AlDub Phenomenon Continues to Grow, But Warning Signs Become Evident

The AlDub phenomenon reached fever pitch last Saturday.

‘Eat Bulaga”s so-called National Pabebe Wave Day featured a chance meeting between Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza (aka Yaya Dub) inside a mansion ‘owned’ by Lola Nidora (Wally Bayola). It marked the first selfie between the pair, the debut of the mansion’s maid Rianna, also portrayed by Bayola, and the first time that Yaya Dub spoke on national television.

That episode of ‘Eat Bulaga’ overwhelmed ‘It’s Showtime”s ANIMversary episode by a wide margin, both in tweets and in the ratings. A record 25 million tweets were confirmed during the episode, while ratings of 37.2 (NUTAM) and 30.8% (Kantar) helped ‘Eat Bulaga’ widen its gap over ‘It’s Showtime’.

Many were beginning to question ‘It’s Showtime”s increasingly immoral antics, such as what happened last Saturday with the on-air kiss between Viceral (Vice Ganda’s alter-ego) and Karylle (see video above). Even the infamous Pastillas Girl segments (which were criticized for its desperate and indecent nature) earned the ire of Gabriela for its exploitation of women.

However, the so-called Kalyeserye on ‘Eat Bulaga’ also has its fair share of detractors. This despite the fact that it entails a positive message to its viewers.

Since the AlDub phenomenon got underway, virtually every newscast on GMA and GMA News TV have always featured a short summary of the Kalyeserye (example video above). The overemphasis on AlDub continued even during Sundays, which is a rest day for the staff of ‘Eat Bulaga’.

Stories of the AlDub phenomenon have also become a regular occurrence on ‘Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho’. Features of AlDub fanatics are usually the point of emphasis on the said program.

GMA has also taken advantage of Alden Richards’ renewed fame, even though it was ‘Eat Bulaga”s parent company TAPE, Inc. who made the young actor a household name. Just recently, News TV reaired the obvious flop that is ‘Ilustrado’, while Alden’s life story on ‘Magpakailanman’ was also replayed.

It is clear that GMA is abusing the popularity of AlDub. The pair alone has loomed large over GMA’s own talents, and as a result, stunts their development and potential.

That said, finding a balance between AlDub and the rest of the network should be emphasized. AlDub can’t do it alone, and GMA needs its other talents and programs to step up in this urgent moment.

AlDub’s popularity should not be taken for granted. It is GMA’s responsibility to make things fair for everyone, otherwise it may alienate its viewers.

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Boy Abunda Goes Solo Starting Tonight

The spotlight every late weeknights now solely falls on Boy Abunda.

Starting tonight, Abunda will be the host of the now-retitled ‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’, which will take over the timeslot of its predecessor ‘Aquino & Abunda Tonight. This comes after erstwhile co-host Kris Aquino left the show due to health concerns.

‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’ will carry some of the elements from its predecessor, except that Abunda will be joined by some guest commentators who will analyze some of the hottest stories today. As always, interviews with some of the country’s headliners will highlight the show, with the participation of viewers via social media.

While the transition to Boy Abunda going solo will not be a problem (he’s already used to hosting solo on ‘The Bottomline with Boy Abunda’), there is one problem concerning the title of the show. Some viewers may think that ‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’ is related to GMA News TV’s ‘Tonight with Arnold Clavio’, despite its differences in format.

If ABS-CBN were smart enough, they could have promoted Boy Abunda’s new daily solo show as a spin-off to ‘The Bottomline with Boy Abunda’. Perhaps ‘The Daily Bottomline’, ‘Bottomline 15’ or ‘The Bottomline in 15 Minutes’ would have been a more appropriate title, isn’t it?

Or they would just rename it as ‘ 15 Minutes with Boy Abunda’. Either way, ABS-CBN would have been more creative if they created a better program title instead of copy-pasting one that is already used on another network.

As for Kris Aquino, her departure from the show leaves her with just one program in ‘Kris TV’. Perhaps it’s only good for her to do only one show, given the recent health scares that affected her, not to mention other projects not related to television appearances.

All 15 minutes of Boy Abunda on his new show should be interesting. Let’s see how it pays off.

‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’ airs weeknights after ‘Pinoy Big Brother: 737’ on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida.

Billboard Hot 100 – October 3, 2015

JRDV'S WORLD

Here are the Top 10 songs from the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of September 26, 2015.

1. The Weeknd – The Hills. No. 2 last week.

2. Justin Bieber – What Do You Mean. No. 3 last week.

3. The Weeknd – Can’t Feel My Face. No. 1 last week.

4. Silento – Watch Me. No. 4 last week.

5. Selena Gomez feat. A$AP Rocky – Good For You. No. 7 last week.

6. R. City feat. Adam Levine – Locked Away. No. 9 last week.

7. Fetty Wap feat. Remy Boyz – 679. No. 8 last week.

8. OMI – Cheerleader. No. 5 last week.

9. Drake – Hotline Bling. No. 16 last week.

10. Major Lazer & DJ Snake Featuring M0 – Lean On. No. 6 last week.

All videos of the Top 10 songs can be viewed above. Our thanks to Billboard for this week’s Billboard…

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A New Problem for MariMar as Ang Probinsyano Premieres

The new ‘MariMar’ of Megan Young and Tom Rodriguez has not been able to make an impact.

