MANILA, Philippines - The first person she broke the news to was her husband, Cesar.

?He was so overwhelmed with happiness―for me―that he cried on the phone,? Charo Santos-Concio tells Inquirer Entertainment as she recalls the evening she was declared the new president of multimedia giant ABS-CBN.

And the first ones who called to congratulate her? ?The production people. I have worked with many of them for 20 years―writers, directors, production crew??

Charo (or ?CSC?) is not the first woman in the country, but certainly the first beauty titlist (Baron Travel Girl 1976-77), and the first award-winning actress (1978 Asian Film Festival in Sydney, for ?Itim?), to become president of a major network. She finds parallels in those crowning moments. ?The same feeling of lightness, joy, triumph.?

The announcement on Feb. 29, effective March 1, wasn?t completely unexpected. ?Gabby (Eugenio Lopez III, chair and CEO), had been sounding me off. And also, the organization really has a succession plan in place. But I didn?t know about the exact timing, until it was announced at the end of the last management conference.?

She didn?t mind the element of surprise at all because, until then, her mindset was, ?Nothing?s final until it?s final.?

These days, Charo is ?very grateful? for the ?energy? that she is receiving from within the network. ?I hope I?m right about this feeling,? she says, ?that many people in the organization are happy about my appointment.?

Harvard preparation

Last year, she went to Harvard for the Advance Management Program. As the industry buzz went―since she was apparently next in line―it was, indeed, a preparation.

Charo says the two-month course gives participants a bird?s eye view of management tools that an executive needs to manage a bigger organization. ?The areas covered are marketing, information, negotiations. But at its core is leadership,? she notes. ?You may be a technical expert in finance or marketing strategies and still not have the right values in place.?

She?s the first to admit that she needed the Harvard training. ?My background is content production and I do know about projects and revenues, profits and losses. But it?s like, I was familiar with the dots, and that advance program taught me how to connect the dots. And to add on more dots.?

Her two secretaries agree that the lady boss is a ?very hard worker? for whom 16-hour days are not unusual.

?Well, yes, that I?ve always been, especially when I was just starting,? Charo, 52, says. ?And even now, if there?s urgent business to get done, I stay until midnight. If I have a meeting with Gabby, I?m here at 8 a.m. But on a regular basis, I come in at 10. Production personnel report at noon and work till the wee hours. So there?s a lot more activity in the afternoon, onwards. Previews are often scheduled in the evening. That?s not everyday, but back when I was very hands-on in production, I could go for three days with very little sleep.?

Meaning, she went home just to shower and change. ?Cesar witnessed all that. Thus, he feels that my appointment is a well-deserved reward. His support has been such, that he often told me in the past, ?Before you are a wife or mother, Charo, you are a person. You should pursue your dreams.? Cesar is my rock.?

Home from the management conference in Antipolo, the couple celebrated with a ?simple dinner at home? with their two sons, Cesar Francis and Raphael Martin.

Back at work, Charo has moved from her office as executive vice president and entertainment group head, to the office, a suite that consists of a reception area, its own monitoring room and the office proper. Since March 1, this corner of the building has been abloom and fragrant with fresh flowers.

Still immersing

Industry observers are eager to know what changes, big or small, are forthcoming under her stewardship. For example, the new big boss has always had a foot firmly in entertainment; would there soon be a shift in the ratio of news/current affairs to variety shows and other talent-heavy productions, at least in the network?s free TV, Channel 2?

Charo?s reply is lengthy and thoughtful: ?I?m not rushing things; I?m still immersing in the other units? operations. Channel 2 is simply the biggest, the parent, of these units. The subsidiaries? requirements are much smaller in scale. Still, I need the immersion because I?ll be working on streamlining the operations to bring down the costs some more, while maintaining content supremacy.?

Should streamlining here read ?reorganization??

?It just means I want the organization to implement more cost-efficient processes. Also, I?m keeping abreast of emerging technology because I?d like to tap new blood in this area. I also want to conduct skills and competence training for writers, directors and other production people.?

She continues: ?Sometimes people think we?re just free TV. But ABS-CBN is not just Channel 2. In fact, we?re no longer just a broadcasting company. We have evolved into a multimedia content company. We are into all the platforms―publishing, interactive, cable, cinema, radio, global TV, records. With merging technologies, the world will soon go digital, and we?re going with the flow. By the end of the year, we hope to launch digital television. Our engineering and corporate planning teams have laid the groundwork and, by June, we should be testing some areas.?

