Weekdays at 5:00 p.m. has spelled trouble for ABS-CBN.
And it has been that way since mid-April, when ‘We Will Survive’ was demoted from Primetime Bida to Kapamilya Gold to make way for ‘My Super D’. Now that both series will end this Friday, ABS-CBN must resolve this ongoing problem that is the 5:00 p.m. slot as soon as possible.
Looking at the root of this situation, it is clear that by the time the clock strikes 5:00 p.m. (17:00 in military terms), not every area in the country will receive the same program. Instead, what most provincial areas receive is their dialect-based version of ‘TV Patrol’, which focuses on news in a particular region or province.
The affected program (currently ‘We Will Survive’) was then aired the next morning at 9:00 a.m. Unfortunately, during the network’s broadcast of the 2016 NBA Finals in June, the series was preempted at times, and those without iWanTV subscription were left scratching their heads wondering why those episodes never aired.
To make matters worse, by the time ‘Magandang Buhay’ was bumped to 8:00 a.m. on June 21, the final 30 minutes of the talk show was preempted just to make way for the said affected program. Something is not quite right.
The end result of this was that ‘We Will Survive’ endured inconsistent ratings since its demotion to Kapamilya Gold. That said, with this timeslot considered a trouble spot, teleseryes should be off-limits going forward.
As of today, ABS-CBN has confirmed that the returning ‘Minute to Win It’, to be hosted by Luis Manzano, will take over the soon-to-be vacated timeslot of ‘My Super D’. Which leaves the 5:00 p.m. slot up for grabs, and for ABS-CBN to resolve this problem, one program would be better off airing.
Enter the ‘O Shopping’ program block. Usually airing during the wee hours of the morning, the said program should pose no threat to ABS-CBN’s overall programming when it airs at 5:00 p.m., simply because it is merely a filler show.
That said, its presence will mean a lot to ABS-CBN in the long-term. ‘Magandang Buhay’ will now be aired for a full 90 minutes in all areas, while preempting a program for ‘TV Patrol’ in the regions will no longer carry a risk factor ratings-wise.
Still, it is up to ABS-CBN management to convince themselves of a change in strategy. If they decided to once again air a teleserye at 5:00 p.m. (‘The Greatest Love’ is being pegged as a replacement for ‘We Will Survive’), then good luck in trying to be more consistent in the ratings.
Hopefully ABS-CBN does something right here. This is one important issue to address.
From the Tube 
How about creating “TV Patrol Metro Manila”? Paging Charie Villa (update/correct me if someone else replaced her as RNG head)
Too redundant, since we already have TV Patrol national for that. The 6:30 newscast technically covers Metro Manila as well.
why are you still insisting a Manila-only newscast is “redundant”? Tell that to Washington DC, London, Madrid, Moscow, to name a few.
and oh, dialect is a misnomer. they are languages in their own right.
and you may not want to spark a debate here, so I’ll stop here. apologies and peace out.
With all due respect, TV Patrol’s 6:30 newscast already covers Metro Manila for the most part. Besides, anything about Metro Manila is considered national news as far as we’re concerned. But if you want an MM-only newscast so bad, better suggest that to ABS management. They might have an answer for it.
well, I respectfully disagree with you and will have to rebut you.
In this context, how does a shooting incident in Ermita affects someone in Cebu? No wonder Cebuanos hate Manila for that imperialistic mindset, the result of which is a 60-minute newscast whose airtime is consumed by mostly crime stories in Manila.
US affiliates have local news for DC. BBC has local news for London. Madrid does for TVE? Why can’t we? Is that of “Manila is the center of government stuff?
That is the only way that 5PM problem is to be resolved.
Have you seen US national newscast with content mostly crime stories in the Bronx?
Ok you have a point. Perhaps it’s about time for an MM-only newscast, and preferably include Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite on the scope. But only if the networks are willing to do such a thing, because setting up a regional network/program like that may be costly. You know what happened to GMA lately, don’t you?
that would be costly but it’s worth, especially ABS-CBN.
the lack of regional presence in our mainstream networks are one of the many reasons the market is still small. perhaps it will help make it grow and mature.
Time will tell if they can do such a thing.
Jerick, someone has already replaced Charie.
Wowowin is a strong counterpart of ABS CBN. Eventhough they cannot win in Kantar, the rating is too close to 2 Dramas on ABS CBN.
