The high cost of running ‘Encantadia’ is currently felt throughout GMA Telebabad.
As director Mark Reyes earlier revealed, ‘Encantadia”s production budget is ‘roughly equal to two primetime shows or three non-primetime shows‘. As a result of these huge expenses, GMA was left with no choice but to resort to two Koreanovelas as a cheap alternative on their Telebabad block over producing another local drama.
One of these Koreanovelas happen to be the next opponent of ABS-CBN’s ‘Dolce Amore’. The latter series, starring Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, has given GMA a lot of problems, having defeated ‘That’s My Amboy’ and the short-lived ‘Once Again’ by big margins.
It is clear to GMA that they can no longer beat the more popular tandems of ABS-CBN. With that in mind, their only course of action now is to stop chasing either LizQuen, KathNiel (Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla) and JaDine (James Reid and Nadine Lustre), and air a Koreanovela in its place, which is exactly what they’ll do tonight.
Enter ‘Descendants of the Sun’, the hit Korean drama that starred Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo. The series’ plot revolves around a love story between a doctor and a soldier stationed within Greece and the Balkans.
‘Descendants of the Sun’ ran for 16 episodes in its native Korea. In the Philippines, however, it is expected to air for roughly 20-25 episodes, which is still a typically short run for a GMA Koreanovela.
The other Koreanovela in question is ‘The Healer’, which unlike ‘Descendants of the Sun’, will only air three times a week. The series will star Ji Chang-wook, Park Min-young and Yoo Ji-tae.
In its native Korea, ‘The Healer’ ran for 20 episodes. This equates to roughly 30 episodes once it airs in the Philippines.
As two Koreanovelas permeate the Telebabad lineup, GMA is now feeling the sting of frustration. After the rough start that the new ‘Encantadia’ endured, it won’t be long before GMA admits its mistake of investing heavily on the fantaserye over more important projects (e.g. digital and high-definition broadcasts).
That said, two Koreanovelas on Telebabad could only be a short-term solution to compensate for the heavy expenditures of ‘Encantadia’. But as far as GMA is concerned, these two may not be enough to solve its ratings and broadcast issues.
‘Descendants of the Sun’ airs after ‘Encantadia’, while ‘The Healer’ airs after ‘Juan Happy Love Story’ on GMA Telebabad.
From the Tube 
What Mr. Ymman Jake Biaco said on your link in Facebook, GMA is acting at the center of the weeknight programming mix as ABS goes all-Filipino while TV5 goes all-foreign yet dubbed.
Speaking of Tagalization of Koreanovela, you probably heard about the closed captioning in the Phl TV group; it has lapsed into law, according to Senator Grace Poe. To be honest, it’s long overdue.
Most TV sets have built-in CC function and I just hope the Big 3 should implement their own closed captioning policy and utilize such on their shows until we wait for the IRR. That said, it could help PWDs on how the dialogue and action happens in an understandable language and lessen the reliance of dubbing.
For this case, I wish GMA should start realizing on the effectivity of the new law.
Yeah closed captioning is a must for Philippine TV (for deaf and hard-of-hearing people). And since digiboxes are in the market right now, they should be included CC function for DTV.
Exactly. But again, it will take time, so patience is a virtue.
That law could make dubbing into Filipino for foreign shows and movies obsolete. Baka mawalan ng trabaho ang mga voice actors because of this. And worse, even sign language interpreters such as those on TV5 newscasts could lose their jobs as well.
Anyway, for better or worse, the deaf people finally get their due. They can finally read the show as compensation for the lack of hearing. It will take time though.
GMA raised the white flag dahil diyan. Encantadia is too costly to begin with and Ang Probinsyano will have Vice Ganda as its guest starting tonight, which might hurt Encantadia’s chances further.
As for the dubbers na maapektuhan ng closed captioning, I hope na sana maiintindihan na nila ang posibleng pagkawala ng trabaho. Importante kasi ang kapakanan ng mga bingi para lang makapanood ng kanilang paboritong palabas.
