The 2005 PIA Media Factbook: Ayon sa pinakahuling sarbey...

That's how the 1990 Kultura magazine tagalog article started as far as I can recall. It had a cartoon drawing of Tony Velasquez' "Kenkoy" proudly proclaiming beneath his word ballon that according to the 1989 Philippine Information Agency (PIA) survey, the then ubiquitous Filipino komiks was the most preferred mass medium of communication nationwide besting television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and movies.

It hasn't been the same ever since.

Continuing then with the autopsy being conducted in this blog, we proceed with the latest info in the PIA's 2005 Media Factbook. Here, it cites a 2003 National Statistics Office survey disclosing that the top medium of the country among 12 forms of mass media were: television (61.8%), followed by radio (56.7%), then newspapers (46.5%), Magazines/Books (35.7%), Barangay, church and inter-personal meeting of organization (32.2%), Computer/Internet (20.0), Signboard and Poster (16.6%), Town Crier (11.5%), VHS,VCD, DVD, Movies, Plays and similar shows, and Brochure/flyers (all sharing 9.3% each), Comics (6.1%), and others (2.9%).

There you have it. The hard data shows that in 2003, comicbooks were the LEAST preferred medium providing knowledge and information to Filipinos 10 to 64 years of age. Comics at 6.1 percent?! How the mighty have fallen. To quote the Media Factbook:

"the only form of mass media that got a single digit share was comics as knowledge provider for all regions, for both male and female. This means that the popularity of comics as a source of information and knowledge has fallen given the choices of other mass media channels available to them. Figures show that more males are comics readers (6.3%) than females (5.9%)...Except for tapes (VHS, VCD,DVD) and comics as sources of info/knowledge, more females than males got their info from all other forms of mass media nationwide. xxx For the Philippines, more females stated they got their information and knowledge from almost all forms of media (newspaper, magazine/book, television, radio, movie, play, and similar shows, computer/internet, interpersonal, signboard and poster, town crier, and brochure/flyers More males said they got their knowledge and information from tapes, comics, and from others."

It gets worse. The same Media Factbook continues to state that:

"The readers of books and comics show the opposites of the spectrum: book readers are schooled, at least secondary level, and may come from the upper and/or middle economic ladder while those of the comics' are holders of blue collar jobs. Prices of books have escalated through the years, affecting the readership of books by a fraction of one percent (.42 percent) from 36.12 to 35.7 percent while the readership for comics have plunged by 16.57 percent (from 22.67 percent in 1994 to 6.1 percent in 2003). The big drop is understandable, the poor would rather spend for food than buy comics, a dispensable commodity."

The Media factbook continues to state that the Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) conducted in 1994 found Filipino komiks still had a stronger, albeit lessened, exposure/preference as mass media clocking at a respectable 22.6% besting magazines (14.44%), video tape (14.06%) and the least preferred---movies (7.18%). What was the most preferred mass media in 1994? None other than radio at 80.78%, followed by television at 56.68%, books (36.12%), newspapers (29.82%) THEN BY COMICS AT 22.6%. To quote the Media Factbook:

"In 1994, the FLEMMS survey showed that a large portion (80.78 percent) of the population, 10 years old and over, were exposed to radio. It shows that radio, a handy and inexpensive form of information and entertainment, was an indispensable appliance in most households. It also reveals radio's strong showing even after the introduction of television as another source of information and entertainment in the 1950s. One factor for radio's longetivity in many households is that the infrastructure needed for television was still wanting. A large number of the population could not be exposed to something that was hard to access. Between radio and television, radio was so cheap you can own several against the cost of one TV set. Several interesting details also surfaced during the 1994 survey: a bigger number, 36.12 percent, were exposed to books than to newspapers, 29.82 percent; xxx in 1994, the exposure of those 10 years old and older to computer/internet was so miniscule, that it did not warrant as a contender against other forms of mass media."

If you think 6.1% in 2003 was bad, in the 2004 media survey it was much worse: comics, now lumped with "songhits" had a 2.5% rating. Comics at 2.5 percent ?! Quoting the Media Factbook once more:

"The country has 645 print publications, 89.9 percent of which are newspapers/tabloids, 7.6 percent are magazines, while 2.5 percent are composed of comics/songhits based on calendar year 2004.

The NCR is the center of print activity with 13 percent of print publications in the country. There are 9 major broadsheets in the region, 19 tabloids, 40 magazines and 16 komiks/songhits."

