We went to GMA Channel 7 for a Studio Tour.
We were brought around by Lottie Joya, whom I learned later from her that she was a Paulinian of St. Paul University Quezon city. She gave us Kapuso pins for us to wear while inside the GMA premises, and as a souvenir. Lottie played an AVP of the Kapuso network as part of the orientation. She also gave us a copy of the GMA Kapuso Magazine which featured the inauguration of the state-of-the-art studios.Lottie showed us Studio 3 where the newscasts are usually shot. The studio is small yet very much stuffed with state-of-the-art broadcasting equipment. A teleprompter with a hidden camera behind the see-through screen guides the newsreader, read: newscaster, on the exact words and cues while on the air. A green monochromatic background gives a transparent effect for superimposed images on screen, like the shots for newsflash where the reporter seems to be broadcasting just at the newsroom.
Klieg lights are everywhere. Wide-angled cameras are used to make the studio appear so large on screen. Camera tricks, so to speak.
We also saw the Studio where talk shows are done. Not much to see but merely space. The sets, I learned, are changed and removed regularly. No studio is occupied exclusively by one show. Cameras do the trick of making them appear so beautifully decorated on screen.
The DZBB, the flagship AM radio station of GMA 7 is located in one of the oldest buildings of the company. The station is just small, with the announcer's booth just big enough to accommodate featured visitors.
Barangay LS 97.1 FM is a much better place. Papa Bodgie, one of the DJs, was at the anchor when we were there. We had the opportunity of having a pic with him.
GMA boasts of having the best equipment in the broadcast industry in the Philippines. It has maintained its number one stature in the more prestigious AGB Nielsen surveying firm for patronage, statistics shows.