The Filipino Channel (TFC), Charo adds, has gone IP (Internet Protocol). ?We going directly to the customers now, via subscription, because [we feel that] advertising revenues have maxed out. Locally, digital TV is also designed to go directly to the customers.?

As for the ratio of entertainment to news/current affairs, she says, ?It will depend on the competitive landscape, which I always take into consideration. When a news program is up against an entertainment program, usually the entertainment program wins in terms of audience share. So if you look at the programming grid, news programs are in more or less the same time slots, and the same is true with variety shows, et cetera.?

Even if she wanted to increase the number of news/current affairs programs, she says, ?I wouldn?t know where to put them. In the mean time, we have a full news channel, ANC, which takes care of the viewers? need for fresh information and in-depth analysis of issues.?

In any case, Charo says, ?Even in the so-called entertainment aspect, we mirror real life in a lot of the programs. For instance, ?Maalaala Mo Kaya? tackles subject matters that occasionally invite the attention of the MTRCB (Movie and Television Review and Classification Board). But life is not all happy and joyful; there is a dark side to it that we also have to show. All told, what should be imparted to the audience is how one can triumph over that dark side.?

Learning fast

She concedes that news operations is an area that she wants to ?understand better.?

Charo explains, ?I?m not a news person, strictly speaking. So I?m immersing myself in that aspect. I want to get to know the numbers really well. And I?m learning fast. In production, and in other units that are content-heavy, I?m okay.?

Indeed, shows on the opposite side of news/current affairs―and their audiences― she discusses with unflinching authority.

?I support shows that enrich the lives of viewers; I?d like to think that our shows do that. The qualitative surveys we have conducted indicate that our audience looks for empowered characters, for affirmation. These viewers are not the desperate kind; they are hopeful for change. This means that our shows are able to connect to strong-character types, exactly the types that the shows present. They are self-reliant, and rarely prone to saying, ?Bahala na.??

Beyond empowered, Charo says, viewers in this sector are more critical than most. ?If we divert from material that they?re used to, if we present something that pushes creative license, they react. They demand logic. Remember that we?re also addressing a global audience that is exposed to high standards of entertainment and news/current affairs programming in other countries. This global audience is discerning and every-ready to say its piece when it?s not happy about where the programs are going ? and these people do. We get so much e-mail.?

The local counterpart of that global audience, loyal to practically the same shows, are not necessarily in the ABC bracket.

?Economic stations do not matter,? Charo insists, ?in the service of the Filipino―which is our corporate mission. When I talk to the producers, directors, writers and talents, I tell them, ?If, for one moment we made the desperate and the hopeless find meaning in life despite their [difficulties], we have served our audience well. If we are able to make a person look inside herself through the story of a mother who rises above all obstacles for the love of her children, then we have touched their lives, and that?s service, too.?

Service, Charo clarifies, includes respect. ?And so I also tell them there should be no place for mediocrity in our shows, otherwise we are not being sensitive to all of the viewers? needs.?

She gives the Sunday variety extravaganza ASAP as an example. ?A talent cannot just show up that morning and join a production number. Bawal ang hindi nag-rehearse the day before. I tell them, ?You owe the public the best performance of your life. Every week. I cringe when I see a dancer who?s not in sync with the other dancers, or a singer who cannot lip sync his/her own number. Recorded na nga e, dapat naman, masasabayan nang maayos. They can?t be perfect all the time, true. So I keep reminding them.?

Woman power

Asked what her position means for women power in the country, Charo takes a rather long pause. Before she replies, she mentions that another woman, Kitchie Benedicto, was president of KBS 9 (Kanlaon Broadcasting System) during the Marcos years.

?I?d like to think,? she proceeds, ?that gender was not a factor in management?s decision. But, well, a woman has certain built-in strengths. Women pay more attention to detail, for one thing. I myself don?t work with set formulas. Also, it seems natural to me, as a woman, that I realize I?m dealing with human beings here, basically. Talents, for instance, go through different phases of maturity at different times. I have to be sensitive to each one?s growing-up phases, struggles, frustrations, dreams, pains, insecurities.

Sounds more like a religious mission than a job description.

?Gabby says I?m too nurturing,? Charo says, laughing. ?Maybe I am, but I?m also a disciplinarian. I exact excellence and I can dispense tough love. Magalit ka na sa akin ngayon, kasi tinuturuan kita. I guess I am able to say it in a calm way, but I say it anyway. And I find that people, well, they respond, they toe the line.

