Fox widens PBA audience

You’ve probably seen the PBA games being aired over one of the Fox cable channels but chances are, you didn’t give it much attention, probably presuming these are replays.

Or you probably thought that Fox and TV5, the PBA coveror, have gotten into some kind of a tie-up.

Jude Turcuato, Fox International Channels’ senior vice president and general manager for the Philippines, said the PBA games are simulcast live over Fox and later replayed.

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“To recapture the A and Upper B market which was lost when the games were broadcast in Taglish, we proposed to do the telecast entirely in English, the way the UAAP and NCAA broadcasts do.

“This is one of the reasons why the collegiate leagues are luring the A and B markets.

With the TV5 and Fox viewership combined, we hope to hit the market across the board,” explained Turcuato, who worked several years ago as marketing director of the PBA.

The Fox sportscasting panel for the PBA is composed of announcers who speak English fluently like Alex Compton, Jason Webb and Ronnie Magsanoc.

“And for the first time in PBA broadcasting history, we have a husband-and-wife team in Vince and Patricia Hizon,” added Turcuato.

The PBA is the only local product Fox has in its sports program right now. All the rest like big time tennis, golf and car racing are foreign shows.

Having bought off partner ESPN to go solo and be known merely as Fox Sports, Jude’s outfit expects to be very active in sports starting this year.

“In partnership with Seaoil, we will be bringing to Philippine shores one of the most highly rated professional sports in the United States.

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (Nascar), now on its 66th season, will unleash what real racing is all about with its marquee race, the Daytona 500,” Turcuato announced.

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Just as many have predicted, it looks like the Asean Basketball League (ABL) is well on the way to a foldup.

ABL president and CEO Anthony Macri, who appears to be the only man in the fold who remains active, has recently resigned, without anyone taking his place.

Our insider-friend said the league was trying to recruit Manny Pacquiao’s basketball team to fill up the slot left empty by San Miguel Beer.

“They thought that because Pacquiao is a billionaire, he can afford to bankroll an ABL team. Maybe he can, but will he be willing to spend that much money on basketball without an ROI? Nothing happened with the initial talks,” said the insider, who admitted contrary to announcements made, he is pessimistic about the resumption of the league this July.