In red, green, blue: De La Salle University shows support for ABS-CBN

MANILA - De La Salle University on Tuesday showed support to ABS-CBN Corp., hours after the broadcast giant was ordered by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to shut down its TV and radio operations.

In Facebook and Twitters posts, the facade of the university's Manila campus is seen lighted up in red, green and blue, which are the signature colors of ABS-CBN.

"In solidarity with ABS-CBN, its employees, and the millions of Filipinos who depend on the broadcast network for news and information, De La Salle University lights up the iconic St. La Salle Hall in the colors of the company to appeal to the National Telecommunications Commission to grant provisional authority for the continued operation of the network," it said.


The NTC earlier in the day ordered ABS-CBN to “cease and desist” its TV and radio broadcast operations, one day after the company’s 25-year operating franchise expired.

The agency said the network must stop its broadcast operations "due to the expiration of its congressional franchise" on May 4. 

It said the network should "stop operating its various TV and radio broadcasting stations nationwide 'absent a valid Congressional Franchise as required by law'."

ABS-CBN Corp., which employs around 11,000 workers, was given 10 days from receipt of the order "to respond as to why the frequencies assigned to it should not be recalled."

ABS-CBN Corp. stopped its broadcast operations Tuesday night in compliance with the NTC order.

In a statement, the country's largest media network cited how the order was issued despite earlier legislative resolutions assuring the issuance of a provisional authority pending the renewal of its broadcast license. 

Several bills for the renewal of its franchise, which lapsed Monday, are pending at the House of Representatives. 

The NTC order covers 42 television stations across the country, including the flagship Channel 2, 10 digital broadcast channels, 18 FM stations and 5 AM stations, including DZMM radio. 

news.abs-cbn.com

Facebook trumps radio, newspaper as news source: SWS

MANILA — One in 5 Filipino adults use Facebook daily as a source of news, higher compared to the combined number of those who rely on radio and newspapers, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released Saturday. 

The March 28 to 31 poll found that 21 percent of adult Filipinos or an estimated 13.9 million individuals use Facebook daily for reading the news. 

A majority 60 percent or 40.4 million adults still consume news daily through television, while only 15 percent do so through radio and only 2 percent read newspapers daily, said SWS. 

"Thus, Facebook as a daily news source is more common than radio and newspapers combined, and is second only to television," the pollster noted. 

FACEBOOK MEMBERSHIP 

As of March 2019, 99 percent of adults who use the internet or around 30.3 million individuals have a Facebook account, said SWS. 

YouTube is the second most popular social media site among adult Filipinos, with 11.7 million individuals or 38 percent of adult internet users saying they have an account at the video-sharing platform. 

The survey also found that having a Facebook account is more common among urban dwellers (56 percent) than rural dwellers (38 percent).

By major geographic areas, the proportion of adults with Facebook account is highest in Metro Manila at 64 percent, followed by other Luzon areas at 48 percent, Mindanao at 39 percent, and the Visayas at 33 percent. 

Reading the news through Facebook is positively related to educational attainment, added SWS. 

Half of adult Facebook members who read the news daily using the site are college and high school graduates, both 49 percent. This is higher compared to 37 percent among elementary graduates and 36 percent among non-elementary graduates, said the pollster. 

SOCIAL MEDIA AND POLITICS 

Respondents were also asked if they use social media sites for political activities. 

Of the estimated 30.4 million adults who have at least one social media account, 31 percent or 9.4 million individuals use social media to “like or promote material related to political or social issues that others have posted", the survey found. 

Meanwhile, 14 percent use it to follow political figures, 6 percent post their opinions on political or social issues, 5 percent re-post political or social content by someone else, and 4 percent share links to political stories or articles, said SWS.

Only 2 percent use social media to encourage other people to take action on important political or social issues, while 1 percent encourage people to vote. 

Fifty-one percent or 15.4 million individuals volunteered answers that specified other social media uses and activities, SWS said. 

