TVJ Exiting Eat Bulaga Is the End of an Era. No, Really
On the last day of May, when the trio of Tito and Vic Sotto and Joey De Leon announced their separation from TAPE (Television and Production Exponents Inc), the company that produces Eat Bulaga, it marked the end of an era in more ways than one. Yes, this would be the first time in the history of the program that its three primary hosts—its anchors and pillars who've been there since episode one in 1979—would cease to be part of the show.
But, and perhaps more meaningfully, TVJ's absence from Eat Bulaga also marks a seismic shift in the landscape of Philippine TV in general. This isn't just a TV show ending a season or even getting canceled, both of which are regular occurrences in the broadcast industry. When the three mainstays depart one of the country's longest-running programs—a show that's been on so long that the people who first watched it are now having grandsons and granddaughters—it's nothing less than a realigning of one of the foundations of local entertainment.
The event is particularly significant as it comes nearly three years after the sudden termination of the congressional license of another stalwart of the local broadcast industry. Minus the years when it was shuttered by the administration of former President Ferdinand Marcos during Martial Law, ABS-CBN had been on the air for over 60 years and was a pioneer in the Philippine media landscape in many respects. Whether it was its award-winning news and current affairs shows or its top-rated talk and variety programs, sitcoms and soaps, the Kapamilya Network was a mainstay of local TV, and absolutely no one can dispute its impact and influence as a provider of information and entertainment to millions of Filipinos.
Critics would argue that newer content distribution platforms like video streaming had been stealing viewers from traditional broadcasters for years, but in a vast archipelago like the Philippines, free TV still rules, and ABS-CBN and its rival GMA were kings. When ABS-CBN ceased its free-to-air broadcast in 2020, the impact was incontrovertible and real. Whether audiences migrated to the rival GMA (or perhaps even to TV5 or one of the UHF channels) or chose to explore said streaming platforms, or simply ended up hunched over their phones endlessly scrolling through their social media feed, one thing was clear: Filipinos' viewing habits were drastically altered, now that one of two of their go-to channels no longer existed.
It's not a stretch to say that the effect is the same with the departure of TVJ from Eat Bulaga, albeit on a smaller scale. Whatever you thought about the show—whether you believed it provided a platform for comedic geniuses to offer sincere entertainment or nothing but a bunch of mildly funny individuals promoting a culture of inanity—the fact is that you knew it was there. From regular office workers and students, bus drivers and ad executives, to company CEOs, university professors, and politicians—most every Filipino (and even not a few non-Filipinos) were aware of its existence.
And for generations of viewers, noontime is Eat Bulaga time. Some people might've been better entertained by the many rival shows that it competed with on many other channels, but for 43 years, Eat Bulaga was essentially peerless. It was one of those no-brainer shows that you put on and you knew exactly what you were getting. People would play games and win some money, there'd be a skit or a song or dance number or two, and yes, for the most part, either T, or V or J would be there (although not so much T, especially during the years where he served in the Senate).
Whether the show itself would be resurrected by its production company with different hosts, Tito, Vic, and Joey were not just the essence of Eat Bulaga, they were the show and their leaving is yet another leaf shed from the once-mighty and proud local broadcast industry tree. Are they past their prime and maybe they should consider calling it a day? Maybe, but that's not the point.
The point is that this is history unfolding right before our eyes. TVJ saying goodbye to Eat Bulaga is a watershed moment, and one that signals a very firm end to a very specific period in local broadcasting. “The end of an era” is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot even in casual conversations, but, in this case, it truly and indubitably is, and those of us aware of the gravity of the situation should be allowed to take a moment and mourn as such.
