‘Willing-Willie’ vows to out-wow ‘Wowowee’

MANILA, Philippines—Controversial television host Willie Revillame who captured a massive following here and abroad via his former “Wowowee” show on ABS-CBN, is promising bigger and better prizes for his new show on a rival station, despite his legal battle with his former network.

Among the daily prizes are a fully furnished house and lot, P1 million in cash, a brand new car and scholarships for the children of the winning family in one segment called “Family Appear.”

He added that participants from the audience in the studio could win as much as P50,000.

The new show is conceptualized not just to entertain, but mainly to give hope to the viewing public. “This is my legacy to the viewers—to give them hope that their dreams could come true,” Revillame said.

Revillame said prizes and gifts of his new show “Willing-Willie,” slated for launch on Oct. 23 on TV5, would exceed those of his former noontime show.

“We will have bigger and better prizes and we promise more fun and relevant segments in which participants could easily win,” he said in a recent talk with the Inquirer.

Opposite newscasts

The game show is scheduled to air daily at 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., a time slot mostly dominated by evening newscasts.

Revillame said the time slot was chosen primarily to give viewers an alternative program to watch while having dinner with the family.

“We want to give families the option to watch a wholesome show and bond together while having dinner, and without the usual gory news of unending killings,” the TV host said.

Like his old show on ABS-CBN, he will be joined by several hosts on “Willing-Willie.”

The show will be held at the TV5 studio in San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City, said Revillame, who faces a suit from ABS-CBN over his alleged violation of this contract, which binds him to the network until September 2011.

He denied he had entered into a deal with representatives of ABS-CBN to delay the launching of the show pending the resolution of a case on the temporary restraining order (TRO) being sought by the network.

“There’s no truth that I entered into a gentleman’s agreement to put on hold the show’s premier telecast and since the court has yet to issue a resolution on the TRO, nothing can stop the launching of the new show.” Revillame said.

Asked the reason behind the success of “Wowowee,” he said: “Sincerity and guidance from God I think are the reasons why the shows became successful.”

Revillame reportedly earned at least P40 million a month as host of the ABS-CBN blockbuster noontime show.

Several months ago, the network and Revillame had a falling out which led to the suit and countersuit.

The TV host sued the network for P11.5 million for violating his contract, while ABS-CBN filed a countersuit seeking P486 million in damages from Revillame.

Nancy Carvajal, Phil. Daily Inquirer