Mr. M sees streaming possibly replacing TV: ‘You can’t stop it. You just have to ride the wave’

Showbiz legend and renowned talent manager Johnny Manahan has shared his views on the future of television, saying streaming will have a large impact.

In his exclusive interview on “The Howie Severino Podcast,” Mr. M recalled when movie stars in the ’60s to ’70s had contracts with film studios.

“In the early years, ’60s, ’70s, the film was it. ’Pag hindi ka artista sa film, hindi ka sikat, hindi ka star (if you’re not a film artist, you’re not popular, you’re not a star),” he said. “And then, they would never do anything on TV.”

However, he said because local films couldn’t catch up with Hollywood, people began turning to television.

“People would go and watch the Hollywood films and then compare,” he said.

“Kunwari action sa Hollywood, ang daming blasting, ang daming gumugulong, bumabaliktad na kotse, tapos they compare it to the action films here. Parang walang-wala, e. Malayo,” he added.

[For example, a Hollywood action film, the explosions, the stunts, cars flipping over, then they compare it to the action films here. We’re so far from that.]

“So the people here stopped watching films, stop watching films. And they started to watch things, they started to get interested in TV.”

Mr. M said “that’s when the industry bloomed. So people like Dolphy, Panchito, I think they knew the handwriting on the wall, so lipat din sila rito sa media, na TV media (they also moved to this TV media).”

Just like what happened in the past when TV overtook film, Mr. M said he saw streaming possibly replacing the popularity of TV one day.

“I think so. Sad to say. I’m sad because ’yun ang media ko (that’s my media), the TV broadcast,” he said.

“So now you have a narrow cast … it’s narrow cast because people have certain narrow interests,” he added. “From a huge audience, your audience now is fragmented.”

However, he said the streaming business “still has to develop so that people can make real money out of it.”

“But I’m pretty sure it will eclipse broadcast TV,” he said. “Ang matitira diyan ’yung (what will be left are) news and public affairs. And then, they’ll show movies. Then, narrative dramas or narrative comedies, other sitcoms.”

Nowadays, Manahan pointed out that movies were already being produced and shown directly on streaming platforms, just like other content, and not released in theaters anymore.

“Even the sitcoms, nalipat na rin sa streaming, e (they’ve also moved to streaming). So I think that’s the new thing. You can’t stop it. You just have to ride the wave,” he said.

In July, Mr. M officially became a Kapuso after he signed a contract with GMA-7. – Kaela Malig/RC, GMA News