THE CONCEPT automatically becomes a revolutionary because it is a first in the Philippines.
I refer to the Pay-Per-View (PPV) system that hit Angeles City and other parts of Pampanga province and the country during the classic Pacquiao-Morales fight last Sunday, March 20.
While most of Metro Manila had to labor through hours of television viewing before finally knowing the outcome of the bout, virtually all of Pampanga knew the result hours before the fight could be aired on regular TV showing over RPN 9 and Solar Sports.
The secret is the Pay-Per-View TV.
In contrast to the regular TV viewing of fights held abroad where they are shown to us on a “slightly delayed basis” but which is not really “slightly delayed” but very much delayed, the PPV gives us the fight on TV exactly the minute the fight starts from the arena of battle.
No advertisements.
No commercials.
No interruptions.
All boxing.
All action.
All results.
Very common in America for decades already, the PPV system has been introduced in the country by an enterprising businessman named Dennis Anthony Uy, a thirty-something from Angeles City.
“Not to brag but my system has also eliminated thievery commonly victimizing my fellow cable providers,” said Dennis.
The thievery of cable lines, he said, is the handiwork of cable linesmen themselves.
“They collude with customers by assuring clients of free installation of the system for a fee, without the cable provider knowing about it,” he said.
Dennis also said his system does away with splitters, which is the common practice among many households wherein one cable line is split into many lines within a house and hooked to several TV sets.
“Mine is able to monitor all cable lines in any house and it can detect splitters or multi-cable lines that rob cable providers a substantial amount of money every year,” Dennis said.
Already in practice in Angeles City and many parts of Pampanga is a card similar to a cell phone card that can be obtained for only P99 and good for a one-month use of a cable hook up to Dennis’ ACCTN.
During the annual conference in Cebu involving more than 1,000 or so cable providers in the country, Dennis Uy’s system became an instant hit.
Already, orders of his system, which he calls the Total Addressable System — TAS for short — have been flooding the offices of Dennis.
In the recent Pacquiao-Morales fight alone, seven cities were able to obtain Dennis’ TAS and served out the PPV to the thrill and satisfaction of their clients. They are, aside from Angeles and San Fernando City in Pampanga, the cities of Iligan, Cagayan de Oro, Legaspi, and Taguig (The Fort), Daet in Camarines Norte and the province of Zambales.
Indeed, it will not be long when the entire country will start enjoying the excitement of PPV. Gone will be the days when we are painfully bombarded with commercials while watching our favorite Pacquiao do battle with the world’s best boxers.
Here’s a glass to Dennis Anthony Uy, whose creativity and inventiveness has made us proud again to be a Filipino.
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FASTBREAK. Rudy and Pampin Salud, Hermie Aquino, George Alcantara, Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado, Shell coaches Leo Austria and Dayong Mendoza, P/Supt. Marietto Valerio, Lito Orillaza, Ricky and Aya Sadiwa, Hermie Rivera, Dennis Principe, Shell players Wesley Wilson, Adonis Sta. Maria and Ronald Tubid, Ed Picson and Sol Juvida were among many Manilans who were not only treated to a delightful PPV viewing of the Pacquiao-Morales fight last Sunday.
Equally satisfying and unforgettable were typical Pampango dishes served to them by Secretary Ed Pamintuan and his very gracious, ever smiling wife, Minyang, at Spencer’s Resto & Bar in Angeles City. For aperitif: buro-buro hipon with mustard, ampalaya and eggplant; sitsaron tilapia skin; adobo snipes; and, chicharon bulaklak. Minyang’s sisig was a knockout. For lunch, spare ribs, roasted hito and tilapia, Spencer’s Special Sisig and kare-kare.
Food galore and a classic Pacquiao fight, live on Channel 67 of Dennis Anthony Uy’s ACCTN, what more could you have asked for on a Sunday such as last Sunday?
Bruce McTavish, my partner with Sonny Lopez in the pre-fight TV show of the Pacquiao bout, understood it only too well when I had to decline his invitation for a “nightcap” at his Four Seasons restaurant in the City of Angels. Promise, Bruce, I won’t say no the next time you invite me again. Deal?