The survey had 1,440 respondents and sampling error margins of ±2.6 percent for national percentages, and ±5 percent for regional figures. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Obamas sign deal to produce podcasts for Spotify

NEW YORK, United States - Barack and Michelle Obama's production company Higher Ground has signed a deal with Spotify to create a series of podcasts for the music streaming service, which is seeking to diversify its content.

"We're excited... because podcasts offer an extraordinary opportunity to foster productive dialogue, make people smile and make people think, and, hopefully, bring us all a little closer together," the former US president said in a statement released by Spotify and Higher Ground.

The former first lady also said she was "thrilled to have the opportunity to amplify voices that are too often ignored or silenced altogether." 

For the past year, Spotify -- better known for streaming music playlists -- has been moving into the business of podcasting. In February, it paid $230 million for the respected US podcast production house Gimlet Media. 

Several major players in the industry are seeking to shift podcast production away from the current model, where the audio broadcasts are free and producers earn revenue from advertising, towards a platform where users pay for content.

Luminary, which has already raised $100 million from investors, launched its new platform for a monthly subscription fee of $7.99 in April.

On Tuesday, the French service Majelan was launched with programs accessible in 50 countries for a monthly fee of 4.99 euros ($5.63). 

The Obamas' production company was created in 2018 and has already signed an exclusive deal with Netflix to produce films, television series and documentaries for the streaming giant.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US radio stations pull 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' in wake of #MeToo

LOS ANGELES - It's that time of year when radio stations across the United States are playing Christmas music nonstop. But one classic holiday song is proving too controversial for some stations in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

"Baby, It's Cold Outside" -- a duet written in 1944 and performed over the years by scores of artists, including Dean Martin, Dolly Parton, Ray Charles and Lady Gaga -- has turned into a hot potato for broadcasters, some of which have yanked the popular song on grounds the lyrics are predatory toward women.

A radio station in the state of Ohio was first to announce it was pulling the song from its playlist last weekend after receiving complaints.

Several other stations across the country -- and even in Canada -- have followed suit.

Controversy over the song has existed for years but it has notched up a level this year because of the #MeToo movement that began in the United States more than a year ago in response to accusations of sexual abuse and harassment by powerful men in the entertainment industry and other sectors.

Some people have taken issue with the lyrics in the duet where a man is trying to persuade his lady friend to spend the night.

The exchanges include "Say, what's in this drink?," "Baby, don't hold out" and "I ought to say no, no, no sir..." -- lyrics that some say seem "rapey."

Broadway songwriter Frank Loesser penned the song in 1944 and it won an Academy Award in 1950 for best original song in the film "Neptune's Daughter," where it was sung by Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalban.

Other artists over the years have performed the song which has become a classic holiday tune.

'MANIPULATIVE AND WRONG'

Critics say while the song may have not sounded offensive when it was written in 1944, it no longer belongs on the airwaves today and was an ode to sexual assault.

"Now, I do realize that when the song was written in 1944, it was a different time, but now while reading it, it seems very manipulative and wrong," Glenn Anderson, one of the hosts of the Ohio radio station WDOK that banned the song, said in a statement.

"The world we live in is extra sensitive now, and people get easily offended, but in a world where #MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, the song has no place."

The radio station, which exclusively plays Christmas music during the holiday season, said a poll showed a majority of listeners were in favor of removing the song from the station's playlist.

A similar decision by a radio station in Colorado didn't sit well with outraged listeners who voted it back on the airwaves.

KOSI said Tuesday that the jingle would return to the airwaves after an online poll generated more than 15,000 responses, with 95 percent of them in favor of keeping the song.

"While we are sensitive to those who may be upset by some of the lyrics, the majority of our listeners have expressed their interpretation of the song to be non-offensive," the station's program director, Jim Lawson, said in a statement.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Papa Jack recalls life before fame

Radio DJ Papa Jack, or John Gemperle in real life, is easily the go-to guy when it comes to love advice. But fame and fortune was never easy for him. Papa Jack shared his road to success to "Rated K"--Rated K, August 25, 2013

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com