The movie fan

Apart from hard work, she says one other thing has kept her on track: ?I?ve always been a movie fan. As a teenager, my dream was just to enter the premises of ABS-CBN. During school break in the summer, I would come to Manila from Mindoro, and queue up at the gate on Scout Esguerra. I would call out to the guard, ?May tiyo po ako rito (Jimmy Navarro, program director pre-Martial Law), please naman, papasukin n?yo ako.? I just wanted to watch ?Stop, Look and Listen? live.?

Obviously, the memory has stirred up feelings, too. ?Totoo ?yun!? Charo says, her voice at least two notes higher. ?I?ve been a fan of ABS-CBN all my life. Pinanood ko lahat ng top hits dito―?Tang Tarang Tang,? ?Buhay Artista,? ?Magandang Tanghali? of the late Pancho Magalona, ?An Evening With Pilita,? ?The Nida-Nestor Show?? lahat!?

So, did the guard let her in?

?No. I finally went through the gate when I was a senior Mass Comm student of St. Paul College. Nag-practicum ako right in this same building. During Martial Law, I landed a job as production assistant on ?John En Marsha.? KBS na noon, wala na ang Lopezes, and the Benedictos had taken over. That was when I met Dolphy. Nag-PA din ako sa ?Mr. Public Service? ni Tony Santos Sr.?

Financial performance

She?s happy to say that ABS-CBN ?hit P1.2 billion last year.? In 2006, she says, earnings were pegged at P700 million. She attributes the ?jump? to increased synergy among production, sales and marketing.

She explains: ?There was more creativity in revenue-generation. For example, a 30-seconder spot is no longer good enough for advertisers. So now we have what is referred to as product intrusions. To illustrate, in ?Maging Sino Ka Man,? John Lloyd Cruz, who endorses Biogesic, has this scene with Chin Chin Gutierrez, where she gets a headache. John Lloyd very casually hands her a tablet and says, ?Eto po, magaling ?yan.? Or something to that effect. He doesn?t even mention the brand name. The client was very happy with that. But the execution should be seamless. The concept is very much like in James Bond movies, halimbawa, pag pinapakita ?yung mga BMW or Seiko watches. Very casual, hindi hard sell.?

She says the product intrusions carry their own price tags, ?because the client gets a lot more exposure.?

Another growth driver was global subscriptions. ?Today, 40 percent of revenues come from these subscriptions,? Charo says. Dati, 100 percent, all from advertising. We see the ratio going 50-50, eventually, especially now that we?re offering varied content to specific market niches. We have products for the young, we have a lifestyle channel for women, and so on. The ultimate challenge is to deliver content that will satisfy all these niches.?

This year, the parent platform, Channel 2, is still bound to generate the biggest revenue. ?But we have encouraging projections for digital TV, once it rolls out,? Charo says.

Rewarding diversion

?Nalihis ang buhay ko [in broadcast],? she recounts, ?nung naging Baron Travel Girl ako. That was when Lino Brocka saw me. He called me right the next morning. Sabi niya, ganito, tuloy-tuloy, ?You don?t know me but I saw you in the contest last night. I am Lino Brocka. My friend, Mike de Leon wants to cast a new face for the lead role in his first directorial job. Would you care to audition? Punta ka sa LVN bukas, 8 o?clock.?

That film feature was the memorable ?Itim.? She would spend a good number of years in the movies. Charo reminisces: ?Other projects followed, in the movies, and also on television. But my heart was still in production work. I was cast in a lot of Armida Siguion-Reyna?s television projects―?Ilaw ng Tahanan? and ?Mga Kuwento ng Pag-Ibig.? Favorite guest yata niya ako e. Maybe because I was always very punctual; she liked that. I observed everything she did as producer. ?I can do that,? I said to myself.?

In 1981, she got her break with Bancom Audiovision. For her first project, she worked as line producer on ?Kisapmata,? again with Mike de Leon. She was also in the lead cast. ?I am the only surviving member of that cast,? Charo says. ?I worked with Charito Solis, Ruben Rustia, Vic Silayan, Jay Ilagan―ang gagaling nila! They won all the acting awards in the Manila Film Festival that year. Ako lang ang hindi nanalo. It?s true. The movie swept all the awards except Best Actress, which went to Vilma Santos for ?Karma.? It didn?t matter to me naman because, as line producer, I was very, very proud; it was my baby.?

