THE best way to describe him would be simply this: He is a rock star in the Philippine real-estate industry. A businessman by profession but a TV personality by choice, John Aguilar is the CEO and executive producer of Philippine Realty TV, or, simply, PRTV, the first and, by far, the only real-estate and construction lifestyle television program in the country.
John’s PRTV is an innovative reality show that features discussions on real estate and construction, which are areas generally considered as underserved in Philippine TV. I have been honored to be a guest in that show a couple of times, and, I must say, it has always been a joy working with John and his PRTV crew.
How it all began
It all started some time in 2007, as John was flipping through magazines and newspapers piled on his desk. He was trying to think of a show that would generate interest from a specific segment of TV viewers not specifically targeted by any other TV show at that time.
The big moment came when he noticed there were lots of real-estate ads on print. Knowing that real-estate development was such a huge industry with an equally big market, he wondered why there was hardly any kind of substantial exposure for property-development projects on TV.
“That was the light-bulb moment for me. I saw this opportunity to come up with a TV show that would address and serve this largely untapped TV market,” John recalled.
He then did more research on the industry—like who the players are, what the interests of the market are, what the possible target audience would like to see, and who the major stakeholders would be. The results of the research would be used as basis for either solidifying his decision or scrapping it altogether.
John also recalls that when he went on a trip to Canada, he asked some of his relatives and friends there what they thought about a television show that would showcase the best of the real-estate industry.
“They thought it was a good idea,” he stressed. A year after that trip, the very first episode of PRTV was aired.
The diversification of PRTV’s business model
When John first came up with PRTV, he saw it as an opportunity to merely showcase the best projects of real-estate developers in the country. However, the show inevitably and expectedly grew and breathed life to other innovative property-related segments.
“As I was producing the show, through the years, my eyes opened up to a lot of other opportunities in terms of serving the real-estate market,” John noted. “On PRTV’s second year, I decided it would be a good opportunity to be able to build back then what was to be my first house.”
He was referring to Project: First Home, a highly novel concept in local reality TV, which showcased John actually building his very first home in the show—literally from the ground up.
He also decided to use this series as a chance to accommodate the suppliers and use what they have to offer to build his very first house. It was a brilliant move, I believe, one which actually made Philippine television history.
Project: First Home served as some sort of a tutorial on how to build a house from scratch. As a newbie, John knew very little about actual construction work and merely learned as he went along. This was actually the appeal of the show because the viewers were able to relate to John as he went through the pitfalls, the highs and lows of supervising the building of one’s own home.
Then, constantly thinking of ways to provide service to his viewers, John turned Project: First Home into a book aimed to be a comprehensive guide for those who plan to be more hands-on in building their own homes. The book is actually a very good read and is one I highly recommend to future homebuilders.
Driven by a new-found passion for property development, John went on to do more innovative programming for the show. He launched Project: Green Home as PRTV’s second series on air. The show was inspired by the new greening initiatives in property development worldwide. Project: Green Home showcased green architectural design principles and demonstrated sustainable ways for viewers and homebuyers to become more conscious of their environment.
Another groundbreaking project that John and his PRTV team brought forth was Project: Smart Home. In this show, PRTV partnered with Buensalido+Architects to build a home that aims to withstand flooding, a truly useful and timely development concept.
One thing I can really say about John is that the guy doesn’t seem to run out of ideas. Just recently he launched a new reality series in PRTV called Broker Superstars, which features newbie and veteran real-estate brokers who are given challenges related to their job.
But that’s not the end of it. More trailblazing ideas are currently being cooked up by John and his PRTV team. “Right now, our immediate plan is to broaden our reach and also to expand to serve the consumers,” John stressed.
“That’s the reason we opened up our new brokerage firm called Realty Emporium. We want to be able to use the influence and the trust we were able to earn from our viewers and our followers, to be able to help consumers who want to invest in their own properties,” he added.
Having learned the ropes from the best in the industry, John is now also planning on going into actual property development. “There is a multiplier effect when you get into real-estate development. If I had been content with just producing a television show, the impact wouldn’t be as big as what it could potentially be,” John said.
“Going outside of TV production expands not just my influence on the industry, but also my ability to give back to the people who have helped me. Because the more people I work with, the more jobs I can provide for people,” he emphasized.
Indeed, what John brings to the real-estate table is a unique communication channel in a medium that’s overwhelmingly popular and yet had remained largely untapped by the property development industry prior to PRTV’s inception. What John did was to effectively open up new and effective marketing opportunities for property developers while helping viewers with their real-estate concerns.