TEN, The Evening News

I watched TEN, The Evening News last Wednesday night for the second time since it aired last August 2008. I was channel surfing and thought of keeping it for a while at TV5. At both instances I caught them mid-way. They were talking about signed t-shirts that some viewers supposedly won. Later on, the lady host read a comment from their Facebook account about the case of "Nicole". Am I watching news or a late night talk show giving away t-shirts and reading viewers' feedback?

Obviously, TEN is not your usual straight news reporting. The way it impresses me is it's a magazine show where they give a summary of the day's major headlines in Taglish (Tagalog and English). They rank the news from ten to one - one being their top story. Reminds me of E!'s The Daily Ten and The Buzz's Tough Ten.

There is a segment called Sidetracked host by Jove Francisco. He reads messages of their viewers from TEN's forum, email and Facebook account. The three hosts then react and discuss issues based on the message for about two to three minutes.

I was surprised with one of the hosts' remark about the news, "Nicole recanted her story". The comment was about hoping the government will declare "Nicole" persona non-grata. And then last night, the word "sl*t" was mentioned (not exactly referring to anyone) as part of the comment, again about the "Nicole" case.

Hearing a comment on persona non grata made me think it was a slip of the tongue. But last night's comment means that the show encourages no-holds barred comments from the hosts. Should news be taken at face value? Isn't it that anchors are not supposed to give their own opinions in news reporting? But then, it's a talk show where anchors give their points of view.

TEN gives a countdown of the top ten news for the day as laid back as possible. This one is a welcome respite. (But Bandila mellowed down in news delivery and tried loosening up without dropping its news reporting style.) No exaggerated tone of voice, none of the smug attitude some anchors are wont to do. (I just don't know what to call remarks I've mentioned above.) It's fast and easy. Like you are watching MYX, only they are about current events. By the way, there is always room for improvement for the field reporters. Their speaking voice need to be steady and pleasant. Their projection need to improve also. I want to believe they will earn more confidence when in front of the camera in due time.

The anchors wear trendy clothes. Think jeans and sneakers, slip ons and jackets. If I remember it correctly, Martin Andanar was wearing a light orange (or maybe light brown) sneakers...and skinny jeans. Cheri Mercado has a beautiful face. I like her even when she was still a part of ABS CBN. She speaks well, projects a very pleasant demeanor. She carries conversation well. But she needs a stylist.

The set is like a cozy lounge in a bar where you have a few drinks with your friends and talk about your career, your general plans in life. Nothing rowdy. Just a nice sofa, with warm lighting and colorful murals. Maybe a little bossa nova as background music.

If Bandila has Rico Blanco, TEN has Lourd de Veyra's Astro for their soundtrack. At least that was what I heard the first time I tuned in. The other night though, it was Away by Bolshoi which they played in the closing credits. I don't know why.

I appreciate the fact that the staff behind TEN tries to reach out to the youth, the Gen Y. What better way to do that but conquer the world wide web. They have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Multiply, Blogspot, and YouTube. They hosted a blogging event and they answer queries on their forum. I wonder if that's really Cheri Mercado answering. I guess so. With the line up of programs at TV5, I think it is following Studio 23's positioning - Kabarkada Mo.

My hope is that these acts of reaching out will greatly help in increasing awareness on current events. It is not just about being popular, or being friends or buddies with the youth and earn a legion of Team TEN. Let it be more engaging to the youth without losing the news' substance. Y Speak is a good example of getting the youth involved in sharing their points of view about current or other relevant issues.

In fairness, from what I read, the show has added some segments to capture the interests of their market. Looking at the list, they have Conrado de Quiros and Lourd De Veyra. TV Patrol has Marc Logan, TEN has Lourd? They inject humor but Lourd's is more of a social commentary as he is known for. I have watched a portion of Word of the Lourd in YouTube. I had a big grin after seeing it. If you know of Lourd's works, then that's what you will get here.

Whenever I am apprehensive about something I tell myself maybe I am not their target market. I may be missing the point. Like TEN. I have mixed emotions about it. But I am totally interested with de Quiros and Lourd's segments. For this I will be watching T.E.N. at least for one week straight (or five nights straight) and see what they have to offer. I am also looking forward to their feature on young Filipinos who make a difference. Having said all these, I will still stick with my usual evening news (though I don't watch regularly really). I will just probably wait for the portions that interest me at TEN.

I wonder if TV5 will think of creating a show like Jon Stewart's The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. Now that would be really interesting.