The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) will open its sixth (6th) season this coming March 2024 and things are looking brighter for the league. At the end of the 2023 season last December, the MPBL's Facebook page has breached One (1) million followers and still growing.
It's Youtube channel is also steadily expanding with around 75,900 subscribers as of this writing. With the livestreaming of its games on Facebook and Youtube, its social media presence and reach will continue to grow. The expanding reach will definitely entice more sponsors, and hopefully, provide sustainability for the league.
The league's reach via television, however, has diminished in the past two (2) season. When the MPBL was still with ABS-CBN Sports and Action, all of its triple-header games were televised. In fact, the MPBL enjoyed preference versus other sports programs which were sometimes preempted in favor of the MPBL.
Without much choice given the limited number of TV networks with vacant time slots, the MPBL partnered with One PH after the shutdown of ABS-CBN. Unfortunately, and in a stark contrast with ABS-CBN's VIP treatment of MPBL, One PH televised only the 9:00 PM game during the 2022 season. Things worsen last 2023 season as One PH broadcasted the third and last game on a delayed telecast basis which is quite annoying, especially since One PH prioritized the replay of Face 2 Face.
The MPBL really needs to turn things around with respect to its television reach. An expansive Television coverage via free TV is definitely a must if the MPBL is serious in establishing itself as a household brand. While all of the MPBL's games are currently televised live via MPTV channel in Cignal, not all households are Cignal subscribers. Simply put, nothing beats the reach of free tv channels as of the moment, or until such time that internet cost will become really affordable for all.
Some say the internet is the future of sports broadcast. Indeed, there is a truth to it as shown by the rise of Netflix and other streaming platforms which have disrupted the cable tv industry. It is definitely a good thing that that the MPBL remains accessible through Facebook and Youtube livestreaming, unlike the UAAP and the PBA which are heavily gatekept by One Sports. Be that as it may, the MPBL still needs to get a broadcast partner who is willing to televise all of its games.
We think that GTV is the best choice for the MPBL since GMA has a wider reach as compared to the TV5 group. Besides, the TV5 group prioritizes the PVL and the UAAP, and to some extent, the PBA. The only issue though with GTV is its penchant of using halftime breaks as showtime for its artists.
With less competition in GTV in terms of programming slots, the MPBL may be able to move its games earlier. Last season, the first game starts at 4:00 PM while the last game tips off at 08:00 PM. Ideally, the last game should start at 07:00 PM so that those going to work the following will have enough time to go home and rest.