Whether it’s Kantar or AGB Nielsen’s NUTAM ratings, ‘MariMar’ proved to be no match for ‘Nathaniel’. The latter series will end later tonight, but more problems await the former.

Come this Monday, ‘MariMar”s new opponent will be the long-awaited adaptation of ‘Ang Probinsyano’. The new series is based on the classic late 90s film starring Fernando Poe, Jr., and will star Coco Martin in a dual role of estranged twin law enforcers.

In ‘Ang Probinsyano’, Coco will play the roles of twins Ador and Cardo, whose lives were separated financially. After Ador was killed, Cardo decided to cover up the incident by posing as his brother, but playing a dead brother whose lifestyle is different from his proved to be more difficult than he thought.

Joining Coco in the upcoming series will be Maja Salvador, Arjo Atayde, Albert Martinez, Agot Isidro, Bela Padilla, Joey Marquez, Jaime Fabregas, and Ms. Susan Roces. Maja will replace Angeline Quinto, who left the series due to scheduling conflicts.

Also playing key supporting roles will be Simon Pineda, Dennis Padilla, Ana Roces, Zaijian Jaranilla, Malou Crisologo, Malu De Guzman, Marvin Yap, Pepe Herrera, Lester Llansang, John Medina, Michael Jornales, Gio Alvarez and Tess Antonio. Avel Sunpongco and Malu Sevilla will direct the series.

‘Ang Probinsyano’ will be the second FPJ adaptation to air on ABS-CBN, following ‘Ang Panday’ which was broadcast ten years earlier. All rights to the films of Fernando Poe, Jr. have been with ABS-CBN since 2007, and are currently seen in select ABS-CBN free TV and cable networks.

Now that ‘Ang Probinsyano’ will make its long-awaited premiere, how much more will ‘MariMar’ have to endure? The series has so far not been able to live up to the standards of the original Thalia classic and the DongYan-starred first adaptation, and the entry of ‘Ang Probinsyano’ only makes things worse.

That said, ‘MariMar’ will have its hands full against its new adversary. It’s a big challenge for the embattled series, so let’s see how it pans out.

‘Ang Probinsyano’ airs weeknights starting September 28 after ‘TV Patrol’ on Primetime Bida.

In 100 Words: Celebrity Playtime Is ABS-CBN’s Answer to Celebrity Bluff

Jose Manalo, Boobay, Isko Salvador and Eugene Domingo will now has some company, albeit at an earlier timeslot.

ABS-CBN has announced that ‘Celebrity Playtime’, the upcoming comedy/game show hosted by Billy Crawford, will air starting this Saturday at 6:00 p.m. The program will feature teams of celebrity guests competing in various party games, all in the spirit of laughter and fun.

In essence, this was ABS-CBN’s true answer to the popular GMA comedy/game show ‘Celebrity Bluff’. The three-year old program has enjoyed a loyal following amid stiff and superior opposition from various Kapamilya reality and talent shows; currently it airs opposite another show hosted by Billy Crawford, ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar’.

‘Celebrity Playtime’ will take over the timeslot of ‘Mga Kwento ni Marc Logan’, which had been on the air for over a year.

Jack TV, FOX Philippines Battle for Heroes Reborn

A bidding war between Jack TV and FOX Philippines over ‘Heroes Reborn’ has left viewers of both networks perplexed, even though the former will air the series much earlier. (Photo credit: Solar Entertainment/Jack TV Official Facebook)

Two cable channels are now fighting for the right to air ‘Heroes Reborn’.

Jack TV and FOX Philippines have announced that they will both broadcast ‘Heroes Reborn’ via satellite starting tomorrow. The premiere broadcast of ‘Heroes Reborn’ on both channels will be as follows:

• Jack TV – 11:00 a.m.
• FOX Philippines – 11:35 a.m.

‘Heroes Reborn’ is a 13-episode miniseries that picks up from where the original series ‘Heroes’ left off. In the U.S., the mini-series will air on NBC, the same home network as the original.

The original ‘Heroes’ first saw the light of day in the Philippines when it was aired on RPN-9 via its Prime Shift and C/S 9 branding. The series ran from 2006 to 2010 and spanned four seasons.

Just recently, all episodes of the original ‘Heroes’ were re-aired on FOX Philippines, who also intend to air ‘Heroes Reborn’. However, Jack TV, a former sister station of RPN-9, also made their own case on the upcoming miniseries, and as a result, a bidding war began between the two networks.

The program rights battle between Solar Entertainment and FOX International Channels is no longer new. There have been instances of one program being aired on each of the company’s channels; for example, Jack TV and FOX Philippines have the rights to ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Family Guy’, among other programs, with the difference being that the former airs the current season and the latter the previous seasons.

That said, it’s hard to fathom the fact that two cable networks will premiere the same program at almost the same time. It is also confusing, because the viewers will find it hard to choose which channel to watch.

Perhaps the time has come for Solar’s Wilson Tieng and FOX International’s Jude Turcuato to settle this issue once and for all. The similarities between the two outfits should not go a little too far by airing the same program almost simultaneously, so they have to figure out a way to differentiate themselves according to content.

Let’s just hope that they work out a deal in the near future. After all, this is for the best interests of the viewer.