Another year is about to end. But before the calendar flips to 2017, here is a look back at the year that was in television and radio. This article looks back at the 20 moments that define the Philippine media this year.
If you missed out on Part I, Part II and Part III of this series, click on the highlighted link for more information.
Here is Part IV of the four-part series. These stories are arranged in no particular order.
The Death of German Moreno
On January 8, the whole Filipino entertainment industry was stunned with the passing of German Moreno. The veteran host, actor and entertainer was best known for his distinguished work with up-and-coming stars on ‘That’s Entertainment’, as well as a near two-decade run hosting the Saturday late night show ‘Walang Tulugan with the Master Showman’.
The death of Kuya Germs also ended an era for late-night variety shows on Philippine television, as ‘Walang Tulugan’ signed off for good on February 13. Despite that, the legacy of Kuya Germs lives on with the Eastwood City Walk of Fame, which inducted new members late this year.
Other notable showbiz personalities who died this year include directors Wenn Deramas and Francis Pasion, actors Lilia Cuntapay, Joy Viado and Dick Israel, and singer Blakdyak.
Encantadia Returns
On July 18, GMA brought back the popular fantaserye ‘Encantadia’, featuring a rehashed storyline of the original 2005 series. The new iteration stars Glaiza de Castro, Gabbi Garcia, Sanya Lopez and Kylie Padilla, who play the roles of Pirena, Alena, Danaya and Amihan respectively.
Unfortunately, despite the hefty expenses that GMA spent for this version of ‘Encantadia’, the series failed to make an impact. In the national Kantar ratings, ‘Encantadia’ regularly fell by double digits to ‘Ang Probinsyano’, and the high expectations that came with it dissipated.
‘Encantadia’ is not the only primetime problem that GMA faced this year, however, as this next entry shows.
The Alyas Robin Hood-Arrow Controversy
When posters and teasers for ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ were first released, many felt the series was a ripoff of ‘Arrow’, with lead star Stephen Amell even going as far as sharing the clip with a ‘flushed-face’ emoji. However, creative consultant Suzette Doctolero made it clear that ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ and ‘Arrow’ were both based on the Robin Hood folklore.
Despite the controversial issues, ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ was given the go-signal by GMA to air starting September 19. While the series came out flying in its first few weeks, rival series ‘Magpahanggang Wakas’ soon pulled away, with some disgruntled viewers choosing to watch either the Tagalized ‘Arrow’ on TV5, or the English dub on Jack TV.
‘Alyas Robin Hood’ did have a highly publicized scene with the bikini showdown involving Sarri (Megan Young) and Venus (Andrea Torres), which should soften the blow of its controversial start.
The 25th Anniversary of Maalaala Mo Kaya
The first episode of ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya’ was aired on May 15, 1991. Twenty-five years later, the program continues to touch the lives of others thanks to a letter read by Charo Santos-Concio, and scenes that can make people shed tears with each episode.
This year, as part of its silver anniversary celebration, ABS-CBN launched a commemorative website for ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya’, a nationwide and worldwide tour, and an initiative for people to send in their life stories via a letter or a short-form video. As for the show’s ratings this year, it continues to thwart the challenges of its long-running rival, GMA’s ‘Magpakailanman’.
One can only hope that ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya’ will continue to air beyond this year, as its legacy and enduring success stands the test of time.
Ang Probinsyano and Doble Kara Celebrate Their First Anniversary
But perhaps the biggest headline of 2016 belongs to both Coco Martin and Julia Montes. Their respective shows, ‘Ang Probinsyano’ and ‘Doble Kara’, reached the one-year milestone within a month of each other.
Both ‘Ang Probinsyano’ and ‘Doble Kara’ continue to lead the way in their respective timeslots. The former is currently the most-watched primetime show in the country, while the latter is the most-watched post-noontime show.
How much longer will they stay on the air remains to be seen, but as they proceed into 2017, expect ‘Ang Probinsyano’ and ‘Doble Kara’ to remain a dominant force in the primetime and afternoon slots respectively.
Honorable Mentions
- ‘The World Tonight’ celebrates its 50th year.
- Power Duo wins ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ season 5.
- Joshua Oliveros wins ‘The Voice Kids’ season 3.
- ‘Naku Boss Ko’ mini-series and PiliPinas Debates leading up to the 2016 Philippine Presidential Elections.
- ANC and DZMM’s respective 20th and 30th anniversaries.
It was indeed an eventful 2016 in the world of Philippine media. Expect bigger things to come this 2017 as From the Tube continues to document the latest events in television and radio in the Philippines.
Until then, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
From the Tube 
You got the Part IV right in the content but the title wrong.
So far, they’re not complete but I’ll supply the rest next week.
Enjoy a peaceful yet stormy Christmas and a challenging 2017, Ralph. See you on January 3.
Those are just the important events that took place this year. Anything less won’t be of huge interest. Anyway, have fun this Christmas.
Hmm. Encantadia at first was a failure both in audience impact and ratings but as the story progress, many people started to get hooked. Pero siyempre, asa pa silang mananalo sa Kantar? Eh Kantar yan eh. HAHA. IYKWIM
Merry Christmas kuya Ralph 😀
Kantar ratings emphasize the entire Philippines, rural or urban. Unlike AGB Nielsen where they solely focus on urban which they claim to be more advertiser-friendly. That’s a big difference.
