Probe (Philippine TV program)


Probe Profiles is a Philippine documentary television program broadcast by ABS-CBN, GMA Network and ABC. The program was hosted by Cheche Lazaro. It premiered on March 6, 1987 and ended on June 30, 2010.
The program, considered as the pioneer television news-magazine in the Philippines, started airing in 1987 on ABS-CBN, with Lazaro, Maria Ressa and Luchi Cruz-Valdez at the helm. After one year and fourteen months, it moved to GMA Network as a blocktimer. It was in GMA where The Probe Team had its longest run in its history.

Overview

After more than two decades of censorship and repression, press freedom was immediately restored with the dismantling of the Marcos dictatorship by a popular revolt in 1986. Media ownership was turned over to an enthusiastic private sector eager to take advantage of the newfound democratic space.
Probe Productions Inc. was a product of the euphoric period. Convinced that Filipinos need more than just the news, four pioneering journalists – Cheche Lazaro, Maria Ressa, Luchi Cruz-Valdez, Tony Velasquez, and Angie Ramos – adopted the investigative newsmagazine format and called the television program Probe. The project, which was first broadcast over ABS-CBN, turned out to be the country’s first, most awarded and longest-running, investigative newsmagazine show.
To make investigative pieces a main fixture in Philippine television, the group put up its own production house and continued with what it started. Operating from a small bedroom, the show’s one-hour reports were broadcast as monthly specials by a new television station—GMA Network. After the third telecast, in response to enthusiastic reviews, GMA gave The Probe Team a weekly slot. The first weekly telecast began on May 20, 1988.
The Probe Team, or Probe Profiles, is known for fearlessly exposing the hard truths in Philippine society. No non-sense and hard-hitting, Probe tackles pressing societal concerns through the eyes of various stakeholders and calls a spade a spade. It engenders a deeper understanding and appreciation of issues by way of stories that capture the hearts and minds of viewers.

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Due to a controversy surrounding one of its features which involved a Philippine government official close to former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2003, its contract with GMA was terminated for 15 years. As a result, it moved to ABC and renamed the show The Probe Team Documentaries.
The show returned to its original home, ABS-CBN, in 2005, and was retitled back to Probe. It has continued the tradition of airing provocative documentaries and investigative reports. On June 17, 2009, it was known as Probe Profiles.

Final hosts

;Probe alumni