For the first time in nearly two years, a Koreanovela will occupy the penultimate slot on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida.
Tonight will mark the premiere of the popular Korean series ‘Love in the Moonlight’, starring Park Bo Gum and Kim Yoo Jung. The series enjoyed an impressive run in its native Korea, and it won a number of awards such as Best Couple, Best Excellent Actress, and Best Actor awards in the 2016 KBS Drama Awards.
Prior to ‘Love in the Moonlight’, Primetime Bida has not had a Korean drama since ‘My Lovely Girl’, whose last episode was aired in June 2015. In between, two seasons of ‘Pinoy Big Brother’ (737, Lucky 7), the teleserye ‘You’re My Home’, and the American series ‘Jane the Virgin’ were aired on that slot.
‘Love in the Moonlight’ is just one of several Korean dramas whose rights were acquired by ABS-CBN a few weeks ago. Others in the pipeline include ‘Legend of the Blue Sea’, ‘Hwarang’, ‘Goblin’, ‘Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo’, ‘W’ and ‘Doctors’.
In premiering ‘Love in the Moonlight’, ABS-CBN crushed the notion that Asianovelas on Channel 2 were essentially extinct. Their last Korean drama was ‘My Love Donna’ last year, and many thought the network finally moved on from the genre once sister channel CineMo began to import its own set of Koreanovelas later that year.
Instead, ABS-CBN surprised many, including Koreanovela fans, by acquiring the aforementioned hit Korean dramas. And considering how rival GMA loaded themselves up with more Asianovelas (including those airing on sister station GMA News TV), ABS-CBN made it clear that they are still indeed the ‘First and True Home of Asianovelas’.
The question now is whether or not ‘Love in the Moonlight”s success in Korea will translate over to the Philippines. With ABS-CBN having not aired a Koreanovela on primetime in nearly two years, this will be a huge test to see if their decision to bring them back is all worth it.
‘Love in the Moonlight’ airs weeknights after ‘A Love to Last’ on ABS-CBN Primetime Bida.
From the Tube 
Pareho sila ng ABS at GMA na iisa na lang ang kdrama, pero pakiramdam ko medyo mahihirapan tong LITM kasi malakas ang fanbase at hatak sa masa ng mga kdrama ng GMA sa gabi tapos sa ABS dramas mga teenager ang target demographic na kailangang matulog ng maaga kasi may pasok. Goodluck na lang. Sana di to matulad sa MLDonna
*ABS-CBN Kdramas
The issues of ABS heavily editing their KDramas will also come into play. That said, since matagal na hindi nagpalabas ng Koreanovela ang ABS, mahihirapan silang maka-attract ng viewership due to these circumstances.
Don’t forget that:
A) LITM has a huge following online so as the other hit KDramas acquired by ABS, don’t count on them yet
B) Fans of PBB has to go somewhere, and they are not going to watch the rival show
C) Viewers of A Love to Last that were not viewers of PBB, might be enticed to watch LITM.
LITM has the potential to pull in decent numbers to say the least.
Either way, we’ll see if ABS is still a great alternative for top Koreanovelas. GMA has been dominating that genre in recent months, so it’s up to ABS to recapture the faith of Koreanovela fans.
Depende sa KDrama na pinapalabas. Mejo dehado ang GMA dahil fan favorites ang mga nakuha ng Dos.
Exactly. It’s a win-win situation for either of them.
Hindi lang yan patok online. It was once aired on KBS World.
IDK kung marerecapture ng ABS ang mga Koreanovela fans nowadays after over a year of not airing them. The problem is still heavy editing in favor of commercials.
Indeed. Hindi mawawala yang heavy editing. If they aired it in its purest form, it will satisfy Koreanovela fans; otherwise ABS could lose a lot from it if they do so.
The problem with that kasi is yun time slot ng show. Medyo maghahating gabi na siya ineere at halos lahat ng tao pagod galing sa work o sa school so no time sila para manood ng TV. At tsaka one time airing naman unlike sa cable na after they airing a new episode may replay sila for those who are busy, online where you watch your show anytime you want, or download via torrent.
That said, more like fillers na lang ang Koreanovelas for ABS habang naghihintay ng next season ng PBB or bagong teleserye. However, with their new inventory coming up, we might see them fill the early morning slots with Koreanovelas just like in past years.
Ewan ko ba sa ABS. Sa kadami nilang naka-bangko na TV series pinili naman nilang i-ere tong mga Kdramas. Dapat sa Cinemo nalang yang mga yan or weekend morning. Palitan na nila yung mga crappy Chinese tv series lol. Yung the Promise of Foreve sobrang dami na na nang na film na episodes mukhang mashelve pa yata ahahahah.
Actually hindi naman ganoong kadami yung series-in-waiting nila. Anyway, matagal-tagal na ring hindi nakaka-ere ng Koreanovela ang ABS so give them a chance. And you should also give them time to conceive new dramas dahil hindi talaga madali ang prosesong ito. For now, Koreanovelas are here to stay, kahit pa may mga criticisms regarding editing and pacing.
LITM is now down to its final week. Dalawang asianovelas ang naka line-up para ipremiere sa Lunes. Legend of the Blue Sea at Goblin. Ang isa ay magoocupy ng timeslot ng LITM, habang ang isa, ay ang papalit sa Minute to Win It
One of them will now have to deal with the non-simultaneous airing in the provinces dahil sa kanilang TV Patrol, as well as the unfavorable reception of Koreanovelas in Kapamilya Gold (as Vince pointed out in a prior comment, madalas silang flop sa KGold).
Update: Love in the Moonlight in the afternoon, Goblin in the evening.
Update: Legend of the Blue Sea on the afternoon, Goblin on the evening.
(Please delete my initial comment)
Surprised that Lee Min-ho was relegated to the afternoon. His series would’ve been perfect for primetime given his popularity to Koreanovela fans here. I’m afraid he’ll get tormented in the afternoon given the regional networks’ priority with TV Patrol.
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