upright arguments like freedom of the press, human rights, people power,etc.  have certainly become spoofs of the real things. Really, a country like the Philippines with a noisy surplus of such issues being surpassed in the prosperity game by countries in the neighborhood  with supposedly less regard for such democratic ideals, is the biggest joke. Most delicious of all, watching the news has often become moments of guffaws.  We are at a time when it is so easy to pick out who are the fools by how they react to current events.

I was only too glad none in the crowd where I circulate is that stupid.

So how can showbiz catch up with the laughs easily coughed up by politics? My interest has been on the spontaneous  international impact of Pinoy teen stars but recent events certainly gave me cold showers. I am not sure now who owns a TV station when it is now featuring the news I laughed myself off watching at international news channels. If even a taxi driver could see the ruse (I rode one when my nightly jogging was rudely interrupted by heavy rains & the talkative driver educated me on the real owners of Daesh/Abu Sayyaf), how can't an educated TV news director or the supposed owner of the station itself?

This business about the Koreans. I have uncovered the fictitious Korea Wave for some time now. A massive propaganda fiction, & the local minions are currently busy with more propaganda, but I guess, we know how this will turn out anyway. For the past nearly two decades, we were bombarded by the same tricks but by the time I started investigating the then-accepted-by-common-assumption Korean popularity two years ago, it turned out they were nowhere near their supposed popularity in reality. With all the supposed local hoopla, I still have to see a change in the general indifference, & I live in a part of the metropolis where there are many local Korean residents & businesses. If I didn't discover the acts of sabotage done on Pinoy stars 2 years ago, I wouldn't waste my time with them. A popular Korean-made premier phone didn't mask their looks anyway (If Kuya Kim looks like their supposed to be hottest matinee idol, I have no more comment). What could not be done for  two decades means it's hopeless already-  and arguments are likely to be overtaken by events anyway, so why bother?

But having started writing about the sabotage on Pinoy teen stars (read Sabotage series below the banner or  Tales of SABOTAGE from the sidebar), it got me thinking about many things. If you've been following the Comments, they were coldly discussing the expected next Korean war. We have here free-spirited readers so it was no-holds barred as usual. One wrote there was a reason why the division of the Korean peninsula was never resolved. It remained for a purpose. The massive propaganda for the South Koreans- the tools used indicated the South Koreans have massive support from a bigger godfather which didn't help them in their most basic need- peace in their land. There's a bigger story about to unfold there and some readers are catching the drift?

After the laughs, comes the real suspense?

Meanwhile, in Colombia, a Fil-Am (Filipino father, Colombian mother) who was formerly an RPN anchorman migrated to the country of his mother (& his wife) & became that country's most celebrated TV journalist. He returned home recently to the country where he grew up up to his 16th birthday before emigrating to the US, to report on the current drug war in the Philippines.

I won't allow comments in this post. If you have something in mind, just add your comments to this post (click here) .

NOTE: Caracol TV was the Colombian station which supposedly bought the teleserye Puentes de amor (Bridges of Love) but hasn't shown it yet.

CAUTIVA/HANGGANG MAKITA KANG MULI to return, this time on Peruvian primetime, at 7 PM starting Monday

My readers are really fast. I will do a more formal article on this later, barring any last minute sabotage from the usual aspects. You see, this is practically a slap to their  delusions. Lol. 

The most succesful Pinoy (& Asian) telenovela on Peruvian TV will be shown again a mere few weeks after its initial run, this time on the primetime 7:00 slot, starting Monday. It was previously shown in the afternoon, 4:30 PM, where it earned high ratings for its normally low-rating station.

You can add your comments to a previous article (click here).

MAJOR, MAJOR Exciting Times, Indeed: Meanwhile... FOREVERMORE opens on Televista Nigeria

Venus Raj- "...major, major..."
Donald Trump - "... major, major..."

No, I was definitely not bored blogging. The truth is, I purposely didn't blog regularly like before. True, the situation was certainly icky- (dealing with and writing about cheap people, a.k.a. mercenaries, always is & I usually cut a wide berth around them in real life, like any self-respecting person would) -  but I guess, I suddenly realized the comments to my latest articles were certainly injecting extra energy to the blog. I was mostly getting ideas for my articles from the comments anyway, so I thought, why not let the comments power the blog for a change?

