Malou Choa-Fagar’s fresh (re)start

For the longest time, Channel 4 had always been identified as the government station. But that was not always the case. In the 1960s, the government network was Channel 10.

Unfortunately, Channel 10 had a very slim chance of survival. To begin with, it had a very weak signal because there was interference from the boosted frequencies of Channels 9 and 11. The government network also got very little budget from Malacanang and was in no position to compete with privately- owned broadcast companies. Its existence was brief.

In the late 1960s, Roberto Benedicto asked the Lopezes of ABS-CBN to help him put up his own network. The two families were friends — both being from the Western Visayas.

That time, ABS-CBN had two stations: Channels 3 and 9. In order to accommodate Benedicto, Eugenio Lopez, Jr. had the ABS-CBN frequencies reconfigured: Channel 3 became Channel 2. Lopez then got the Channel 4 frequency – leaving the Channel 9 slot to Benedicto.

When martial law shut down ABS-CBN, Benedicto took over Channel 2. The Channel 4 frequency was dormant for about half a decade. In the late 1970s, Malacanang turned Channel 4 into a government station, calling it People’s Television or PTV-4.

Changes, but still the same

Channel 4 had a lot of excellent programs. One was Tele-aralan, an instructional show hosted by Cecile Bulaong-Garrucho. Every Friday, there was Paco Park Presents, which featured concerts, usually with visiting musicians. It was staged right from the old cemetery-turned-park where Dr. Jose Rizal’s remains were first interred. The show was hosted by Ria Sison.

The bigger show was Concert at the Park that emanated from the Luneta. It had orchestras and bands performing at the Rizal Park every Sunday. The program was hosted by Tina Monzon Palma.

PTV-4 that time was housed in a building in Arroceros in Manila. It eventually occupied the ABS-CBN compound (up for demolition next year) and shared a building with the now-defunct National Media Production Center.

The year 1981 saw major changes in Channel 4. From PTV-4, the station’s name was changed to Maharlika Broadcasting System or MBS-4. It also introduced new primetime programs. One was the sitcom Dorm Po sa Amin that starred Cherie Gil, Lloyd Samartino and Bambi Arambulo. It was a shameless copy of Three’s Company.

MBS-4 also revived Marlene Dauden’s weekly drama anthology Panagimpan. It was headlined this time by Amy Austria.

Channel 4 then also tried to compete in the noontime show arena and first fielded Con-Todo Pakulo. Its main host was Jacquilou Blanco, who eventually left the program when she was offered to join Student Canteen.

In 1984, it launched a gag show called Ito ‘Yun, Ang Galing! Among its mainstays were Bernardo Bernardo and Ben Tisoy. It was very effective as a comedy, but couldn’t win against Eat Bulaga and Student Canteen.

With the takeover of the Cory Aquino administration in 1986, Channel 4 again became PTV-4. The government network had a procession of heads since 1986. Unfortunately, PTV-4 couldn’t shake off its image as a station for government propaganda.

New territory

But expect changes in the coming days. A new acting general manager had been appointed to oversee the government network: Malou Choa-Fagar. Her name will forever be synonymous with Eat Bulaga, but she is now in a new territory.

Malou finished elementary and high school at St. Paul College Manila. For her tertiary education, she went to the University of the Philippines. Initially, she wanted to take up hotel and restaurant management, but her father told her to major in mass communication because “it was glamorous.”

A person who had always frowned on anything nonsensical, Malou never understood her father’s reason for advising her to take up mass communication. But surely, there was something glamorous about her that her father saw that she didn’t. And her father wasn’t alone.

In 1978, Channel 9 had a noontime show called Broadcast Campus that was hosted by Pepe Pimentel and Tess Limcauco. The show’s staff one day went to UP and spotted Malou, who was promptly asked to report to the Channel 9 studio. In one segment of the show, she was given a bouquet of flowers and was proclaimed Coed of the Day.

The following year, Broadcast Campus was canceled and in its place was Eat Bulaga where Malou had her first job — as a production assistant. That was July 1979. Two months later, she was promoted to associate producer. The following year, she was already executive producer.

‘They just let me go’

Malou’s dedication to Eat Bulaga was legendary. During one anniversary celebration held at the Araneta Coliseum, she was in her final stage of pregnancy and was ready to pop. And yet, there she was running all over the Big Dome to make sure they delivered a seamless presentation.

In time, Malou became vice president and, later, senior vice president and CEO. When she came of retirement age, “they just let me go,” she says with a little pain in her heart.

In entertainment, nobody ever retires. For all the hard work and dedication Malou poured into Eat Bulaga, maybe they could have at least extended her stay and made her perform other duties — like serving as consultant, for instance.

Her retirement was cut short when she was invited to join the board of TVUP, which has its base at the State University. There was also a time she became a member of the MTRCB.

A few months ago, PTV-4 chairman Vivian Recio (an old hand in showbiz) made her submit her resume to the board of the government network. Malou’s CV proved to be very impressive — not surprising given her accomplishments not only on TV, but also in the movies. (She served as executive producer in most of Vic Sotto’s films.)

Early this month, she started reporting for work. There’s a lot to be done — starting with the building, which is now along Visayas Avenue in Quezon City. She is also going over personnel.

Room for improvement

Malou was delighted to find out that PTV-4 has a good reach, even as far as Mindanao. She plans to consult with the research group Nielsen though to find out how the network could still do better in the ratings game. As in any company, there will always still be room for improvement.

She’s happy so far with her new job and the people she works with in the network. But Malou, being Malou, she will stop at nothing to bring the best out the government network. So far, she plans to put up a drama anthology and to add more entertainment programs that would appeal to the masses.

A lot of existing shows on PTV-4, however, are block-timers, which are independent producers that pay for airtime — very much like how Eat Bulaga operated these past several decades. Block-timers are always a good source of income for the network.

Is she planning to put up a noontime show to be pitted against Eat Bulaga? No!!! That much she is sure – unless, of course, there is a block-timer that comes in with an offer to mount a lunchtime program that the network can’t refuse. Only a fool would say no to additional revenue.

Eat Bulaga turned 46 last July. Malou had spent 41 years in the show. Given her expertise in entertainment, showbiz people are hoping that one day at lunch, Channel 4 would just surprise viewers with a noontime program. Bulaga!

Some people may just Eat their heart out.