At 2.5%, one wonders what kind of comics were being published around this time, and what their circulations were to warrant a DISMAL 2.5% rating. In answer, the Media Factbook provides as follows:

"Contents of comics magazines are classified into wakasan and nobelas. Wakasan stories have fewer pages and must arrive at an ending. Nobelas/serials are much longer which could last for months or even years.

Among the comics which are published weekly, "True Horoscope" has the highest number of circulation with 345,148. A far second is "Star Horoscope" with 200,714 followed by "Pilipino" with 193,426. Other comics with their number of weekly circulation are as follows: "Lovestory"--178,365; "Happy" -- 165,204; and "Tagalog" ---150,046.

The nationwide circulation of comics published weekly total 1,232,903.

Among the comics published monthly, Hiwaga has the largest number of circulation with 191,643. This is followed by "Espesyal" with a total circulation of 151,224; "Daigdig ng Engkanto"--126,438 and "Cartoon Network" --49,664.

The nationwide circulation of comics published monthly is 617,772."

The Media Factbook's "2004 Media Infrastructure chart" further disclose that it is only in the National Capital Region or NCR, that "comics/songhits" were being printed, specifically in Metro Manila where we find just sixteen (16) published titles. No other comics titles were being printed or published in the other regions.

This is not the case however with other print media such as newspapers and magazines. The same chart shows newspapers as being printed in ALL regions with different numbers of titles. Magazines however, were only circulated in five (5) regions: the NCR (at 40 titles), Region 1 (with 2 titles), Region 4 (with 5 titles), and Regions 5 and 7 (each with 1 magazine title). All other regions had no magazine titles circulating.

The preceding facts show that there are disproportionately more readers in the NCR than in all other regions of the country. The reasons, as discerned by the same 2005 Media Factbook are as follows:

"The most obvious is that almost all national dailies (broadsheets and tabloids) are printed in Manila making accessibility to copies immediate and easy. And since the NCR is the growth center of activities: business, education, politics, sports, culture and arts, and other social events, it is inevitable that most readers come from the capital region who are, in one way or another, affected by these events. As for the regions--the farther they are from the hub, the longer it takes for copies to reach them, if at all. Another reason why there are relatively fewer readers from the regions is that issues and concerns featured in dailies are perceived not to have any direct concern on them since most news and feature stories are on national concerns. Added to this is the treatment of provincial news--these are buried in the pages, a reality that could turn off readers from the provinces."

The Factbook further observes that among the nation's regions, it is the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) that has the least number of day to day newspaper readers. The reasons for this are the unstable peace and order condition in the region, location, and financial instability that make everyday newspaper reading: "an uninviting task while the island provinces are geographically challenged for dealers." No same data was provided for magazine and comics reading in the ARMM region.

Getting back now to the country's comics scene, an inaccuracy in the 2005 Media Factbook that bears stressing is that it is not sixteen (16) comics/songhits titles that are being printed exclusively in the NCR, but TWELVE (12) titles.

When we look at the NCR Print Publications list appearing in the same Factbook, specifically page 14 thereof, the following TWELVE (12) comics titles are tabulized as follows: five (5) monthly comics titles: Hiwaga, Espesyal, Daigdig ng Engkanto, Jolly Kid and Charm, and seven (7) weekly titles: Tagalog, Lovestory, Pilipino, Happy, True Horoscope, Star Horoscope, and Filipino Funny Comics. The other five (5) are songhits in comics format: Jammit and Diamond Songhits, Greatest Hits Songhits, Solid Gold Songhits, Musika Songhits, and Sing and Text Songhits.

There you have it. Your 2.5% media rating for Filipino comics translates to: 12 comics titles printed only in the National Capital Region and circulating around the country at 617,772 comics monthly and 1,232,903 comics weekly in 2004.

Today, 2007, we see almost NO Filipino comics titles circulating either in the ubiquitous newstand/banketa or National Bookstore branches. In their stead, we see the few licensed American comics and globalized Filipino comics priced generally from P50 to P100. Curiously, NONE of their titles are even listed in the Media Factbook. No Culture Crash, no Ignition Zero, no Mango Jam, no Otaku Fan, no "grafictions", no "minicomics", no Mwahaha, no Mythology class, no Angel Ace, no Siglo, no WITCH, no Enchanted Kingdom, no Maskarado, no Tropa, no Rambol, no Trese, no Elmer, no Wasted, no Neo Comics, no DC Superheroes...NOTHING.

