Laff Camera Action Premiere Fails to Pay Off

There’s nothing to laugh about on GMA these days.

Last Saturday, GMA’s newest comedy game show ‘Laff, Camera, Action!’ officially premiered on the network’s Sabado Star Power block. Hosted by Betong and Sheena Halili, the show features two aspiring teams of comedians in a showcase of unscripted and improvisational comedy (sample video from episode 1 below).

A lot was expected on ‘Laff, Camera, Action!’, considering its purpose of putting up-and-coming comedians on the spotlight. Unfortunately, the show’s debut episode failed to impress the entire nation, as it scored a paltry 8.2%.

The initial performance of ‘Laff, Camera, Action!’ was similar to the finale of its predecessor ‘CelebriTV’, in which it scored an 8.1% rating. At this point, it’s hard to fathom why the 4:30 p.m. timeslot on Saturdays is a bane for the Kapuso network, and why GMA was not willing to pit ‘Laff, Camera, Action!’ with ABS-CBN’s ‘Family Feud’.

Any critical viewer knows that ‘Family Feud”s overreliance on celebrities as its contestants does more harm than good. If GMA were smart and daring enough, they would have placed ‘Laff, Camera, Action!’ (whose purpose is different from ‘Family Feud’) opposite the former, in hopes of drawing any disgruntled viewer who doesn’t like ABS-CBN’s ‘un-Kapamilya’ act.

But as it turned out, GMA is not willing to make that possible, all because of ratings. ABS-CBN’s obsessive celebrity approach to game shows continues to pay off no matter the harm it causes, and thus GMA wants nothing to do with this matchup.

With episode 1 behind them, GMA can only hope that ‘Laff, Camera, Action!’ will show some semblance of improvement. Given ABS-CBN’s more impressive afternoon and beyond lineup, it will not be an easy task, but with smart promotional strategies, it should pay off.

Advertisement

Yan ang Morning Demoted Due to Low Ratings

It’s been a rough first month for ‘Yan ang Morning’.

Through four weeks and 19 episodes, the GMA talk show’s national ratings average was a paltry 6%. Making matters worse for Marian Rivera and company is that ‘Yan ang Morning’ is outperformed at times by ‘Magandang Buhay’, another recently unveiled morning talk show produced by rival ABS-CBN.

The poor ratings of ‘Yan ang Morning’ forced GMA to make an adjustment starting today. From its original timeslot of 10:45 a.m., ‘Yan ang Morning’ will be demoted to an earlier timeslot of 9:30 a.m.

In turn, GMA’s Asianovelas (collectively known as Heart of Asia Mornings) will be moved much later. Starting at 10:30 a.m., this will be the lineup for Heart of Asia Mornings.

• 10:30 a.m. – Mako Mermaids
• 11:00 a.m. – High School Love On

The two series will air their final episodes tomorrow morning. Then on Wednesday, June 1, a pair of Koreanovelas will premiere on Heart of Asia Mornings, with ‘Secret Hotel’ taking over ‘Mako Mermaids” timeslot followed by ‘I Heart U Doc’ in ‘High School Love On”s place.

Despite the timeslot change, ‘Yan ang Morning’ will still be up against ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’, not to mention the upcoming 2016 NBA Finals that will be aired on a delayed basis on ABS-CBN. That said, it’s still going to be a tough challenge for ‘Yan ang Morning’ to keep up since they’re facing the same programs they’re up against before.

Perhaps GMA should consider this proposal. In order for ‘Yan ang Morning’ to perform well, they need to sacrifice the final 30 minutes of ‘Unang Hirit’, then move the former to 7:00 a.m., so as to have a chance at winning.

Not only does ‘Yan ang Morning’ air much earlier, it also gives them a head-start over ‘Magandang Buhay’, and in the process, enables GMA to keep their high-rating animes in the same timeslot. Seems easy enough given GMA’s penchant for cost-cutting in recent months.

It remains to be seen if the new timeslot will pay off for ‘Yan ang Morning’. For now, though, give them a chance to thrive.

Billboard Hot 100 – June 4, 2016

Here are the Top 10 songs from the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of June 4, 2016.

1. Drake feat. WizKid & Kyla – One Dance. No. 2 last week.

*Due to copyright issues and a lack of an official music/lyric video, no video is available for the song.

2. Desiigner – Panda. No. 3 last week.

3. Justin Timberlake – Can’t Stop the Feeling!. No. 1 last week.

4 Lukas Graham – 7 Years. No. 4 last week.

5. Fifth Harmony feat. Ty Dolla $ign – Work from Home. No. 6 last week.

6. The Chainsmokers feat. Daya – Don’t Let Me Down. No. 7 last week.

7. Mike Posner – I Took a Pill in Ibiza. No. 5 last week.

8. Rihanna feat. Drake – Work. No. 8 last week.

9. Zayn – Pillowtalk. No. 9 last week.

10. Rihanna – Needed Me. No. 10 last week.

All videos of the Top 10 songs can be viewed above. Our thanks to Billboard for this week’s Hot 100 Top 10.

The Voice Kids Returns for a Third Season

‘The Voice Kids’ is back.

A new crop of young singers take the stage beginning this weekend to see who will be the next grand winner of the most popular singing competition in the country. The third season of ‘The Voice Kids’ will get underway with the blind auditions, but before that, there were some significant changes that took place.

This season’s set of coaches/judges will be different from prior seasons. Gone is Sarah Geronimo, and in her place will be the country’s ‘Megastar’ Sharon Cuneta, who will join holdovers Lea Salonga and Bamboo.

