The People Behind BATIBOT

PCTVF was the first independent production organization in the country with a full-time research team and a research-backed curriculum. A pioneer in educational television and radio within a commercial broadcast industry, PCTVF has relied on program development processes that ensure age-appropriate content and formats.

PCTVF has a research and creative team which includes highly qualified and experienced staff members who also have degrees in education and psychology.

PCTVF Staff have always made serious efforts to stay in touch with the real children - not just treat them as anonymous audiences out there. The PCTVF Research Team continues it formative research and workshops with children in schools, day care centers, and communities. Through live performances in concert halls, shopping malls and school visits, PCTVF staff seeks direct contact with real children and receives a warm response in turn. PCTVF also involves children in developing children's programs, not just on-cam but also off-cam. Children and parents continue to send letters, drawings and photos. They send in questions for Batibot's Kapitan Basa to respond to. They give suggestions and they ask for stories about specific topics. Recently, through the Children's Voices Project in preparation for the Asian Summit on Child Rights and the Media, children sent letters to express their views about media in relation to them.

PCTVF was the first organization of its kind in the Philippines. It is not typical of production outfits in the Philippines because in addition to the production staff there was a Research Team and for several years, a Community and Extension Services Department. The organization reflects the two worlds of PCTVF. It is also what makes it a dynamic one. There is a constant interchange between the production staff, writers, researchers, and educators throughout the process of producing programs. While the primary function of the research team has been to represent the audience - the children - and help the writers and production staff to better understand their audience, the writers and the production staff often came up with ideas for segments and formats or paid attention to details in the production process that reflected their own understanding of children's interests or needs. Suggestions for formats, storylines and production details could also come from the research team. While each had a role, over the years there is an increasing overlap because of increasing familiarity with the medium and the target audience. It is a natural result of an ongoing interchange among PCTVF staff members.

In the past years, PCTVF has intensified its work with students from colleges and universities who join PCTVF for a few weeks or a few months depending on their training needs. Technical and production staff members work with them throughout the apprenticeship program. PCTVF serves as a training ground for young people who eventually branch out to other production companies or television networks in the Philippines.