The same Media Factbook's Media Infrastructure Chart though, has a separate category BELOW the "Comics" heading and that's "Others" referring to all other media that are not significant in number or influence. It has a rating BELOW the 2.5% of the now extinct "traditional" Filipino comics. Could this be the place where the marginalized globalized Filipino comics of today are lumped? Some tend to think so. Yet, there are also some, the elite "other" few, who are still in denial.

Next: Further Reflections and Observations on the Media Factbook

Guess who's on the Financial pages these days

Now how do you suppose this blogger's article on the comparative histories of American and Philippine comics industries got here: http://www.finance.google.com/finance?q=PSE:MB ? Puts a smile on your face, doesn't it?

Finally, some recognition from mainstream folks who actually matter. Let's hope this helps generate much needed awareness from forward-looking businessmen sympathetic to the development of local comics' potential as an untapped and undeveloped creative industry.

Thank you, Philippine Stock Exchange: Manila Bulletin (PSE:MB) for including PKB on your site.

Why Bookstores?

If the objective is to make local comics accessible to the greater many, you have to ask: HOW MANY BOOKSTORES ARE THERE NATIONWIDE?

At present, National Bookstore is the largest with about 220 plus branches. As of this year, the population is expected to reach approximately 88 million (from 84 million) with about 50 MILLION adults aged 19 and above who are presumably literate (or functionally literate if you prefer).

220 plus National Bookstore branches nationwide as against 50 MILLION potential readers? Obviously, your choice of distribution channel totally negates and hinders your objective of reaching the most readers. Even if you combine National Bookstore branches with the branches of Book Sale, Filbar's, Comic Quest, Comic Odyssey, which are mostly found inside shopping malls frequented by the elite, they are still outnumbered by the ubiquitous newstands/banketa.

Another question: where are these bookstores usually located? Its self-evident: in the few urban areas surrounding the country, foremost of which is Metro Manila where the economically advantaged elite reside.

Being a third world country, rural areas outnumber urban and developing areas.

Yet, there are more makeshift newstands/kiosks/banketas than there are bookstores. In fact, they outnumber urban bookstores ten to one. Do you think majority of the lower income populace would bother expending hard earned money for transportation costs and what not, just to go to some out-of-the-way specialty bookstore or National Bookstore in urban areas then buy a globalized "graphic novel" or "grafiction"?

Just what kind of reading material is mostly sold in these newstands/banketas? Answer: newsprint products such as newspapers, songhits, betting guides, and tagalog romance pocketbooks.

Why newsprint, and not book or glossy paper? Because book and glossy paper are more expensive to produce and source than local newsprint. With book and glossy paper you have to consider paying additional cost such as freightage, import costs, specialized machinery, etc.

Local newsprint on the other hand, is cheaper and readily accessible. You don't have to import. It is easily portable and disposable. When potential readers turn the pages resulting in wear and tear thereby lessening the chances of a sale, this kind of risk is minimized by the lesser cost expended in producing the newsprint product. You cannot say the same when your product is in book or glossy paper.

Besides, the greater majority of newstand readers are more concerned with the ideas, thoughts, messages, or overall "intellectual content" of the newsprint product rather than something superficial as the kind of paper used, or binding, or whatever outward appearance the product is in.

So long as the newsprint product looks decent, its images and print-out are clear, its portable, can be easily disposed of, or lent to friends when you're done reading, it more than does the job. Most newsprint readers are casual readers. They are not "fans" who "fanatically" nitpick on trivial superficialities.

If the readers don't like your ideas, they tell you so by turning your comics into fishwrapper: "pambalot ng tinapa". If they do like it, they preserve and pass on your newsprint comics. Bottomline: the revival of the local comics industry lies with majority of Filipino readers who are low income. It has to start from there, at the bottom and not at the top--the elite.

Since these newsprint products are widely distributed in newstands and street corners in a third world country such as the Philippines, they are commensurately priced according to the greater many's income capacity, most of whom are lower income.

Most importantly, majority of these newsprint products are written in a language understood by many Filipinos despite varying dialects: Tagalog.

Do you still want to read last year's statistics on how the Filipino's proficiency in the English language has fallen? How because of poverty, many Filipinos can't afford to go to school and learn English? No? I thought so.

So, given the above self-evident facts, why then must today's globalized "Filipino" comics in "graphic novel" format be distributed mainly in bookstores? Because its more chic? More class?

You mean its more expensive to publish in newsprint than book or glossy paper? Its demeaning if you price the product lower? "Gawa lang ng gawa"? Just make and make? That's the shotgun solution? More of the same?

Why bookstores?