Geronimo, who had been a judge for all two seasons of both ‘The Voice Kids’ and ‘The Voice of the Philippines’, stated that she left the show in order to focus as a performer on ‘ASAP’. However, she hinted that she may return to ‘The Voice’ in the near future.

Also joining ‘The Voice Kids’ for this season will be Kim Chiu, who will be one of the show’s hosts alongside Luis Manzano and Robi Domingo. This will be Chiu’s first major hosting role.

As in prior seasons, ‘The Voice Kids’ is divided into several levels, starting with the blind auditions. From there, singers on each of the three teams will be gradually eliminated, culminating in the series of live performance and results shows that will determine this season’s winner.

The first two seasons of ‘The Voice Kids’ constantly ranked atop the most-watched programs in the country. Season 1, won by Lyca Gairanod, averaged nearly 35%, while Season 2, won by Elha Nympha, averaged nearly 42%.

Overall, the ‘The Voice Kids’ normed over 39%, which is better than the 25% average of its sister show ‘The Voice of the Philippines’. That alone, coupled with the success of some of the former’s finalists, became a key reason why ABS-CBN chose to produce a third season of ‘The Voice Kids’ first instead of the latter’s own third season.

If the second season’s high ratings were any indication, expect an equally excellent, if not improved turnout for the third season of ‘The Voice Kids’. The popularity of the show has been impressive so far, and now, it’s up to the viewers to take it to the next level.

Season 3 of ‘The Voice Kids’ Philippines airs Saturdays at 7:15 p.m. and Sundays at 7:00 p.m. on ABS-CBN.

With Loss of V-League, GMA’s Sports Hopes Disappear

It’s all but over for GMA in terms of sports.

This came after the Shakey’s V-League bolted to rival ABS-CBN earlier this week, leaving GMA without any sporting events to cover (unless one counts the boxing fights on GMA News TV’s ‘All Sports’ as an event). The new deal will see all of the games aired live on Sports+Action SD, HD and on livestream every Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays starting at 4:00 p.m.

GMA News TV had been the home of the Shakey’s V-League since 2013. When GMA inked a deal with the V-League and Sports Vision that year, it coincided with the sudden rise of volleyball in the country, capped off by a sold-out UAAP women’s volleyball final series between popular rivals Ateneo and La Salle.

Once the deal began, however, problems ensued. Games were still aired on a delayed basis, primarily due to News TV’s commitment to news programming, and although later tournaments saw live broadcasts, the lack of willingness from GMA and News TV proved hard to overcome.

In the end, the V-League allowed its contract with GMA to expire, and when it came time for a new television contract, they sought ABS-CBN Sports. It was a perfect fit, and with the latter having turned the UAAP women’s volleyball tournament into must-see TV, they are now expected to do the same for the V-League.

GMA’s lack of a sports division has been well-documented on From the Tube. As ABS-CBN and TV5 continued to make strides in airing some of the top sporting events in the country, GMA is left to lick their wounds wondering what might have been.

Considering their status as the No. 2 network in the country (sorry AGB Nielsen), GMA should have been keeping up with ABS-CBN in virtually every department. Instead, their lack of resources was exposed, and thanks to the impending return of ‘Encantadia’, expect more of their hidden revenue to go down the drain.

 

Now that the Shakey’s V-League is out of GMA, uncertainty looms in the northern corner of EDSA and Timog Avenue. A long, rainy season awaits for the Kapuso network, and without any big-name sporting events, the possibility of a GMA Sports division is now all but diminished.

A Spectacular Ending for Pilipinas Got Talent

Season 5 of ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ ended on a great note.

For the first time in the talent show’s history, a non-singer won the grand prize of P2 million. Power Duo, a dancing act composed of real-life couple Anjanette and Gervin, was named the grand winner, following an impressive performance in the finale held during the weekend of May 21-22 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Dancing to the tune of the OPM classic ‘Ikaw Lamang’, Power Duo earned an average of 100% of votes from both the judges and the viewers to win the grand prize. Their awe-struck performance in the finale capped off an amazing run for the dance act, who began the season by receiving the Golden Buzzer and kept cruising all season.

Power Duo joins an elite list of winners in the ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ franchise, all of which were singers. They are Jovit Baldivino, Marcelito Pomoy, Maasinhon Trio, and Roel Manlangit.

Aside from Power Duo, the season’s other finalists include:

Dancers

• Crossover Family
• Mastermind
• Sto. Tomas Bulilit Generation
• Power Impact Dancers

Singers

• Next Option
• The Chosen Ones
• Kurt Philip Espiritu

Variety Acts

• UA Mindanao (motocross stunts)
• Amazing Pyra (fire dancing)
• Ody Sto. Domingo (magic)
• Dino Splendid Acrobats (acrobatic stunts)

While the finale went along smoothly, not all performers left the venue standing. UA Mindanao member Bornok Mangosong performed a risky back-flip that ultimately crashed, leaving him in a wheelchair afterwards.

Despite the mishap, the judges still praised UA Mindanao for courageously finishing the performance. Angel Locsin, one of the season’s judges, even gave the group a perfect score.

Overall, Season 5 of ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ was a runaway winner, averaging around 35% and consistently topping the list of the 20 most-watched shows every Saturday and Sunday. To cap it all off, the two-part finale garnered ratings of 33.8% (Saturday) and 36.7% (Sunday), beating the competition on both occasions.

It was indeed a spectacular ending for ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’. While its future is once again up in the air, there is glimmer of hope, since the just-concluded season gave all acts a fair share of the spotlight, capped off by a non-singer in Power Duo winning the grand prize.

Hopefully ABS-CBN can bring back the ever-successful franchise sooner rather than later. For now though, another talent show franchise in ‘The Voice Kids’ is on the spotlight starting this weekend.