GMA’s Sabado Star Power will have a minor makeover this Saturday.
In response to the entry of ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ to ABS-CBN’s strong Saturday night lineup, GMA decided to switch the timeslots of both ‘Marian’ and ‘Magpakailanman’. As a result, the latter will now be seen ahead of the former, in between ‘Pepito Manaloto: Ang Tunay na Kwento’ and ‘Celebrity Bluff’.
For GMA, it was just another attempt to curb the increasing popularity of ‘The Voice of the Philippines’. So far, ratings for the latter have been very strong, as they average 27% or better according to Kantar.
It can be recalled that GMA was forced to change its weekend lineup several times during the run of TVPH’s sister show ‘The Voice Kids’. As it turned out, those tweaks did not even result in a victory for the struggling network in Timog.
So what are the implications of GMA’s most recent scheduling change?
With the move to a later timeslot, ‘Marian’ will be pitted against ‘The Voice of the Philippines’, which is an obvious mismatch. Considering that the dance show never even lit up the stat sheet against TVPH’s sister show ‘The Voice Kids’ a few months earlier, it will even harder for Marian Rivera’s dancing skills to outwit the singers of Team Sarah, Team Lea, Team Bamboo and Team apl.
As for ‘Magpakailanman’, they will resume their rivalry against ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya’, albeit at an earlier timeslot. However, the tweak will do little good for the former, as the latter’s recent dominance in their head-to-head matchup will continue.
Overall, this latest change made by GMA will not change the fact that they are on the decline. While ABS-CBN will continue to put up superior projects with impressive results, the same cannot be said for its rival within Quezon City’s South Triangle, whose best days are clearly behind them.
Sabado Star Power may have a new look come this Saturday, but don’t expect better results from GMA’s Saturday night lineup.
From the Tube 