Box office and television star Vice Ganda is launching his own network (www.viceganda.com.ph), a move supported by ABS-CBN and is managed by the marketing team of Viva Entertainment. The digital platform offers exclusive entertainment content.
Fans can get front row seats of the programs via their mobile devices. Programs scheduled to stream on the platform include talk show Gabing Gabi Na Vice, a 10-episode sitcom, an interactive game show, a karaoke challenge, and documentaries.
“My vision was to provide entertainment to the people. There’s so much going on right now, so the least we could do is to provide a little diversion,” Vice Ganda told Manila Standard in an online interview.
“Apart from the main objective of the platform, we aim to provide employment to comedians who lost their jobs because they couldn’t perform now due to the strict health and social distancing protocols that prevent us from staging live shows in comedy bars,” the 44-year-old TV host added.
The idea started when ABS-CBN management asked its stars to keep themselves relevant and visible for their fans.
“Sabi nila gumawa kayo ng paraan para maka-reach out sa publiko. Di kayo pwedeng mawala sa kamalayan ng audience. Ang dami pang pwedeng gawin sa digital. This is the challenge and as artists we have to serve our purpose na pasayahin pa ang tao,” he recounted.
Vice Ganda tried doing a test broadcast for the spinoff of his weekly talk show, Gandang Gabi Vice, on Facebook. He was surprised that the digital version of the show, which he called Gabing Gabi Na Vice, received massive response from the netizens.
“Nagsimula yung show with 50,000 concurrent viewers or the number of people watching at the same time and by the end of the show, it had 1.5 million views and comments,” Vice Ganda shared.
The comedian also hopes to provide employment to displaced workers in ABS-CBN, from writers to graphic artists, and to cameramen to small talents.
“I’d like to provide employment dun sa natengga dahil wala na ang live performances. Ang sakit sa puso ko, hindi ko pwede pabayaan yung mga anak-anakan ko. I want to give them a platform,” Vice Ganda said adding that he has converted his two homes as studios for tapings.
“We are going to follow COVID-19 safety protocols kahit nasa bahay kame nagtetaping,” he assured.
Viceganda.com.ph starts grinding on Friday, July 24. Its initial guest list includes internet sensations Sunshine Guimary and Donnalyn Bartolome, along with Candy Pangilinan and other Viva artists.
“Everyone is welcome in The Vice Ganda Network. Kahit sa ibang network pa galing, kahit from GMA,” he said dropping the names of Marian Rivera, Dingdong Dantes, and Heart Evengelista as some of the GMA stars that he would like to collaborate with.