‘Sirena Wars’ End Prematurely

The ‘Sirena Wars’ between ‘Dyesebel’ and ‘Kambal Sirena’ was dominated by the former.

Tonight on GMA Telebabad, the much-awaited value-oriented drama series ‘Nino’ will make its primetime debut. But instead of premiering on the timeslot vacated by ‘Carmela’, GMA decided to make a programming change.

‘Nino’ was placed on the timeslot following ’24 Oras’, essentially following the same formula used by ABS-CBN in series such as ‘May Bukas Pa’, ‘100 Days to Heaven’, and ‘Honesto’. It also meant that the so-called ‘Sirena Wars’ waged between the Kapuso network’s ‘Kambal Sirena’ and ABS-CBN’s own adaptation of ‘Dyesebel’ had to end with this timeslot change, as ‘Kambal Sirena’ was moved at a later time opposite ‘Ikaw Lamang’.

The ‘Sirena Wars’, which lasted from March 17 to May 23, overwhelmingly favored ‘Dyesebel’ in the ratings. According to TNS Kantar’s figures, ‘Dyesebel’ consistently registered a double-digit winning margin over ‘Kambal Sirena’, with the former’s ratings reaching 30% or better against the latter’s 16% or lower average. Over at AGB Nielsen, the margin was close to nearly 5%, but it still favors ‘Dyesebel’ over ‘Kambal Sirena’, albeit by lower scores compared to Kantar’s.

‘Dyesebel’ was also a hit among social media netizens, with hashtags and topics related to the series consistently ranking among the top trends on Twitter. The same cannot be said for ‘Kambal Sirena’, however.

To GMA’s credit, ‘Kambal Sirena’ managed to hold its own against ‘Dyesebel’. While the series was outplayed by ‘Dyesebel’ in the ratings, it enabled Louise delos Reyes to continue improving her acting prowess, in what is only her second lead role in primetime. And while Anne Curtis remains among primetime’s top female stars, there is no question that delos Reyes is a formidable primetime actress herself, and has a bright future ahead of her.

But in the end, GMA needed a change. Realizing that ABS-CBN was successful in airing ‘May Bukas Pa’, ‘100 Days to Heaven’ and ‘Honesto’ after news programs, GMA decided to move ‘Kambal Sirena’ to a later timeslot and place ‘Nino’ instead. However, it remains to be seen whether or not ‘Nino’ will match, if not surpass the success of ABS-CBN’s value-oriented teleseryes.

Beginning tonight, both ‘Kambal Sirena’ and ‘Dyesebel’ will continue to air on primetime. But the ‘Sirena Wars’ is no more. And it was fun while it lasted.