‘People vs. the Stars’ is no more.
GMA effectively cancelled the game show after its most recent broadcast last Sunday. It was clear that despite its encouraging use of audience and viewer participation, ‘People vs. the Stars’ never quite clicked with the people.
‘People vs. the Stars’, hosted by Drew Arellano and Iya Villania, first aired on January 15, 2017, and was GMA’s anointed answer to the popular yet controversial ABS-CBN franchised game show ‘Family Feud’. But a shaky premiere (11.5% compared to ‘Family Feud”s 16.9% according to Kantar) soon set the tone for the remainder of ‘People vs. the Stars” run.
On average, the margin between ‘Family Feud’ and ‘People vs. the Stars’ was around 4-5%, with ‘Family Feud’ winning all of their matchups. While ‘People vs. the Stars’ was praised for bringing audience participation back to a game show, viewers doesn’t seem to care about it at all.
What also hindered ‘People vs. the Stars’ was GMA’s questionable decision to air it once a week. It would have made sense for the game show to air every Saturday and Sunday to give ‘Family Feud’ a run for its money, but alas, GMA wanted none of it as they thought their current Saturday afternoon lineup is strong on paper (too bad it’s not).
In the end, ‘People vs. the Stars’ join a select list of GMA game shows that did not quite make it big. With only 14 episodes to its credit, it will surely make the ‘most forgotten game shows in the Philippines’ list if there is one.
So what is the next plan of action for GMA in the game show department? Considering their recent misfortune in the said genre, they may not have the motivation to make another one for a long period of time.
It’s a shame, since GMA prides itself in doing things ‘locally’ for the most part (unlike ABS-CBN which has depended more on franchised programs). With that, viewers can only hope for the best in GMA’s future endeavors.
From the Tube 
That’s too bad for GMA. It was a very innovative show, and I think that show could have had success internationally. While we can’t do anything about the viewers, the management clearly shoulders the blame. They think their Saturday afternoon lineup is strong? What do they take us for, idiots? AGB Nielsen can’t even be trusted due to urban bias, so why should they trust them?
As for the show, we could expect some broadcaster in some other country to replicate the format independently. I’m betting on Nine Network Australia (my personal fave) to create the format without them finding out about GMA’s effort.
It’s a shame that game shows, reality shows and talent shows are mostly franchised at this point. ABS really started this trend with PBB, but for all that success, the price of this use is the aspect of innovation and creativity, and for whatever reason, ABS simply grew desperate that’s why they decided to go with these.
To GMA’s credit they have mostly resisted the idea of franchised shows. Unfortunately, many countries now are taking cues from iconic franchised shows. Unless there is enough recognition in our craft, no one will care to grant franchises from one of our own.
People vs. the Stars tried its best to involve the audience. It’s just too bad that GMA poorly managed the show and viewers favor Family Feud a lot more despite its overemphasis on celebrities.
Just like what Timow has said, PvTS was like an independent yet inclusive version of EB’s Kontrapelo: Sa Pula, Sa Puti, remember that segment? Please watch this:
But they’re not related obviously and have some differences.