Still, a win is a win, and Wowowin is definitely on the upswing. Perhaps ABS should resolve this regional network problem as soon as possible, because the more it affects them, the more viewers will be annoyed by it.
They Should Place Minute to Win it in the 5 Pm Slot, same as Wowowin’s Schedule. or maybe, bring back PBB Uber and place it in the 5:00-5:30 timeslot while Minute to Win it will start at 5:30 and end at 6:30 pm. that being said, they must reduced “It’s Showtime’s timeslot from 12:15-3:20 to 12:15-2:45 so that Doble Kara, Tubig at Langis and The Gratest Love will be on 2:45-3:30, 3:30-4:15 and 4:15-5:00 timeslot respectively, same as to what Afteenoon Prime scheduling.
Only solution: just move It’s Showtime to an earlier timeslot (possibly 12:00 p.m.) just to accommodate the three teleseryes. ABS made a mistake when they extended Showtime in April without realizing the consequences of such schedule. Then as suggested by one of our commenters, they can set-up an RNG TV Patrol for MM, Cavite, Bulacan, Rizal and Laguna viewers, but only if their budget allows them to.
Correction: Nope. MTW will not be aired on the timeslot of My Super D, but on the 5pm timeslot (from We Will Survive), based on a latest teaser.
At magkakaroon na rin ng problema ang TVP Regionals.
should Minute to Win It occupies the 5PM slot, it will be bumped to 9am (as a result regional viewers will miss the last 30 minutes of Magandang Buhay). the only way for that is to
1) Magandang Buhay should be limited to an hour or UKG reverting to 5-7:30am
2) Remove Kapamilya Blockbusters, besides they filled the slot with Minute To Win It during its first incarnation and other game shows
3) Or as I reiterate, ABS-CBN should produce a TV Patrol edition exclusively for Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan (to a certain extent even Zambales and Bataan). That way, the RNG won’t have to unceremoniously cut away from the “national” feed, and thus freeing up the national TV Patrol for news of geniunely national importance (such as Malacañang, the Congress, the cabinet departments, the judiciary, some priority bill needed to be passed, an expert political scientist giving certain points on an issue, so on, so forth). This will be a costly move but it’s a good pay-off. ABS-CBN has a history of taking big risks with good results. Only PTV can repeat that feat as Sec. Andanar is looking for international practices to emulate. GMA and TV5 will have to force to respond.
But then again, as Ralph said, only time will tell if Manila indeed needs one (and I think we do need that, as the new administration is pushing for the federalization of the islands and will decongest and reduce pressure on Manila)
Overall, Mr. Carlo Katigbak should scratch his head a lot because it’s another poor decision on his part. Why insist on airing Minute to Win It at 5:00 p.m. when in fact that timeslot is a trouble spot nationally for ABS? Not to mention the fact that regional networks will be forced to preempt the last 30 of Magandang Buhay just for this. It is simply unfathomable to say the least.
The best they could’ve done is to air O Shopping for MM viewers for the time being, but being the aggressors that they are, they simply insist on airing Minute to Win It, even if it means losing to Wowowin that is aired on nearly 90% of GMA’s stations. They should’ve been smarter and more instinctive on this.
True.
an additional proposal would be this: (though probably basing on what I’ve found out on soap operas from the U.S., yet probably complicated to implement in the Philippine setting)
Air both given afternoon dramas on an altered programming timeslot, but still air the same day episode as what is aired here in Manila (e.g. 3:20-3:50 and 3:50-4:20) Which is what they did with Deal or No Deal previously (4:30-5:15pm instead of 5:00-5:45pm). The only obvious downside would be for the network to use a separate feed for the regional stations other than the Manila feed. In addition to that, the commercial gaps of the said shows will have to be differentiated from what is aired in Manila.
(Based on what I’ve read, daytime soap operas like Guiding Light offer same day episodes for the network affiliates (CBS Affiliates) that choose to deviate from the prescribed airtime of the originating station (9am, 10am & 4pm instead of the standard 3pm) since 2004, so that every station airs the same episode, regardless of the timeslot assigned by each station.
To be honest, it will still affect a show’s national ratings by implementing this scheme. In short, magulo ang proposal mo. ABS wanted something more unified because the national ratings will play a big role here.
