MANILA, Philippines—We did better than we expected in 2008,” declared Jasper Evangelista, senior vice president for brand management of the newly reorganized channel TV5.

Since relaunching in August 2008, TV5 has experienced a 6 percent audience share, higher than its 4 percent target, said Evangelista, citing figures from the National Urban Television Audience Measurement (Nutam) of the AGB New Media Research.

The channel formerly known as ABC 5 also placed third in a survey of the most watched stations nationwide, conducted by the AGB Nielsen Media Research in September.

‘Small victories’

“We cherish small victories,” Evangelista told Inquirer Entertainment on Saturday. “So far, we’re happy that it’s really happening. We don’t have the financial muscle to face Channels 2 and 7 head on, but this year we have new things in the bag.”

This year, Evangelista said, TV5 plans to build its own stable of talents. “Right now, we’re an open shop. Whether you’re from Channel 2 or 7, you’re welcome to work with us.”

He continued: “Our goal is to innovate, provide alternative to the usual fare. But we also pick our battles. We don’t intend to engage Channels 2 and 7 in areas where they’re strong—like producing teleseryes. We will try to get some success in other areas. Our audience is very young, so we come up with kid stuff like animé. We’re introducing new things left and right.”

Research group

So how does TV5 come up with new shows? “There’s a research group that does diagnostics on viewer profile … Medyo scientific ang approach,” Evangelista explained. “Apart from the overnight ratings result, we have regular focus-group discussions. We do in-depth interviews, where we ask people what they like and don’t like to see.”

Giving back

The network held the first of its planned six “TV5 Live Caravan” series on Jan. 3 at the Star City in Pasay. Several booths featuring different TV5 shows were set up. Artists like Lucy Torres (“Shall We Dance”), Ryan Agoncillo (“Talentadong Pinoy”), IC Mendoza and Alex Gonzaga (both from “Juicy”) attended the event, which began at 9 a.m. Rock bands Imago and Sandwich performed live.

“It was our way of giving back to our audience,” said Evangelista. “This year, we’re going to up the ante in our programming [even as] we expect other players to continue to react to what we’re doing.”

Email mcruz@inquirer.com.ph