She turns wistful. ?When I think that all of them are gone ? I realize, ?di ba, maybe I have a mission.?

A viewer?s POV

Even now, the network president says, she watches TV programs from the perspective of an ordinary viewer. ?The movie fan?s POV (point of view) still resonates with me. I swoon over love teams,? she admits, suppressing a giggle (in vain). ?I have a strong sense of who will make a good love team. I get kilig over the pairing of John Lloyd and Bea Alonzo.?

It?s no secret, either, that ?Ma?am Charo? has always had a soft spot for Piolo Pascual. Asked who she thinks is the perfect screen partner for Piolo, aside from herself (this interview has been punctuated with crackling laughter from both sides of the exchange, but none so crisp as the one that follows this question), she holds up a cupped palm to her face and takes a moment. ?I see very good chemistry at work between Piolo and Angel Locsin,? she says at last.

Little wonder then, that her current favorite show is the duo?s ?Lobo.? She feels out of sorts, she says, when she misses an episode. She is assured that she doesn?t have to, but she explains, ?I don?t feel this way about all of Piolo?s shows. I just really like the way the story is evolving. And it?s very different from the other series that we?ve done. Also, I really think it appeals to the young. Medyo meron pa akong dugong bagets.?

Another favorite is ASAP. Also ?Wowowee.? She reveals, ?When I?m stressed, I go to ?Wowowee? when it?s airing, even for just one gap. Nawawala ang pagod ko.?

Main mentors

Charo has long realized that she?s good at what she does as ?both a creative and production person.? But the possibility of landing on the very top of network operations was sparked 11 years ago, when the late Eugenio ?Geny? Lopez Jr., president and CEO at the time, verbalized it. She remembers it well. ?That was in 1996, about two years before he passed on, and it was during a cocktail party where he announced the promotion of Gabby as CEO and Freddie M. Garcia as president. Geny was looking at me when he said, ?I think, several years from now, ABS-CBN will be ready for a woman president.?

She remembers going beyond thrilled, if only because he believed in her. ?Even if the old man (also called ?Kapitan?) didn?t see me everyday pala, he appreciated what I had been doing for the network. Though he often called execom meetings, he wasn?t involved in day-to-day operations. But I should have known that he was sensitive in that way. Every Christmas, he would personally hand us our bonuses.?

The Kapitan is top candidate for Charo?s best mentor in people skills. There are familiar names on that cherished list of professional influences. ?Mike de Leon was my first teacher,? she says. ?While I was still his artista, he would invite me to watch post-production work. He taught me the basics of editing. I think he saw how interested I was, and also that I was a good student.?

Lily Monteverde taught her ?the commercial side? of movie production. ?Alam mo naman ang mga pelikula ko, hindi tipong blockbusters.? There?s also Freddie Garcia, Gabby, Jake Almeda Lopez (Geny?s best friend and general manager before Martial Law) and the late Rolando V. Cruz (assistant general manager in Freddie Garcia?s time). ?Everything I know about television, I learned from them,? Charo says.

Patience, a virtue

But it?s not as though she sailed gently through 20 years (she joined the network in 1987). Cesar, whom she married in 1982, has been such a pillar of strength precisely because she needed one at landmark points in her career.

?One such time was when we lost the ratings in Mega Manila (last quarter of 2004) after 17 years of being number 1,? Charo relates. ?When you?re a creative person, your work is an extension of yourself. Losing our audience share felt to me like a rejection of my whole being. It was a big blow to my self-worth.?

She got out of the slump by confronting her fears, she says, ?by being honest about where I was wanting, and then buckling down to work.? The worst part of that episode, she looks back, was that she panicked. ?I was adjusting to a new environment. Mr. Garcia had retired and I had no one to run to, no buffer. The buck stopped with me. Nataranta ako. I made panic calls that did not help the situation at all.?

?Panic,? she says, this woman who makes it a point to speak softly as a matter of course, slowly when the situation requires, sweetly whenever possible.

?Actually, I managed to stay calm on the surface ? so calm, that at times I felt catatonic. I didn?t throw ash trays at people, you know ... but I was not sure about my calls and I stopped following my instincts because I started doubting my judgment. You know how it happens? You blame everyone when, in fact, you just got scared.?

She?s over that, she says with conviction now. ?I still don?t have all the answers. I don?t expect to perform miracles, I?m not Superwoman and I cannot change things overnight. But I know what I want to do, I know where to bring the organization. And I am a very patient person.