Directed by Rudy Alberto First episode date 1 June 1970 Program creator Radio Philippines Network Language English | Country of origin Philippines Final episode date 29 October 2012 Genre News Developed by Radio Philippines Network | |
Created by Radio Philippines Network Presented by Joyce Burton-Titular
Various contributors Narrated by Eric Eloriaga (late-night, 2001–2007)
Orly Mercado (evening, 2008–2009)
Marigold Haber-Dunca (evening, 2008–2009; 2010–2011)
Joyce Burton-Titular (evening, 2009–2012)
Jay Esteban (late-night, 2008–2009) Opening theme NewsWatch Theme by James Sace Similar Big News, NewsWatch Aksyon Balita, IBC Express Balita, John en Marsha, CNN Philippines Network | ||
RPN NewsWatch in the Philippines was the longest-running English language flagship newscast of the Radio Philippines Network. It had a complicated history, undergoing many name changes, until it was axed in 2012 upon Solar Entertainment Corporation's purchase of RPN's majority stake.
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Broadcast chronology
Launched on June 1, 1970, it became one of the highly watched English newscasts on Philippine TV. Prior to 2008, it produced some spin-offs like:
On July 3, 2000, NewsWatch made its one-year absence on television due to low ratings because of the premiere of the network's only Filipino-language late-night newscast Primetime Balita but was replaced by NewsWatch Now and returning its English-language news reporting on August 13, 2001 until its final broadcast on March 9, 2007. On January 7, 2008, when Solar Entertainment channel C/S started to air on free-TV, it went back on the air replacing "NewsWatch Aksyon Balita". It was anchored by the network's President and Chief Executive Officer, former Defense secretary and senator Orly Mercado and the News and Current Affairs department head Marigold Haber-Dunca. On January 14, 2008, its late-night spin-off was aired as "NewsWatch Second Edition". This broadcast was anchored by Jay Esteban and Queen Sebastian. It also started to air on cable on all frequencies occupying C/S. The network's hourly news updates was renamed as "NewsWatch Update" until February 25, 2011, the last day Solar TV occupied the RPN frequency.
The show was reformatted into a reality show between June 7, 2008 and August 16, 2008. On October 11, 2008, another version was premiered, entitled "NewsWatch Junior Edition" with the contestants of the show anchoring it. This was the third youth spin-off of the NewsWatch; the previous two were NewsWatch Kids Edition (1979 to 1993) and Jr. NewsWatch (2005).
On October 8, 2008, broadcasts covering of the games of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) was started. These were broadcast to coincide with the second half of the game on Wednesday and Friday. This coverage had ended since 2011 when RPN lost its PBA broadcasting rights to Studio 23 (and later to TV5).
On February 16, 2009, former ABS-CBN news anchor Joyce Burton-Titular replaced Orly Mercado as anchor. Mercado was then able to focus on his duties as the network's President and CEO. This was the second time that a female became the anchor of the newscast since the time of Cathy Santillian, Cielo Villaluna and Cristina Peczon.
On November 30, 2009, Radio Philippines Network (RPN) relaunched as Solar TV. Broadcast times were changed from 30 minutes to 60 minutes duration. From the usual twice a day times of 5:30 pm and 11:00 pm, it became once a day at 5:30 pm and Reema Chanco was engaged as an additional anchor. RPN NewsCap replaced NewsWatch Second Edition and started airing at midnight. In 2010, the timeslot was moved to back to 11:30 in the evening. It also continued to air on both free TV and on cable until February 25, 2011.
On March 2, 2011, after Solar Entertainment bought 34% of RPN, RPN relaunched as ETC. Alongside NewsCap, NewsWatch started to air only on free TV on that date at 5 pm as ETC had occupied the RPN frequency on all cable providers nationwide. But, it is still being managed to air only through Global Destiny Cable (now Destiny Cable, owned by SkyCable) on channel 116, which was the frequency occupied by The Game Channel, a channel of Solar TV Network, occupying the 5:00 pm timeslot. On August 15, 2011 the two newscasts began to air on BEAM TV Channel 31 as The Game Channel was simulcast on that channel. Its simulcast on that channel stopped in October 2011.
On October 29, 2012, RPN NewsWatch and NewsCap were axed due to the impending privatization of the network and the controversial retrenchment of some employees of the network. However, NewsWatch is still used by RPN's provincial AM radio arm Radyo Ronda for its newscasts.