''Big News'' was a

Philippine television Television in the Philippines was introduced in October 1953 upon the first commercial broadcast made by Alto Broadcasting System (now ABS-CBN), making the Philippines the first Southeast Asian country and the second in Asia to do so. Even ...

news broadcasting News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either video production, produced local programming ...

show broadcast by

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. Originally anchored by Duds Rivera and Bong Lapira, it aired from March 19, 1962 to September 22, 1972. The newscasts returned on February 24, 1992. The show concluded on August 8, 2008. Cherie Mercado served as the final anchor.

History

1962–1972; First incarnation

''The Big News'' was originally anchored by Duds Rivera and Bong Lapira with Antonio Tecson as head of the newsroom. Lapira later left the newscast in 1967 to transfer to

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

to anchor ''Newsbreak'' on DZXL-TV Channel 9 and he was replaced by

Jose Mari Velez José Mari Uhler Vélez (May 27, 1942 – June 3, 1991) was a Filipino lawyer, journalist, business executive, and activist best remembered for his long career as television newscaster anchoring '' The Big News'' on ABC 5 (now TV5) from March 1 ...

. The show first aired on March 19, 1962, and went off the air on September 22, 1972 due to

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

1992–2004; Second incarnation

On February 24, 1992, three days after

returned to the airwaves, the program resumed its telecast, but this time, it was anchored by

Tina Monzon-Palma María Cristina "Tina" Mapa Monzón-Palma (; born March 29, 1951) is a Filipina broadcast journalist and anchorwoman. She is best known as a late night news presenter in various Philippine television news programs in different television ne ...

. On September 14 of that year, she was joined by Eric Eloriaga and later Kathy Tanco-Ong on March 1, 1993. Tanco-Ong would later bow out of the newscast in 1995. In 1997, they were replaced by Anthony Pangilinan and Thelma Dumpit-Murillo, who also anchors the network's early evening Filipino newscast ''Balitang Balita'' as its new anchors. On March 2, 1998, Janice Pronstoller joined the newscast replacing Pangilinan following the birth of his son Donny Pangilinan. Monzon-Palma went to become the anchor of ABS-CBN's late night newscast ''

The World Tonight ''The World Tonight'' is a British current affairs radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4, every weekday evening, which started out as an extension of the 10 pm news. It is produced by BBC News and features news, analysis and comment on dome ...

'' while Eloriaga became the anchor of RPN's '' NewsWatch'', both newscast's main rivals during pre-Martial Law days. On May 3, 1999,

Amelyn Veloso Amelyn Esther Veloso-Zapanta (April 25, 1974 – August 24, 2017) was a Filipina broadcast journalist of CNN Philippines. Before her death, she was the anchor of the morning show '' New Day'', ''CNN Philippines Newsroom ''CNN Philip ...

became the new anchor of the newscast together Rod Nepomuceno as her co-anchor, replacing Pangilinan, Pronstroller, and Dumpit-Murillo. On June 3, 2002, Nepomuceno was replaced by Atty. Mike Toledo.

2004–2008; Big News

On April 12, 2004, when the network reformatted most of its programs, former

anchor Cherie Mercado, joining with Veloso as co-anchor and the newscast switched to Filipino in order to compete with the other networks' newscasts. On October 2, 2006, the newscast exchanged timeslots with '' Sentro'', the early-evening news program of the network. On August 8, 2008, the program, together with ''Sentro'' aired its final broadcast and on the next day (August 9), the station was rebranded as TV5.

Anchors

* Duds Rivera (1962–72) * Bong Lapira (1962–67) *

(1967–72) * Eric Eloriaga (1992–97) *

(1992–97) * Kathy Tanco-Ong (1993–95) * Anthony Pangilinan (1997–98) * Thelma Dumpit-Murillo (1997–99) * Janice Pronstroller (1998–99) *

(1999–2006) * Rod Nepomuceno (1999–2002) * Atty. Mike Toledo (2002–04) * Cherie Mercado (2004–08)

Substitute anchors

*Vivian Zalvidea *Atty. Joseph Andres * Jove Francisco *

Martin Andanar Jose Ruperto Martin Marfori Andanar (born August 21, 1974) is a Filipino television news personality, news anchor, radio commentator, podcaster, voice-over artist and a columnist. He served as the former secretary of the Presidential Communica ...

References

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