ONORE IBC-13: The Toku/Anime 90s Scheduling Betrayal REVISITED

Super Sentai may be on hiatus. However, it doesn't mean that history can be forgotten. We don't cling ot the past, but we don't forget it either. I'd like to let off some steam with this rant post. Some Filipinos may remember IBC-13. 

There was the catchy theme song, "Pinoy Ang Dating" (The Filipino Feel). It was played on loop on that network. It could serve as a good memory for 90s children. Was that memory really a good memory or a good memory based on a LIE? Read and find out!

Remember the "good old 1990s" and how it may have also stung in the present

The 1990s may have some fond memories. Some people born in the late 1980s or early 1990s could remember the "good old days" before harsher reality kicked in. The Philippines had underwent a transition from the Marcos Empire to a rather flawed democracy under the "best constitution" in the world. There might be what I'd call an information black hole coupled with some fond memories. I mean, who can remember some memories like:

• Some children remember the time when the Super NES (known as the Super Famicom in Japan) was the thing. I remember the time when I got so mad over not owning a Super NES back in the day! However, some people may find their childhood haunted by the Nintendo subscription model. Some of my friends who had an SNES don't own any Nintendo stuff now.
• The indoor amusement parks such as SM Storyland, SM Fun World, and Glico's. Today, such places are already DEFUNCT. 
• Some children may remember Capcom for being responsible for their favorites like the Mega Man series or the Street Fighter series. Some may remember playing the Marvel vs. Capcom series. Some games to remember are  X-Men vs. Street Fighter or Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes. The big problem is that Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite are pretty much a step backwards. 
• Some people may remember Adobe programs in the 1990s before the SH*TTY SUBSCRIPTION MODEL HIT. Adobe provided the wondrous program called Adobe Photoshop -- the get-go for photo manipulation that did what MS Paint couldn't. 
• Some people may think of the good old days at the arcade. However, one should NEVER deny that the arcade machines were actually QUARTER EATING MONSTERS. Yes, a 1990s child may want to think about how much money they wasted at the arcade.
• The closed Nova Fontana store was probably the happy place for a lot of 1990s kids. I remember Nova Fontana, and my heart is still somewhat hurt thinking about that toy store.
  
• I should still mention Power Rangers as it was once a huge thing for kids in the 1990s, myself included. Who could remember the catchy theme song "Go Go Power Rangers" when Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers aired on television? The toy sales, the toy lines, etc., were all the hype. Decades later, the whole series' direction, done by professionals, left me wondering if the show was even going to survive. I really feel that Power Rangers has been getting worse, and my dislike for it feels rather justified. Yup, all I'm seeing now is, "Remember the 1990s?" than how to make Power Rangers relevant again in the PRESENT.

That's just a few, and IBC-13 was in that list. The 1990s gave some good memories. However, with every good memory, there can also be bad memories. However, what's more dangerous than an obvious bad memory (like getting into trouble for CHEATING IN YOUR EXAM) is RADIOACTIVE NOSTALGIA. This is nostalgia that felt good, but was it really a truly good memory?

IBC-13 produced that dopamine surge and excitement with FALSE HOPES

A 1990s Filipino kid may remember a trip to Jollibee or to McDonald's on Sundays. There's that kiddie show Sunday spirit that many 1990s children may have felt. There was also the Saturday weekday schedule. As far as I remember it, IBC-13 had this schedule as far as I can remember during the early 1990s: 

• Saturday evenings showed Ucchu Keiji Shaider (never finished), Hikari Sentai Maskman (was left only up to episode 50 aired), and Kosoku Sentai Turboranger (which only lasted up to 31 episodes).
• Sunday mornings had Chodenji Machine Voltes V and Chodenshi Bioman. This is bad timing for many Filipinos, who are attendin Sunday worship services IN THE MORNING. 
• Sunday evenings showed Kamen Rider BLACK, followed by Seiun Machineman.

However, IBC-13 had some legal trouble in the 1990s. Some people may have experienced that IBC-13 no longer had a signal for local cable TV providers. Imagine the nightmare of the Kiddie Show Sunday cut short. A child may scream hard. What happened to all our favorite shows and marathons? Some parents may have danced. IBC 13 was able to spread outside Manila AGAIN sometime in 1996 or perhaps if someone had Sky Cable or a better Cable TV provider. 

I remember the summer vacation timeslot. Here are a few kiddie afternoons and kiddie weekends. They had a CLUTTERED SCHEDULE that was a kiddie show from 4 PM to 5 PM. Children ran indoors to watch their favorite shows. Right now, I'm just recalling these shows BY MEMORY, such as:

• There were times when weekday afternoons were back-to-back with Maskman and Bioman.
  