I know my friends are the anchor commentators but along the way, they were joined by other intelligent souls which just left me in awe for their wonderful imagination: it was not the usual discussion one reads in the usual showbiz forum (or political forum for that matter)- there was firing from all the cylinders, no unorthodox base was spared here. We might be discussing showbiz one minute but we could be seeing things from the perspective of exploding nuclear missiles the next. Just the kind of conversation that gets my juices flowing. Certainly no boring moment here.

Wonder of wonders, our hits didn't dip even if we posted the least number of articles this month. It means, everybody was looking up for the latest in the comments everyday. So we are evolving. We have here a blog-forum which refuses to be boxed in by superficial narratives or hackneyed cultural Marxism. Just the way I like it.

Meanwhile, these are exciting times, so many things are happening in the world that at times appear even surreal. Our blog should ride the excitement for a while. I will close the Comments for ordinary posts (like this one) so we can concentrate on the more "controversial" ones.

By the way, this blog is still mainly about Pinoy showbiz. Lest we forget.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the international hit teleserye of LizQuen loveteam (of Enrique Gil & Liza Soberano), Forevermore , returns. It has already been shown in almost the entire Subsaharan Africa last year.

GABI NG LAGIM: The Hot Loveteam Thing turned out to be a Happy Accident after all, so what next?

We had our fun, but there are signs everything just might have been a flash in the pan. I mean, the unexpected resurgence of Pinoy young stars in many parts of the world. Kathniel. Jadine. Lizquen. We have posted the milestones of their fame all over the world in this blog (frankly, that was mainly what the blog was about). They became big in the Philippines, but fortunately, they had international appeal so off they clicked. It was fun while it lasted.

I won't debate the loveteam combinations in the Philippine setting. I have to admit I have no interest in the local dynamics. My interest sprang from my discovery that the 3 loveteams were creating inroads in many countries in different parts of the world. I scanned the blogospheres of each country to monitor their trajectories (that sprang from my love of places & languages). The only teleseryes I watched, I watched dubbed or subtitled online from a foreign  TV station's website (I still have to watch one from my TV which I rarely use anyway).

What clicks in the Philippines doesn't necessarily click outside. Anybody who joined me in my journey & learned to scan the foreign pages would attest to the varying reactions to Philippine stars. The reaction to what I called the Big 3 was special compared to the reaction to other Pinoy stars. But it seems, all indications point to the fact that the Big 3 thing might just have been accidental. Why so?

Just look at the next-in-line loveteams. True, anybody can get lucky in the Philippine setting & I really don't care if a young loveteam is created to pair a cross-eyed garbage man with an obese high society girl, they can make it for all I care. But I would be disappointed if they don't elicit anymore internationally the popularity won by Kathniel, Lizquen or Jadine in saner times. And if you have been monitoring the comments in previous articles, there's a palpable fear that the future loveteams would be disappointments. I don't need to mention their names, not worth our time. And I fear, not worth the time of the foreign fans either. We won't be following hot young Pinoy loveteams anymore in foreign lands?

As one of the comments described it: Gabi ng Lagim... in Pinoy loveteam land.

I kinda agree.

AKO AY NANDIDIRI: When Having Sex Means Puking At Each Other, When Marrying Means Swallowing One's Vomit

Most of the contributors to this blog are gay and they are all well-educated, two of them are medical doctors and one is a free-thinking college professor. I sought their help when I decided to get serious with this blog. I don't have much time to read about Pinoy showbiz news nor watch teleseryes but I have these showbiz addict gay friends who now always give me the heads up on showbiz happenings. It was actually my gay assistant who informed me about the Pacquiao alleged gay slur drama. Four of the gay contributors were present in the coffee house when we discussed this and our discussion really opened my eyes. There's another side to this issue & I thought why shouldn't I be the champion of this side through this blog.

