The newly-premiered GMA series ‘Destiny Rose’ is one of three teleseryes whose running times were extended as part of Afternoon Prime’s revamped schedule. (Logo courtesy of GMA Network/Destiny Rose Official Facebook)
GMA’s Afternoon Prime block is now down to four programs.
In an attempt to curb the declining ratings of the block, GMA decided to shrink the amount of programs that Afternoon Prime normally airs. The victim of this revamp is the Koreanovelas; following the conclusion of ‘Birth of a Beauty’, GMA decided not to air a Koreanovela in the afternoon, leaving Afternoon Prime with just four programs.
The four programs are:
- The Half-Sisters
- Buena Familia
- Destiny Rose (new show)
- News and Public Affairs block (Alisto, Tunay na Buhay, Power House, Reporters’ Notebook, Love Hotline)
This means that GMA will now extend the running times of the three teleseryes by 5-10 minutes. So expect ‘The Half-Sisters’, ‘Buena Familia’ and newcomer ‘Destiny Rose’ to air for nearly an hour each, which is uncharacteristic for a teleserye.
As for the News and Public Affairs block, the new schedule puts them out of position. Instead of going head-to-head with their ABS-CBN counterparts, they will now go up against ‘Kapamilya: Deal or No Deal’, which is a definite mismatch based on the latter’s recent string of ratings success.
Overall, this is not a good scheduling idea for GMA in the long run. Since the three teleseryes run for nearly an hour, there will be issues of more frequent commercial breaks and unexpected cliffhangers, something that would make these teleseryes tough and mentally draining to watch even for the more die-hard viewers.
Not even the viewership of ‘Eat Bulaga’ will help either. Despite the show’s recent success with the AlDub phenomenon, the momentum built up during ‘Eat Bulaga’ gradually falls after the show ends, due to various factors.
That said, the reduction of the number of programs in the afternoon is of no use for GMA. Dragging these programs for an extended period may mean disaster for this once-formidable programming block.
Now it’s up to ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Gold to take advantage. GMA’s loss is now ABS-CBN’s gain.
From the Tube 
Indeed, in fact the viewers who watch EB doesn’t even watch the show from start finish. Yun peak time kasi ng EB ay 1 pm which is the time when kalyeserye goes on air. And as i said on an earlier article of yours, ABS is actually benefiting on the success of AlDub and not GMA which is actually weird to say. With this, Kapamilya Gold is truly Afternoon Prime due to the fact some of its primetime stars are on the afternoon block which really helps.
Also take note that hindi talaga tayo sanay diyan sa mga isang oras na teleserye; sa US lang meron nito. Typically 45 minutes lang ang tinatagal ng mga teleserye, which is enough to satisfy viewers. This means that GMA is exploring new territory in one-hour teleseryes. Problema though is the amount of commercial breaks na minsan magiging biglaan, kaya mahihirapan silang makaakit ng mga manonood.
Well the fact that GMA is exploring different options might be good but I don’t know if it will work lalo na KG is starting to gain the upper hand over AP.
Sa mga telenovela ng Telemundo at sa mga bansa sa Latin America, kadalasan mga 45-60 minutes tumatagal ang isang kabanata. Yan ang norm simula pa noong late 1990s.
Same goes to the American soap operas. That said, GMA is trying to venture into foreign territory by airing one-hour teleseryes five times a week.
Wala namang problema sa GMA ang mahabang commercials since hindi sila miyembro ng KBP. On the expansion, I think this won’t help at all, especially na tumaas ang ratings ng Kapamilya Gold as of late. Even a strong lead-in program like Eat Bulaga won’t even help at all.
Mukhang madagdagan pa ang problema sa GMA.
Yes no problem commercial-wise, pero kung tatanungin ang mga viewers, would they accept a teleserye na isang oras at mabagal ang takbo, with unexpected breaks in between? I think they won’t considering one hour is too long for a teleserye now.
The 5:20-5:50 timeslot reserved for public affairs programs, was also used for airing four regional newscasts in Cebu, Davao, Dagupan and Iloilo under the 24 Oras brand.
But if that’s the case, where will they put the public affairs programs in those areas? They should find a way to do so. ABS does that with their regional networks.