''Balitang America'' (Shorten to BA) was the flagship news program of TFC, produced by

ABS-CBN International The Filipino Channel, commonly known as TFC, is a 24-hour global subscription television network based in Daly City, California with studios in Redwood City, California and offices in Africa, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, UAE, Ethio ...

and

ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs, known on-air as ABS-CBN News (formerly known as ''ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs'' and later ''ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs''), is the news and current affairs production and distribution divisi ...

. The program, which was first hosted by Cara Subijano, had its debut as a weekly newscast covering the

Filipino-American Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New S ...

community on September 28, 2002. It was converted to a weeknight broadcast on May 7, 2007, and Gel Santos-Relos, an ABS-CBN News personality who had previously worked in the network's main office in the Philippines before moving to the US, took over as the host. Santos-Relos was succeeded as the newscast's anchor after she decided to retire by Ginger Conejero and TJ Manotoc. On July 16, 2021, the program came to an end, and ''TFC News Now North America'' took its place.

Overview

''Balitang America'' was the first Filipino-American news program to ever be broadcast across all of North America; it was a 30-minute newscast with a national focus that aired via satellite on TFC and its local affiliate station in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

KTSF KTSF (channel 26) is a multicultural independent television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The station is owned by the Lincoln Broadcasting Company, and maintains studios on Vall ...

. The show was also shown on a slightly delayed basis on the

ABS-CBN News Channel ABS-CBN News Channel, commonly known as ANC, is a 24/7 Philippine pay television news channel. It was launched in 1996 as the first all-news network in English language. The majority of its programs are produced by ABS-CBN News. The channel is ...

(ANC) in the Philippines. Similar to how ANC did it, the show incorporated English subtitles for the Tagalog soundbites in 2019.

Segments

* ''Balitang Canada'' - a once-a-week segment highlighting top news stories related to Filipinos in Canada. It became a separate newscast airing weekly from 2012 to 2014 on TFC Canada. * ''Pinoy Datebook'' - the newscast's community calendar which featured community updates, events and public service announcements. * ''Pinoy Panawagan'' - a regular segment hosted by immigration lawyer Lourdes Tancinco where she answers viewers' U.S. immigration and visa questions. * ''World News Round-up'' - a quick look at global situations anchored by Tony Velasquez from ABS-CBN News Headquarters in Manila. * ''Isyu Ngayon'' - viewers were encouraged to join in answering a daily poll, normally a question on the hottest topic of the day. * ''Your Space'' - featured a viewer's letter read by the news anchor. * ''Money Matters'' - remittance rates and gas prices update. * ''Hollywood Buzz!'' - movie review hosted by Manuel dela Rosa, also known as ''Manny, the Movie Guy''. * ''Tourism'' - featuring tips on how to get great deals and tour packages. * ''Hot Jobs'' - highlighted different types of employment.

Anchors

Final anchors

* TJ Manotoc - also serving as the current ABS-CBN News' North America Bureau Chief * Ginger Conejero

Previous anchors

* Cara Subijano * Gel Santos-Relos * Ging Reyes - main fill-in anchor and ABS-CBN News' North America Bureau Chief from 2001 to 2010

References

External links

Balitang America page at TFC website

Balitang America
at Telebisyon.net {{ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs The Filipino Channel original programming 2002 American television series debuts 2000s American television news shows 2010s American television news shows 2020s American television news shows 2021 American television series endings English-language television shows Filipino-language television shows