Most gays don't join this fake bandwagon sorrounding Gay Marriage. For one, this issue makes the typical Pinoy gay puke. Straight guys here are cheap & a self-respecting gay won't be caught sucking another gay man. As one said,"Lalaki ang hanap nila, di pekeng lalaki!* In fact one bravely commented:"I am gay but I am a proud homophobic. I puke merely thinking of having sex with another gay man".

Now why would a self-respecting gay marry somebody who makes him puke when having sex with? How can love grow when they vomit at each other?

In effect, Gay Marriage is a campaign to politically blackmail gays to swallow their vomit & have sex though their whole being is telling them to puke. Just so they belong? How foolish.

Just like the fact that Blacks are still the poorest after all the Black minority rights campaign, it turned out Gay Mariage doesn't matter in the end because so few gays ultimately marry  in those countries which adapted it. Somebody chose to forget most gays actually would rather puke than have sex with each other.

I took this info from Theworldofstraightmen.blogspot.com:
Let's look at Holland, the first country which adapted Gay Marriage in 2001:

As you can see, the biggest number was in the first year (the suckers were probably excited by all the political pang-uuto in the first year) but the interest gradually fell with each year, dropping very low indeed. If there would have been a clamor for Gay Marriage there, it should have been increasing, but the small numbers just kept declining proving this was merely a useless political stunt. Somebody just wanted to manipulate gays for a political aim (I'll discuss this in Part 2). With this paltry result, why bother with all these noisy political noise especially in a country like the Philippines where gays have refined taste and having sex with another gay man makes them vomit? Reminds me of all the big headlines about  the fight for Black minority rights from the 60's but circa 2015 the US Blacks were still burning Ferguson & Baltimore because they would turn out to be still the poorest.

The clamor for Gay Marriage is fake because most gays are revolted by the thought of having sex with a gay man, how much more wed one? Of course, there would still be a few with strong stomachs who can fool themselves to swallow their vomit and say it is love but should we even have to change our way of life centered on an important institution like family just to kowtow to every marginal deviant? Should we disallow beauty pageants just because it would discomfort the majority ugly? Should we shoot the paltry rich just because they offend the majority poor?

Even the  poster figure in the local LGBT scene, a comedian named Vice Ganda turned out to be a connoisseur of straight basketball players. If he is sincere in fighting for gays, why shouldn't he be a true gay model, why doesn't he flaunt a parlorista lover instead? Is money involved in these kinds of campaign? The LGBT groups here, who financed them before they hoodwinked the hooked members to contribute the token funds (the main fund comes from the dark sponsors?)?

Really curious...


It gets curioser in Part 2

PANGAKO SA'YO/ JANJIKU was the Number 5 Top Program in Indonesia in its last episode

The intercontinental hit Pinoy teleserye Pangako Sa'Yo/ Janjiku ended its run in Indonesia last January 12, 2017 as the 5th most viewed program in Indonesia. That caps a highly successful trailblazing attempt to open up the Indonesian market to a series of 4 other teleseryes, one of which , Untuk Selamanya/ Magpahanggang Wakas, will be replacing it in its 8 PM primetime slot on MNCTV Indonesia.

In a more detailed analysis of the categories, it became the number 1 show in some important brackets.

With the tremendous success of the teleserye, it was immediately decided to rerun it. It started to be shown again from the beginning from January 12 at an earlier time, 14:40 WIB.

The caption means "To be broadcasted again from the beginning"

COMING SOON: Love, 2 Million Naman Para Sa Bahay Natin Sa Probinsiya O

I am still on vacation but I can't help myself. This is just too delicious. It's politics but this is so big I am sure a movie version will be shot in time. The Pambansang Boytoy, Ronnie Palisoc Dayan, was just nabbed & he readily admitted they've been on for 7 years. Lagot si Pambansang Sugar Mommy, the eerie Senator Leila De Lima, she suddenly became a second-rate comedian. I guess Eugene Domingo will be the perfect actress to interpret her.

Frankly they should have shown the sex videos just to prove it was her. Truth has no gender, so is sex, & the claim that it was a violation of woman's rights & dignity was inane. The penis she was allegedly sucking in the video belonged to a man (the more it should be shown because it bolsters gender equality), and since she had been denying all along she was the one in the video, then it should be shown just to prove if she was lying or not. Truth sets everybody free.

