Philippine Star ventures into TV with new lifestyle show

The Philippine Star has become the first newspaper in the country to venture into television with the launch of a new lifestyle show in partnership with the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC).Called Modern Living TV, the show is a spinoff from one of the broadsheet’s Saturday lifestyle sections, intended to bring life into urban space and interior design topics that are best to be seen and heard than just being read, Lucien Dy Tioco, Star’s SVP for sales and marketing, shared during the launch.“Star Lifestyle has always been an authority in trailblazing all the latest trends in fashion, food or in architecture and interior design; so the lure of producing a TV show using Modern Living has been very tempting for us since it’s an opportunity to spread content into different formats,” he adds.The show’s first 30-minute episode was aired last 19 July, hosted by Star Lifestyle columnists Stephanie Zubiri and Bianca Gonzalez. Its first season, comprised of 16 episodes, will run until October. Tioco said that a second season is a possibility and is currently in talks with ANC.The 28-year old publication has been aggressive with its expansion into newer platforms since last year. At that time, the Philippine Star has stepped into the digital arena in a bid to reach more Filipinos hooked on mobile devices with a first-of-its kind app with augmented reality features last April.Breaking new groundsFrom an older reader base, Tioco is expecting the venture to help the Star reach younger audiences to keep pace with trends that shape not just how we communicate but also how we live in and design our spaces.“What we are hoping for the TV show is to expand that audience by attracting young professionals and newlyweds. The urban landscape has already changed and it opens up opportunities for this segment and that’s what the show wants to capture,” he shared with Marketing.Stories featured on Modern Living TV will also be presented on its newspaper counterpart in a bid to create a “print and TV experience,” adds Tioco.The show also complements ANC’s current focus on adding more lifestyle shows, says Anna Driz, head of sales at ANC, which has been observed to have also helped the news channel reach new audiences.“For the longest time, ANC was perceived to be a male targeted channel but for the last five years, based on research we made, our market expanded to the 25 (year old) females as well.”“As you can see in ANC, we still have our regular news programs and talk shows but we have an increase on lifestyle programs like Cityscape, Executive Class, now we have Modern Living and Philippine Realty TV and it’s because of the trend we are getting from social media,” she said.