Nagpalit na naman ang sked ng MTW. Naging 5:30pm na (before TV Patrol)
Mukhang napansin tayo. But with that out of the way, ABS is now free to address this dilemma regarding the conflicting 5:00 p.m. situation. Hopefully they do the right thing this time.
Additional info: The Greatest Love pilot telecast will be aired on a later date. But for now, the 5pm slot will be used by Pinoy Big Brother (Mga Kwento ng Celebrity Housemates)
Not good news for ABS, considering they still have regional network timeslot issues to address. And if I recall, PBB’s most recent afternoon edition program was a ratings dud. PBB is better off with just one show on weekdays, not two in different timeslots.
Sana nag-O Shopping na lang ang ABS sa MM kapag 5 pm na. It’s a shame that the most dominant TV network today is not all that invincible.
Dapat 45 minutes lang yung ”TV Patrol” tapos sa manila isang entertainment/showbiz newscast or sports newscast sa Metro Manila sa probinsiya Local ”TV Patrol” katulad ng ginagawa sa Korea 25~30 minutes national news tapos nun showbiz newscast sa seoul sa provincial areas (e.g. : busan, jeju) local newscast sa JTBC at SBS (e.g. ”JTBC Newsroom” or ”SBS 8 News” sa 8:00~8:30 tapos ”JTBC Showbiz Tonight” or ”SBS KSTAR News” sa 8:30~9:00.) or sa case ng KBS (the public broadcaster there.) at MBC pinuputol yung last 15~20 minutes ng ”News 9” or ”Newsdesk” dahil sports news lang yung last 15~20 minutes na yun to make way for local newscasts.
Korea’s setup is not feasible; they are preempting a newscast that’s still ongoing in favor of another. Parang naglipat ka na ng channel. I do like a 45-minute newscast though but only if they can eliminate the police reports, which is impossible given ABS’ focus on the masses.
Right consider that ang Channel 2 targets the DEF market pero dapat nga tangalin yung police reports po. And what i mean is that in the KBS/MBC setup talagang pinuputol nila pero yung sa JTBC/SBS setup seperately scheduled newscasts yung National Newscast at yung Entertainment Newscast na i-prepreempt ng local news meaning ”SBS 8 News” at 8:00~8:30 pagkatapos nun sa seoul ”SBS KSTAR News” sa jeju ”Jeju SBS 830 News” at 8:30~9:00 or sa kaso natin TV Patrol sa 6:30~7:15 tapos yung local TVP sa probinsiya showbiz or sports newscast (e.g. sa sports news yung the score ng s+a) sa manila at 7:15~8:00 po that is what i want to say po.
To tell you the truth that’s against the purpose of a more unified broadcast schedule. Siyempre mga taga-probinsya mami-miss out nila yung mga showbiz at sports news kung sakaling ilalagay ang TVP ng probinsya in its place. I don’t think the Korean setup works well for us.
And by the way, please don’t comment using two different IP/email addresses. Nawawalan ng saysay ang conversation kung iisang tao ka pero dalawa ang ginagamit mong IP/email address.
The only way to do that is to create TV Patrol Metro Manila for goodness sake. Puro Manila crime news ang napapanood ng tao sa buong bansa na kinaiinisan ng mga taga-probinsiya.
Provided siyempre that ABS has the money to do such a thing.
A “unified” schedule you say?
Mostly, save for the 5:00 p.m. slot.
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I wonder how many of you here also watched recently or have been watching local tvps who will not disagree when I say most of the contents of regional tvp are (against national tvp) more sensible in nature, more “national” ang sense in a local perspective
Well, if you say crime stories are deemphasized on regional TVP, would you agree?
And come to think of it, the regional TVPs are gaining national prominence. Not only are the newscasts uploaded on YouTube, but they also air on the new ABS-CBN Regional Channel, that’s why many in Metro Manila can spot the difference between the flagship and regional counterparts.
TVP Regionals were already household names in areas kung saan may ABS-CBN RNG. Nandiyan naman ang local crime stories sa TVP Regionals. Ang kinaiinisan lang is Manila crime stories na inere sa national TV Patrol. ABS should give up the 5pm slot to RNG, including Manila, and produce a dedicated Manila-focused newscast at diyan na ilalagay ang Manila crime stories. Maisasakatuparan yan ONCE ABS has enough finances to do that.
We’ve been saying that for a while. Now it’s up to them to deliver and end this confusion.
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