• However, it felt like a roulette because you could be seeing the following taking over:
• Kidou Keiji Jiban (never finished)
• Tokyuu Solbrain (never finished)
• Tonde Burin 
• Yu Yu Hakusho (GMA-7 was the one to FINISH IT like the network did with the Dragon Ball Anime)  
• Time Quest 
• Adventures of Dai
• I also recall the back-to-back Saturday broadcast of Chojin Sentai Jetman and Chikyu Sentai Fiveman. ABC-5 may have played them on a loop, but not a fragmented one. Well, people saw the finale. ABC-5 probably did the loop until they found something to replace the shows! 

My memory's already getting foggy. However, I'd like to say that some of these shows were scrambled over the weekdays, too. I remember Jiban was on Wednesday evening and Solbrain on Monday evening. Yes, those days that should be devoted to studying are now compromised with rushing over homework or watching TV when you HAVE AN EXAM THE NEXT DAY. I feel the network should've been held liable for distracting children from study hours. Not that I salute the Philippine education system either since it's as toxic as Volt in Chojuu Sentai Liveman. 

What may have caused the looping schedule of IBC-13

It's time to look at IBC-13's history. It should be interesting that Executive Order No. 11:

CREATING THE BOARD OF ADMINISTRATORS FOR BANAHAW BROADCASTING CORPORATION (BBC), RADIO PHILIPPINE NETWORK (RPN), AND INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING CORPORATION (IBC), TELEVISION AND RADIO STATIONS, DEFINING ITS POWERS AND FUNCTIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

WHEREAS, the Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government had requested the temporary sequestration of the facilities, property and equipment of BBC (Channel 2), RPN (Channel 9) and IBC (Channel 13) located in Broadcast City, Capitol Hills, Quezon City, because substantial resources of government financial institutions were utilized in their acquisition and expansion by the owners who remain unidentified and in order to properly maintain the assets and ensure continuous dissemination of true and accurate information to the people pending investigation by the Commission and until the question of their true ownership is determined;

WHEREAS, the Minister of National Defense issued Ministry Order No. A-003 ordering the sequestration of BBC, RPN, and IBC television and radio stations, including their properties, funds and other assets (the “seized assets”), and the taking over and assumption of the management, control and operation of the business by a task force to be later constituted;

WHEREAS, on March 2, 1986 the Minister of Information constituted said task force consisting of a head and four members;

WHEREAS, the task force has started implementation of the sequestration order and has recommended that the control and custody of the seized assets and the operation and management of the business be vested in a multi-sectoral board in order to achieve an independent, impartial and efficient administration of the operations.

The Filipino First Policy placed IBC-13 in a limbo. Both the Marcos Empire Constitution and the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines demanded that all media in the Philippines should be PENOY PRAYD only. That is foreigners can't own even a single share of the media. This may have caused some financial problems. That means IBC-13 may have had problems trying to purchase the rest of the tapes. That may explain why a lot of shows they aired, were only aired halfway or they probably never had the finale. However, I'm still prone to believing that IBC-13 HAD THE FINALE but chose to keep it hostage.

Due to the lack of funding, IBC-13 started to use the shows as the FILLER and the commercials as the MAIN EVENT. Sure, commercials are needed for TV stations to survive. However, since IBC-13 had become a government-sequestered network. They were relying on ad revenues from Regent, Pee Wee, cooking oil, shampoo, detergent, etc. They didn't think of other ways to gain money, bring the finale, and then move on. If the Japanese studios sold the rights of the show by volumes (ex. Vol. 1 contains episodes 1-10) then IBC-13 was paying by volumes. That may explain why so many shows were either halfway through OR never hit the finale after the second the last episode. 

A TV station earns money via commercials, block time with outside producers, and sponsored content. IBC-13's problems were probably with being sequestered. The debts were piling up one way or another. The station became a black hole. The Space Sheriffs were to judge it to be in a black hole. The Special Police Dekaranger would delete the company. Rita Kaniska of Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger who declare the network frozen. Either way, IBC-13 shouldn't b considered a genuine sweet memory. 

Conclusion

This is the great exorcism that I should've written years ago! IBC-13 was giving false hope. Thankfully, IBC-13 no longer airs Anime or Toku today. They probably had financial troubles that caused the shows to go on a loop. IBC-13 should no longer be a cherished childhood memory but a painful reminder of bad business practices.