BATTLE OF THE SOAP HEAVYWEIGHTS IN AFRICA

There are two Africa-wide broadcast companies that distribute content in many countries in that continent. The two with the biggest footprints are My TV Africa & Startimes, both regular patrons of Pinoy teleserye. Teleserye has built a loyal following in the continent since the original Pangako Sa Yo took the continent by storm in the early part of the 2000's. Teleserye battled it out initially with the pioneering telenovela of the Latin Americans, with the emergence later on of other successful series-producing countries like India & Turkey but teleserye remained a big force in the continent.

Recently, Startimes asked the readers of its Facebook account, which among the leading content providers in Africa (Philippines, Turkey, India and the Latin American countries of Venezuela, Colombia & Mexico) is practically the most loved. You can gauge the prevailing sentiment from the responses.

It's good that teleserye is raising the flag of  Asia in Africa. High ratings don't lie, even the most thick-faced propaganda machine can't make that up.

A few more responses below:

SCANDAL!!! Part 7: Getting Close To The Nitty-Gritty: SO... WHY DID THEY DO WHAT THEY HAD TO DO?

Upon the prodding (teasing, actually) of a Spanish friend, this blog started as a minor cheerleading squad for the Pinoy teen stars who were supposedly just starting to be noticed then but actually already eclipsing the usual fare in the supposedly-pirate Asiatic film websites (we now know these are just masquerading as pirate sites, they are actually propaganda sites). It was fun reading young fans complain they were "tired of watching" the old usual faces and that the Pinoy teen stars were a "relief". Little did we know that we would witness the blatant sabotage done on the Pinoy teen stars and their films. Diary ng Panget immediately became a hit when it came out on October 2014 and all the pirated Pinoy films received a boost, but it was the teen stars that really led the attack, with She's Dating the Gangster sustaining the Pinoy teen upsurge well into 2015. By February 2015, the requests for the second film of the Jadine loveteam, Talk Back And You're Dead, were started to be deleted in a Spanish site, Cineasiaenlinea. The requests for the film continued in the Comments section for Diary Ng Panget however... until all of a sudden, all the Comments, including the glowing reviews of the latter film, were summarily deleted in the end of February (Read SCANDAL!!! PART 2). The sabotage was not limited to the aforementioned website but in other big Spanish-speaking pirate sites (We would soon discover it's not limited in the Spanish blogosphere, either). Signs of desperation, from any measure.

TELESERYE, DRAMA, TELENOVELA: Like Japan, Mexico is a Big Foreign Investor in the Philippines but it doesn't require us to buy its telenovelas...

It was a comedy of errors of sorts these past few days. I came out of the hospital recovered from another illness, only to catch the nastiest Upper Respiratory Tract Infection I've ever had at home with the start of the ber months, complete with high-grade fever & incessant coughing. But in the end, I didn't expect the post announcing my sick leave would attract comments.

The most hilarious was the part where somebody wrote about "the villains getting away " while I was on sick leave. While it was really interesting to write about the shenanigans of the villains when they occured, the truth is I don't really think about them especially now that I've discovered their whole game is just propaganda fiction. I never really took them seriously even before & it was only when I discovered the sabotage on Jadine in 2014 (see Scandals at the sidebar) that I even bothered to check them up. And instead of being impressed, I discovered instead their lack of popularity almost everywhere except in some areas of Mongoloid East Asia. Simply, they are nowhere as popular as their propaganda drivel. The truth is I had great laughs because it was a con game that was very expensive & extensive but after a decade, it is obvious they are not really getting popular, they are fast receding almost everywhere including in the Philippines. They can always invest in more propaganda. If you noticed, there are suddenly minor celebrities, newspaper write-ups & even bloggers suddenly busy working for them, signs they are actively stemming the fatal tide (not to mention the release of films, low-rating teleseryes & even a filmed concert of unknowns, designed to pretend whatever popularity. Perception management, that is). But they have been doing those for the last decade and they have not really prevented their slide from consciousness. Mercenary Pinoys are part of the territory, but in the end, one really can't fight one's natural looks. When people see the sleight-of-hand, the magic is gone.