Pffft
Don’t you realize? AGB Nielsen is only counting the urban areas via NUTAM. Kantar covers both urban AND rural. As much as people want to deny the difference, that’s the fact. Rural people have purchasing power too, so they deserve a share here.
Hi, kuyazack. How’s your Christmas? Did Santa give you coal for being naughty this year?
I do hope that 2017 will be the year of more interesting developments in the media sector
Indeed. The progress is encouraging so why not take it to the next level come 2017.
I may do a piece dissing GMA and Gozon next year.
Why not? After all it was Gozon who boasted anew about GMA’s so-called ‘No. 1’ status, when in fact they can’t conquer the areas that matter too (rural areas, VisMin).
According to some of the artists who are part of Encantadia, the show’s ratings are still stable. But, when TV5 aired the Finals of PBA Governors’ Cup, it suffered in ratings. They even watched the game.
It is stable based on the urban-centric AGB Nielsen that GMA continues to trust. Not so in the all-around Kantar thanks to Ang Probinsyano. Ratings notwithstanding, Encantadia symbolizes the financial plight that GMA went through this year, what with the closure of most regional offices, employee layoffs and other questionable decisions.
Producing a big-budget fantaserye in a year of struggle is something GMA would like to regret. Now that they’re planning to sell some shares to other investors, how will they finally pull out those much-needed sound decisions? We’ll find out soon.
Let’s hope that Gozon’s plan of selling the network’s shares would be successful. He has done (maybe more than) enough for the network, it’s time for him to let it go. The new investors probably have better plans of what to do with the network (something Gozon doesn’t have).
Anyway, Happy Holidays.
GMA’s future will depend on how this new investment plan will play out. 2017 will be a crucial year for the network, not just business-wise, but also equipment-wise.
MC, how’s the progress of the Year In Review on Radio?
I commend GMA has the guts to produce expensive fantaserye, and taking the risk. Marami nahook up na bata sa Encantadia, to be fair and I can attest to that. Although sabihin na nating not a good business decision, pero para sa may anak at mga simpleng bata na mahilig sa fantaserye, masaya ako sa ginawa ng GMA for reviving Encantadia, at least they were given a choice.
Except that even more kids are watching Ang Probinsyano simply because Onyok and Aura were there, and that there are moral lessons to learn. Let’s face it, ABS has done some smart things when it comes to their dramas because they don’t need hefty budgets to be successful. Ang Probinsyano is a very popular show despite the fact that its production costs are less than that of Encantadia. Had GMA stayed smart money-wise, they would’ve been in a position to match whatever innovations ABS has established in the last few years.
Failed to make an impact? Who the hell you think you are to say that it failed to make an impact? Eh sa bawat kalye lang na mapuntahan ko naglalaro ng Encantadia mga bata. Para sayo ABS lang yata magaling.
I then slowly realized that this blog is so biased. Bakit nga pala ako nagsasayang ng oras para dito.
If you think this blog’s biased then get the hell out of here. Total nasabi mo nang nagsasayang ka lang ng oras kakabasa nito, so you’re welcome to take the exit.
This blog is for the smart and fair ones who follow media regardless of affiliation, not for fantards who obsessively support one channel, then bash another. Sa tono palang ng pananalita mo, halatang fantard na ang siding mo.
Saka hindi lahat rito may criticism sa GMA. Pati ABS may mga kahinaan rin. As for your disagreement on Encantadia, yeah may mga bata ngang naglalaro nito, but that’s only part of the audience. Yung sinasabi mong ‘bawat kalye’ na napuntahan mo hindi ibig sabihin lahat ng kalye sa bansa ay napuntahan mo na. So they still fall short audience-wise.
Baka bawat kalye ng Metro Manila lang yan.
Lahat ng network, may kahinaan. Sa GMA, marami. Sa TV5, marami rin, lalo na ang entertainment programming. Sa ABS, nandiyan pa rin ang Koreanovelas at mga alegasyon ng kanilang ‘biased reporting’. Sa GMA News TV, may mga programa na hindi fit sa current format (a.k.a. QTV 2.0). Sa Aksyon TV, mas priority ang home shopping. Sa Net 25 at INC TV, alam na yan ng lahat (may kinalaman yan sa INC). Sa IBC, privatization.
Lahat ng mga network, may fair criticism. Ang hindi matanggap ng mga fantards is yung mga criticism sa kani-kanilang network na tinatangkilik.
This is where Zack and Mike don’t realize. Masyado lang silang proud to admit na ang Encantadia ay popular sa mga bata, when in fact they don’t know that another program (in this case Ang Probinsyano) is more popular overall and more compelling than Encantadia. Obviously, following that said show unabashedly made them think that it was winning, but unfortunately, the truth really hurts.
More kids watch Probinsyano? I don’t think so.
Unless you count kids watching with their parents and siblings, then you’re wrong. Remember, kids are just a portion of the general audience that counts in the ratings, whether it’s the urban and rural Kantar, or the urban-exclusive AGB Nielsen.
Ang important market kasi ng advertisers is 18-35 demographic. Kids are part of general audience. Huwag mong kalimutan na important market din ang mga nasa probinsiya like major urban centers like Cebu, Baguio and Davao, pati na ang mga nasa kanayunan, lalo na kung may access sa kuryente.
What matters is the VOC of the general public, not just kids, on which programs they want to watch. That’s why there’s ratings to measure a program’s success.