STATUS AND SITUATION OF PH MEDIA

It continues to be a significant source of information for Filipinos, as it reaches even the ‘remotest’

• Print

• Radio

• Television

Answer explanation

Radio continues to be a significant source of information for Filipinos, as it reaches even the ‘remotest’ areas, as noted by the Media Ownership Monitor or MoM (2017).  

People tune in to AM rather than FM radio

• TRUE

• FALSE

Answer explanation

FALSE: More Filipinos listen to the FM stations; the MoM noted that Filipinos listen to FM primarily for music 90 percent of the time. The AM stations, on the other hand, put emphasis on news and public affairs and public services.

It still ‘dominates the media landscape’

• Print

• Radio

• Television

Answer explanation

The traditional television still ‘dominates the media landscape’, according to The Digital News Report, which includes a survey with over 2,000 respondents in the Philippines.

The television market is highly concentrated and is in essence a duopoly.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Answer explanation

TRUE. The television market is highly concentrated and is in essence a duopoly – the two biggest conglomerates, ABS CBN and GMA, have an audience share of about 81 percent (MoM, 2017).

Only 22 percent of Filipino (respondents) get their news in this medium

• Print

• Radio

• Television

Answer explanation

Only 22 percent of Filipino respondents get their news from newspapers, as majority (55 percent) said they ‘prefer to watch news online rather than read’

People with lower levels of education are more likely to want to watch online news compared with the better educated’

(Newman et al., 2020, p.28)

It is the most trusted source of political information

• Print

• Radio

• Television

Answer explanation

In a Nielsen survey in 2016 (cited by Media Ownership Monitor or MoM, 2017), television is the most trusted source of political information (58 percent of the sample).

Broadsheets copies sold is higher than the sales of tabloids.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Answer explanation

• Philippines newspapers come in broadsheet and tabloid formats, with the latter significantly outnumbering the former in terms of number and copies sold. The content of Philippine tabloids, most of which in the native language, is marked by an emphasis on crime, sex, and entertainment stories (Tandoc and Skoric, 2010), and the broadsheet content by its focus on politics and governance. The dominance of tabloids in newspaper circulation and readership provides a glimpse on the demographics of Filipino newspaper readers, most of which, based on general tabloid content, seem to prefer sensationalized content, mostly the bizarre and appalling (such as heinous crime and ‘show business’ or ‘showbiz’ stories). (Medialandscapes.Org)

There are more than 400 television stations nationwide as of 2016.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Answer explanation

There are more than 400 television stations nationwide as of 2016, 23 of which are in Metro Manila. With the ABS-CBN closure, 42 television stations, 23 radio stations, and 10 digital broadcast channels went off air.

The number of radio (AM and FM) stations in the country is about...

• 250-500 stations

• 600-1,000 stations

• 1,100-1,500

• 1,800-2,300

Answer explanation

The CIA World Factbook (2015) pegs the number of radio stations in the country at about 1,200 as of 2015. However, citing 2016 data from the National Telecommunications Commission, the MoM puts the number at about 1,500 (416 AM stations and 1,042 FM stations).

GMA Network gains big from the shutdown of ABS-CBN.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Answer explanation

MA, has gained viewers at the absence of ABS CBN (Esmael, 2020) – its audience share jumped from 40 to 60 percent overnight (Chua, 2020). Its shares also ‘soared’ by 24 percent (Rivas, 2020a). Besides benefiting from the airtime advertising resulting from ABS-CBN’s closure, GMA’s online and digital ad sales grew 36%. It has launched a DTT receiver, GMA Affordabox, and mobile dongle, GMA Now (Chua, 2021)