Exactly. Perhaps the best available job for the displaced dubbers now is the role of translators. Pwede naman nilang tulungan ang mga network just by getting a new role that’s similar to voice dubbing, only without the use of audio recording equipment.
that’s a consequence of the breakdown of the Gozon-Ang deal
True. Ramon Ang would’ve given GMA greater financial muscle, but it turns out na ayaw mag-step aside si Gozon even in his declining state. Kaya here they are, spending a lot on Encantadia and sacrificing other local shows.
true.
Looks like it’s time for Gozon & Co to stop being d-bags and let Ang buy some of GMA’s shares.
It won’t happen anymore. Ang is interested in IBC-13, and he had a lot of problems against GMA ownership. The Sy family of SM may be GMA’s only hope for salvation.
Even that strategy didn’t work. Descendants of the Sun’s premiere episode on GMA last night scored a 15.5 rating vs. Dolce Amore’s 35.0, based on data from Kantar.
Looks like Descendants of the Sun fans tuned out since they already saw that K-drama on KBS World months before this.
Too late the hero indeed. Seems like GMA has quit competing with the popular Kapamilya love teams, that’s why they ended up with a Koreanovela. There’s no point in comparing because they know they’ll lose.
I think even at AGB Nationwide TV Ratings, GMA didn’t won so that is why they don’t like release the result of their ratings. I assure that ABS CBN wins also at AGB Nationwide TV Ratings.
Halata na ang pagiging butthurt ng GMA eh. Their logic of “nationwide” ratings is solely Metro Manila and Urban Luzon with no regard with the rest of the country, like Visayas and Mindanao, mas lalo na sa Mindanao na kung saan tinalo pa sila ng TV5 sa ratings. What’s the point of being #1 nationwide eh hanggang Metro Manila at Luzon ang ipagmamayabang mo?
They have already AGB Facebook and Twitter, but they deleted their accounts to avoid bashers.
To us, it’s just an alibi so that the NUTAM ratings are not compared daily with Kantar’s. In short, they’re just scared to face the truth.
How could you say that TV5 defeats GMA 7 at Mindanao? Will you please give me a link to prove your answer.
For proof, better ask anyone living in Mindanao, especially in Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Gensan. Nielsen mismo ang nagsabi na talo ang GMA sa Mindanao.
Since 2013, but we should talk about the current issues of their ratings.
A better way to put this:
A1 Ko Sa ‘Yo!
It seems na Alyas Robin Hood na ang papalit sa Descendants Of The Sun, pero bago pa man ito ma-premiere, may problema agad. May accusations daw na gaya-gaya raw ang Alyas Robin Hood sa hit CW show Arrow. Any thoughts on this?
http://www.pep.ph/guide/tv/24450/did-dingdong-dantess-emalyas-robin-hoodem-imitate-hollywood-tv-series-emarrowem
Better wait for the upcoming article and find out.
Even Stephen Arnell, from the hit series ‘Arrow’, reacted when he shared the clip of the upcoming GMA show which I already mentioned.
Can’t wait for the upcoming article of yours, since the so-called ‘Arrow’ rip-off ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ is already controversial before it even premiered.
http://technology.inquirer.net/51667/arrow-actor-shares-new-gma-show-clip-and-fans-react
And now #PitchAShowToGMA is trending due to this alleged controversy.
Obviously, it’s a last resort for Team Rasonable. That lack of creativity is hurting them.
But pls check it out, it is so funny. I promise you it will make you laugh.
Back to Stephen Arnell, he even said na may similarity talaga sa Arrow ang Alyas Robin Hood.
Expect more backlash if GMA will still pursue this ripoff and low ratings when it premieres.
Alyas Robin Hood represents the lack of creativity or originality among our writers and the sorry state of Philippine Television. I hope that upcoming article of yours will spotlight not just Alyas Robin Hood, but the state of Philippine Television in general, lalo na ang kawalan ng originality.
Ms. Rasonable has a lot to explaining to do. Nasira ang reputation ng GMA dahil sa kanya.
While I don’t like that GMA’s copying a series but we should hold our opinions to ourselves first until some of the episodes have been aired yet. Good or bad, that is publicity. But if it’s the same as Arrow, then screw GMA.
GMA will be screwed big time. Pati ang bida ng Arrow, napahiya sa ginagawa ng GMA. What GMA did was a total humiliation. People would tune in to Arrow more than Alyas Robin Hood.
Indeed. This is a PR disaster in the making.