by Alecks P. Pabico

ONE ENDURING criticism of television, apart from being dismissed as an idiot box, is that its "engaging" presence makes people less and less involved with one another. The more time people spend in front of the TV set, critics argue, the less they devote to conversations and intimate moments with their close relations.

Surveys show that two out of three Filipinos watch television every day. The average TV viewing time here is three hours, less than the four hours a day that the average British or American spends in front of the box.

But new technologies anchored on media convergence may be slowly sweeping those alienation blues away as new communications applications make television more interactive. Here in the Philippines, the ubiquitous mobile phone has helped bring about Text (or SMS) TV, a phenomenon that first invaded mainstream programming, but has now graduated to channels offering pure texting experience.

Okay, so that means the viewer is still stuck in his seat. But at least he no longer has to just sit there and take whatever the blinking box is beaming at him. With cell phone in hand, he can now talk—er, text—back to share his opinions on some topic with the rest of the viewers. Or he can exchange messages with his friends and family. Assuming they are watching the same channel, of course.

It used to be that the Pinoy version of interactive television involved merely texting one's votes on certain issues or sending personal greetings to friends as an added feature of TV viewing. But separate efforts of the broadcast networks as well as joint undertakings of wireless-application developers and cable TV operators have helped bring about pure SMS-based programming whether on free TV or via cable.

ABS-CBN Broadcasting Co. now runs "PinoyCentral" on cable television from 9 a.m. to 5 a.m. the following day. Rival network GMA-7's SMS program "Txtube" airs over Channel 7 for an hour starting midnight on weeknights. Also-ran ABC Channel 5 is competing with the giant networks by launching "Kool on Cam," which airs at 11:30 on weekdays and brings together radio (announcers from its Kool 106 FM station going oncam for the first time), TV, and text.

There are also the likes of "LinkTV" and "The Lounge," both 24-hour chat channels run by cable TV operator Philippine Home Cable Holdings, Inc. (Home Cable), and wireless technology provider Bidshot Wireless Services. "LinkTV" and "The Lounge" actually predated the regular networks' SMS TV initiatives. Available on cable TV, the two are meant to enable students and cable TV subscribers to engage in real-time SMS chat and polls.

All these text TV shows share the same look, with the screen divided into at least three sections running simultaneously. The look is similar to that pioneered by the all-business Bloomberg TV, but instead of some anchorperson reporting on cattle futures, text TV has music videos ("Link TV" sometimes features documentaries and amateur videos and short films as well). The stock market quotes have been replaced by either a community billboard or a text-based game. Gone too is the currency exchange rates box, which has been chucked in favor of chat, the nirvana of texting.

With all these going on at one go, text TV is perfect for either a three-headed creature or, well, the average short-attention-spanned Pinoy teener.

ABS and GMA themselves say their text TV viewers belong to the young crowd (between 11 years old and early 30s), which is understandable as this age group is not afraid to embrace the new technologies and is the heaviest user of cell phones. In general, say the two networks, their text TV audience consists of loyal followers of their stations and belong to the C and D classes.

But the TV networks are more timid when the talk turns to money, or just how much revenue they get from their SMS TV ventures. They only go as far as admitting two things. One is that the revenue total can be gleaned from the heavy text traffic coming in. The other is that their share or percentage from the text messaging cost—a standard charge of P2.50 per message—is quite substantial.

As the networks themselves tell it, the reaction to text TV has been nothing short of phenomenal. According to Mark Gatela, who is in charge of wireless content development at ABS-CBN Interactive, the growth rate for "PinoyCentral," which was launched just last November, is about 200 percent a month. He also reports that usage peaked during the summer months of March and April, when most students go on summer vacation. Peak hours normally start at 8 p.m. up to the wee hours of the morning of the next day.

"Pinoy Central" channel producer Jovan Puyo also recalls, "When we started in November, we had a very small audience, because we didn't even promote the channel. Then suddenly, there was this surge in text messages. We hadn't even begun official eyeballing (warm-body meeting) yet, but they were already doing so. We suddenly had this big pool of users. What's nice is that we don't even have to initiate anything. Our viewers organize events on their own, tropa-tropa (by big groups)."

To accommodate the growing demand for SMS chat on TV, "PinoyCentral" had even had to launch two more channels, or chat rooms, for Cebu and Davao users in addition to the one for Metro Manilans. For "Txtube," which began just this January, one hour has become way too short to handle the volume of text traffic, which is huge for a midnight show; going cable is now being considered seriously. Crows Ayedee Domingo, chief technology officer of GMA New Media Inc., the network's in-house systems and technology outfit: "The response is very, very much higher, especially with gaming and chatting. These are the highly received applications."