Fil-Am leaders react to P-Noy's ratings dip

 President Benigno Aquino III has only been in office for barely a year, but more people in the Philippines are expressing their dissatisfaction over his performance.
A recent Social Weathers Station (SWS) survey shows another 5 point-drop in Aquino’s ratings.
The SWS says respondents in earlier surveys have been concerned with the rising inflation and slow progress in the justice system in the Philippines.
Rodel Rodis led the Filipino-Americans who raised over a $100,000 for Aquino’s presidential campaign. He said a 5 point-drop is not bad.
Rodis, president of the U.S. Pinoys for Good Governance said, “You need to consider that his predecessor, GMA (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) had a negative 39% — and he has 64%. The fact that he went down from 69% to 64% — while that is a concern — is not that bad.”
Ray Satorre led the the Fi-lAms who staunchly criticized Aquino during the elections. They backed Senator Manny Villar.
Satorre said, “Well you can only please Filipinos for as long as there are jobs, creation of industries, roads, infrastructure and emphasis on education.”
Rodis said there are reasons why the economy is down — and Aquino cannot be faulted for it.
Rodis said, “The situation in the Middle East is causing a lot of Filipino overseas Filipino workers to return. That’s not the result of any policy or anything he could have done. That affects the amount of remittances these OFWS send — and the Philippine economy depends on it greatly.”
Satorre said the drop in ratings could also be due to Aquino’s penchant for allegedly protecting friends, classmates and shooting buddies — giving them positions in government.
Satorre said, “You have to show that you’re a leader for everyone — not just for a chosen few.”
Rodis, to a certain extent, agrees to allegations that Aquino awards to close to him in government.
“He has to find better caliber people. It should not be based on personal friendships but on competition,” Rodis said.
But he added that, so far, Aquino has shown that he will not tolerate corruption in government.
If anything, these FilAm community leaders said the drop in ratings should only encourage Aquino to do better in his job — and prove to more people that he truly is the right man for the job.

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Keith Olbermann’s New Show Makes TV Debut Tonight

Keith Olbermann returns to television Monday night in his new gig at Current TV. The show will air at a familiar time (8:00 p.m.) and with a familiar name, Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Olbermann left MSNBC, where Countdown had aired since March 2003, in January 2011. Olbermann joins the fledgling Current TV, not only as its marquee host, but also as its chief news officer. His role will extend beyond Countdown and he will be heavily involved with developing news programming across Current TV.
On a recent conference call with members of the media, Olbermann opened up more about the format of the show and some of the frequent contributing guests. It sounds like Countdown will continue much as it did on MSNBC, albeit with a slightly altered cast of regular characters.
Olbermann repeatedly underscored Current’s unique position as an independently owned news network. To wit, the first promo spot for the show is all about combatting the “heavily biased corporate-sponsored spin” that saturates modern media. The underlying message is that as an independent entity, Current TV (and Olbermann, by proxy) can cut through to the truth.
Of course, bias exists with or without corporate backing, and I have little doubt that Olbermann’s own gaze and point of view will carry over not only to Countdown, but to the other news programming on Current TV.

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Where’s the Digital Focus?

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One of the more disappointing aspects about the launch of the new Countdown is the lack — at least thus far — of a clear-cut digital strategy. It’s more than a little ironic that Current TV, a network that was originally formed with a focus on online content, is remaking itself to be more of the standard cable network, especially in an age when the established cable networks are trying to be more social.
Olbermann’s former network, MSNBC, has long had as strong digital presence. Not only are clips from its various programs available online (and the network has streaming deals with certain telecoms for mobile TV initiatives) almost instantly, the network has provided video podcasts of its primetime shows — including the former incarnation of Countdown. MSNBC also has a strong presence in the mobile app space.
In contrast, Current has reduced much of its online video presence to clips and promos for certain series. The website for Countdown, while beautiful and well-designed, will bring users exclusive behind-the-scenes video clips and curated clips from the nightly show. In other words, if your cable provider doesn’t carry Current, you won’t be able to watch the full show.
To combat that, Current is actively embarking on a “I Want My MTV”-esque campaign to get users to use social media, email and the phone to petition cable operators to add Current to their lineup.
Here’s a video that Olbermann made addressing cable television provider Cablevision:
It’s a little frustrating that the network is knowledgeable enough to know that Twitter and Facebook are important outlets to get the attention of cable operators, yet aren’t willing to take the next step of offering online access to content.Unlike CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, Current TV isn’t a cable news lineup staple. For that reason, Olbermann is not promising blockbuster traditional ratings. He pointed out that Countdown in the early days on MSNBC was only getting a small fraction of its audience circa 2011.
That’s a fair point and one we will certainly keep in mind when the reports are released. Still, we have to question the reliance on a traditional cable strategy when the industry model as a whole is moving to a more malleable and digital space.
My hope is that Current TV and Olbermann will learn to embrace digital audiences sooner rather than later. Yes, it’s important to target the existing cable market, but the focus should also be on the growing segment of users that consume their content — including news — online.

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Americans rated most hilarious in global poll

 The Germans have been voted the world's `least funny nationality' in a global poll, which names Americans the funniest overall and the Spanish the most amusing Europeans, ahead of the Italians and French.

The social network and dating website Badoo.com asked 30,000 people across 15 countries to name both the "funniest," or best at making people laugh," and "the least funny" nationality.

Americans took the funniest prize, followed by the Spanish in second and Italians in third.

The voting for "least funny" nationality confirmed the view of American novelist Mark Twain that "a German joke is no laughing matter."

The Germans won comfortably, ahead of the Russians and Turks.

Yet, the British -- whose "The Office" and Monty Python shows have become pillars of English-language humor -- learn from the Badoo poll that they are not as funny as they think. They placed just seventh out of 15 -- behind the Brazilians, French and Mexicans.

But they ranked higher when Badoo asked the opposite question: Which nationality do you find the least funny? Here, the British ranked fourth, just after the Turks.

"I'm afraid that we don't find some of the results very funny," said Badoo's Director of Marketing Lloyd Price, who is British.

The Americans topped the poll, as the folks who brought us TV sitcoms like Friends, The Simpsons, Frasier, Seinfeld and any number of comic greats from the Marx Brothers to Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Larry David, Ben Stiller or now Tina Fey.

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