Rated Resilient: Korina Sanchez on burnout, boundaries, and building back smarter
You wake up and don’t want to get up. Not even to open the blinds.”
Broadcaster-producer Korina Sanchez recalls the moment—off-camera, behind her composed facade—when she realized she was experiencing something unexpected.
Sanchez, who built her career on commanding attention on TV, radio, or now, across multiple media platforms, found herself stuck in a cycle of “sleep, work, sleep, work.”
It hit her: “This can’t be my life.”
“I had a mini meltdown. A burnout,” she admitted. “My husband, Mar (Roxas), didn’t know. I’ve never been the type to burden my partner. I take care of myself so that when I’m with him and our children, I am my whole self.”
She consulted a psychiatrist—and got on antidepressants. “It was also the first time I learned about pill-shaming,” Sanchez recalled. “People think that when you take antidepressants or anti-anxiety meds, you’ve gone crazy. But it’s not true. It’s hormonal. It’s chemical.”
Instead of hiding it, she told her staff. “I said, ‘I’m on antidepressants.’ And they were the happiest people because I was so much calmer. They were shocked. I used to be easily bothered,” she said, laughing.
The anxiety began during the pandemic. “It felt like I was about to have a heart attack, for no reason. I called Mar and said, ‘I just wanted to hear your voice.’ He was surprised. He said, ‘You never call me for something sweet like this.’ He told me he had gone through the same thing when his dad died.”
Pressure
It wasn’t just workload, Sanchez said, but also age, hormones, the speed of life.
“Beyond 40, chemical imbalance is a thing. But even people in their 20s are on antidepressants now. I think it’s social media. Too much pressure, too fast.”
So she set boundaries: no work after 8 p.m., no texts before 9 a.m. She now sleeps eight to 10 hours a night.
“I want to live a long life. My kids are still little. And this was different from being tired. I used to sleep in my car in the ABS-CBN parking lot and still function. This wasn’t that.”
She works with four networks now—TV5, ABS-CBN, Bilyonaryo, and Net 25. Each platform has its own demands, but she’s less of a perfectionist.
“If a project has my name on it, there’s a standard. But I’m not the type to rant or scold anymore. There’s less competition on TV now, and people are surprisingly more relaxed,” she pointed out.
She also noted how mental health awareness has shifted, comparing it to postpartum depression. “It used to be a big deal, like when Oprah started talking about it. Now ob-gyns tell mothers ahead of time: if you feel these symptoms, this is the psychiatrist to see.”
Many people she talks to are going through the same thing, but don’t know they can get help.
“You’ll be surprised how common it is. I was interviewing singer K Brosas—hers was even worse,” she said. “It just happens. I was just thinking about my schedule for the next day, and I suddenly started hyperventilating. That’s when I knew I had to manage my time better.”
This phase lasted just three months during the pandemic. “You eventually wean yourself off the meds,” she said.
Sanchez’s shows “Tik Talks” and “Face to Face” (TV5) and “Good Will” (Net 25) are on season break. “That’s the style now—replays. Everything’s different. They keep shows on break as long as they can still make money. Back then, you couldn’t be off-air too long. Now, the ratings war is more relaxed. TV audiences are so scattered. Most don’t watch live anymore.”
She’s seen how drastically the media has changed. “I was a corporate talent for years. Then the pandemic and the ABS-CBN shutdown happened at the same time. Everything changed—this kind of change was a full 180. The industry flipped. If you don’t adapt, you get left behind.”
She wasn’t even officially told she was being let go by ABS-CBN, but she was already preparing. “I’ve always been on survival mode,” she said. “That training—being both talent and executive producer—kept me battle-ready.”
Own your show
She quickly launched “Rated K” on Facebook with a single sponsor. Just four people were on the team. “Two months later, Brightlight picked me up and put me on TV5. We even had a simulcast with ABS. Albee Benitez made that happen.”
When the show evolved into “Rated Korina,” it was strategic. “ABS-CBN president and CEO Carlo Katigbak once told me, ‘Korina, you have to own your show.’ So I registered ‘Rated Korina’ with the Securities and Exchange Commission. I became the line producer. It was a smart business move. Even the jingle is under my name. I control the content. I can sell it. It’s more lucrative this way.”
And yes, she pays well. “My talent fees now are like ABS-CBN in its heyday. I have six shows. When I saw everyone at our staff party, I thought, ‘So this is what the late Deo Endrinal must have felt like.’ So many people!”
Being a producer means watching the budget, too. “No one else will care like the producer does,” she said.
Then there’s “Face to Face.” “People asked, ‘Why would you referee fights in the barangay?’ They said, protect your brand. But what is my brand? I’ve done everything from high-profile interviews to grassroots content. I came from ‘Hoy Gising!’ and ‘Kayo ang Humatol.’ Stories about dogs, roosters—that is my brand.”
Now, the Bilyonaryo channel wants her to interview the ultra-rich. “That’s a challenge—I feel more at home with people pulling each other’s hair over P600. I’ve paid out of pocket before. I help, but I don’t enable. I call out the bitterness. I give help, with a sermon.”
When asked about her favorite show, Sanchez said she enjoys them all. “It’s fulfilling to sit with someone like actor Christopher de Leon and talk about how he overcame drug addiction. That’s a different level.”
“Rated Korina” lets her meet people from all walks of life. “So many stories—sports, horror, comedy, drama. It’s real life. Plus, I get to travel.”
And then there’s “Agenda.” “News is news. Why did I come back? I’ve been doing it forever. The offer was good. Editorial-wise, solid.”
She’s testing all kinds of content now. “It’s all about reaching different platforms. Each one with its own little audience. That’s why I’m on so many.”
At her busiest back then, she was juggling three shows—radio, “Morning Girls,” and the news.
“Now it’s over-the-top. I have two radio shows. I’m enjoying it. Hopefully, it won’t be this hectic forever.”