The big nagging question, of course, is how did they have the gall to sabotage Pinoys who are clearly overshadowing  them in that most important requisite for a star- looks? (See Tales of SABOTAGE at the sidebar)

Part of the recent efforts to stem the tide of irreversible oblivion was something  I thought  was very curious: in a certain local business show that I watched, there was suddenly a disclaimer that the South Koreans are big investors in the country and that they send many tourists to the country. There were other guest foreign businessmen of different nationalities who invested in the Philippines but why was the South Koreans singled out for a disclaimer? Considering the wide inroads of South Korean propaganda in the country, this was not an innocent disclaimer. Were we expected to just grin and bear it just because they have investments? Why, how big are those investments anyway?

Why do the Japanese with far bigger investments don't find the need to sabotage us? I love the films of Takashi Miike but Japanese series are not slammed down our throats. The Mexicans, who have poured the largest foreign direct investment in the last three years, don't require us to buy their telenovelas, the true competition of teleserye worldwide?

Let me do my disclaimers too. All my writeups about the scandals were done (written & uploaded from) on a Korean-made smartphone but  whose screen cracked just today when I dropped it. I wrote this post on the cracked screen. All my articles will soon be done on a different un-Korean brand the new model of which will arrive in the Philippine market soon. One of my three Kazakh friends who I befriended on a trip to Kazakhstan was a Korean ethnic (there are 100,000 Kazakh Koreans, Koreans thrown by the Soviets into Kazakhstan) but he identified more with Russians, and  speak Russian like a native. Sergei himself researched and gave me an honest overview of the Central Asian Asiatic film scene devoid of the nationalistic undertones among Asiatics, like a true Russian intellectual would. He is one of the three who gives me the regular heads-up of the Central Asian scene (the other two are a native Kazakh & a blonde Kazakh Russian).

A MAJOR WORLD SOAP PRODUCER: List of Pinoy Teleseryes Being Shown in Africa

Pinoy teleseryes & Latin American telenovelas have had a tight competition over the African soap market since the 2000 version of Pangako Sa Yo took the continent by storm more than a decade ago. Pinoy teleseryes never looked back and have become primetime staples in the continent's major markets like Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, etc. The competition has grown tighter through the years, made livelier by the resurgence of Indian & Turkish telenovelas, but it was good the Pinoys have already developed a lasting connection to its African audience and continue to be appreciated by them, like in many parts of the world. The challenge is for Pinoy producers to up the ante and be up to the task of being one of the major international forces in world telenovelas.

Here is a list of the teleseryes being shown in Africa, as culled from a Facebook group of African fans of Teleseryes.

1. Be Careful With My Heart- Nigeria, Ghana & Cameroon @ My TV Africa

2. Forevermore- Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon @ My TV Africa; Kenya @ KTN

3. Tomorrow Belongs To Me/ Sana Bukas Pa Ang Kahapon- Tanzania @ Star TV

4. Doble Kara/ Identical Twins- Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania @ Startimes Novela E1

5. Pangako Sa Yo/ The Promise/ Assurance- Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania @ Startimes Novela E1

Audience Share, Philippine TV: A Few Curiosities

The table below was done by Kantar. We can see here that ABS-CBN dominates overwhelmingly nationwide though GMA still hasn't lost its foothold in the national capital region. This reflects on the TV ratings churned out by both Kantar & Agb Nielsen, both multinational rating agencies,  on a regular basis where some nationally-popular programs supposedly turned out to be less popular in Manila, the nation's capital. A curiosity which at many times made me incredulous because some of those alleged popular programs in Manila, where I live, I practically didn't know anyone watching them, nor did I even get a drift they existed at all. Does this mean the inertia of habit, or allergy to remote control, is the dominant factor in loyalty to television channels in Manila?

Is this state of things too convenient? Exclusive channel loyalty, really?

 I consider myself a "post-TV" person- I multitask & surf more the internet than watch TV but if ever I'm seated before the tube, I would more often than not be juggling through many channels, not to mention I still would be holding my smartphone or a tablet & many times, I have the laptop opened on my lap. An open channel may not even mean anything- like a doctor friend has a TV in his clinic waiting room & the channel was never changed since it was installed. I asked him what's the channel & he didn't know. But the thousands of patients & their companions who have waited in that room through the years must have thought that was his favorite channel. But the truth is, he never watches TV, he was too busy making money.

