Cathy Yang, Rico Hizon clinch top prizes at the 28th Asian TV Awards

Philippine news heavyweights Cathy Yang and Rico Hizon once again clinched the top prizes at the 28th Asian Television Awards held Friday at the Hoa Binh Theatre in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Yang, the host of One News’ talk-interview program Thought Leaders with Cathy Yang, won the Best Talk Show award, besting three other nominees, including Pia Guanio of Eagle Broadcasting Corporation, Gab Bayan of PTV, and Siti Hasfizza Aswaty Sab Jahan of Malaysia’s TV3 Talk Shows Media Prima Television Networks.

This marks her first win in the said category, following four victories as Best News Presenter, with the last one in 2019.

“This is my fifth Asian TV Award, but it is my first as Best Talk Show Host, so this is really meaningful to me,” she said in her acceptance speech. “Thank you to the jurors for believing in my personal reinvention and also believing in the conversations that I undertake on the show — meaningful conversations with thought leaders at the time of disinformation and misinformation.”

Hizon, meanwhile, won the Best News Presenter award for his work on CNN Philippines’ The Final Word, besting seven other nominees, including Ryan Wiedaryanto of Indosiar, Lee Chen-Chen of Formosa News, Kishore Ajwani of TV18, Shereen Bhan of CNBC TV18, Anand Narasimhan of CNN-News18, and Joee Guilas and Charms Espina of PTV.

This marks his third consecutive year winning in the said category.

“CNN Philippines, we have won the Best News Anchor recognition. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!” he said during his acceptance speech. “I would like to thank the Asian Television Awards, the judges for this recognition. I would also like to honor the men and women of CNN Philippines – the management, the editorial, the operations, and my colleagues from CNN Philippines for making this possible.”

The Asian TV Awards, now on its 28th year, is considered one of the most prestigious award-giving bodies in the broadcast television industry in Asia.