 But it's true, many people are a creation of their habits. The remote control is one of the de rigueur gadgets but a lot of people would rather brave a dodgy program than change the channel. I wrote before of my mother who never changed her channel through the decades & it took my recent intervention to pull her out of the inertia of her habits & discover a new world. Now she's stuck in her new channel because she still won't bother with the remote control. But is the Manila viewing public mostly seniors who never got comfortable with the remote control?

Personally, I consider the table below as just a guide. Statistics is not an exact science, how could an arbitrary sample ever be worthy to represent the truth of the whole market. Moreover, it doesn't capture the true whole market considering the millions of hits generated by the 10 million Filipino diaspora on the online viewing outlets (they have a big buying power because of the big remittance money that drives up the national consumption power). Ratings serve more the advertisers, just so they have an idea where they are sinking their money into.

But real popularity?

I have mentioned before of the inconsistencies of the ratings to reality. For example, a loveteam which was supposed to have rated higher on TV in Manila was practically unknown in Manila while the one who was supposed to have rated lower filled the Araneta Coliseum in Manila with their concert. Or another had a box-office hit films afterwards, in Manila and beyond while the supposedly high-rater has faded into oblivion.

LATIN ASIAN TELESERYE: Meanwhile in Latin America... They are still dubbing LA PROMESA?

I have to admit I am a fan of the Mexican dubbers who did the Spanish version of Bridges of Love (Puentes de Amor). I was so fascinated by the Spanish Latino version that I actually finished watching Puentes de Amor from beginning to end in one of the Spanish-speaking sites which included Puentes de Amor as one of the telenovelas offered in their sites, a first for an Asian telenovela. This should give a hint to those marketing Pinoy teleseryes: Teleseryes are Asian but they are more- they are also  Latin Asian, able to pull both the Asians & Latins because both can see themselves in a Pinoy teleserye. I think, Puentes de Amor made a splash in Peru to heights not ever scaled by the South Korean dramas which have entered the market years earlier because the diversified Peruvian society could see something of themselves reflected by what they saw in the Pinoy teleserye unlike in other purely Asian dramas. The new label will also lessen the insecurity of certain Asians who tend to commit sabotage if they felt they were overshadowed in the Asian tag.

Up until the appearance of Puentes de Amor in Peru, the Asian dramas, mostly from South Korea, languished for nearly a decade at the bottom of the charts dominated by telenovelas from Peru, Mexico, Colombia, Turkey & even Greece. It might be a big mystery how they still bothered to show  South Korean dramas for nearly 10 years despite being perennially in the bottom of the Peruvian TV ratings (free like those being shown free in the Internet?) but the unexpected success of the first Pinoy teleserye in Peru definitely lifted the profile of the other Asian dramas. Strangely, that stoke the insecurity of the usual suspects instead. Another Pinoy teleserye was already bought, Pangako Sa Yo (La Promesa) but for some mystifying reason, the usual "avid" South Korean "fans" went on another sabotage campaign which has become common lately against the resurgent Pinoy stars & films in many parts of the world by apparently the same suspects (read the links below; read also  Tales of SABOTAGE in the sidebar, where many of the cases of sabotage done on the resurgent Pinoys were annotated).

La Promesa didn't replace Puentes de Amor, but it turned out it's not because of the sabotage. As of August 25, the dubbers were still busy dubbing La Promesa. Hector Cuevas Ireta below has just dubbed Egoy (the character of Grae Fernandez) in La Promesa.

As I said, I am a fan of  the Mexican dubbers...

Read about the sabotage on La Promesa in Peru

 1. SABOTAGE OF PINOY TELESERYES IN PERU: Now we know why they are bitter & cruel (as if they weren't used to the lowest ratings. VERY "POPULAR KUNWARI" INDEED!!!)

2. LA PROMESA" in PERU: KATHNIEL is coming to Peru & the "Popular Kunwari" are at War

3. Meanwhile, in Peru... LA PROMESA, Muy Pronto?