It was mostly memorable State of the Nation Address for President Rodrigo Duterte.
The speech lasted a better part of two hours, nearly half of which deviated from the original script and contained some profanity. Most major and minor Philippine television and radio networks went all out to deliver the most comprehensive wall-to-wall coverage of the SONA.
Unfortunately, there is one network that failed to take the SONA seriously. Enter GMA Channel 7.
While most networks were busy dealing with Duterte’s State of the Nation Address, GMA simply stood pat and did virtually nothing. From 2:30 to 4:15 p.m., they aired afternoon teleseryes ‘Ika-6 na Utos’, ‘Impostora’ and ‘Haplos’ on the day of the SONA, an uncharacteristic deviation from more recent years.
Consequentially, when the time to air the actual SONA arrived, ‘Haplos’ was cut short 15 minutes in. After that, Pia Arcangel, not Mike Enriquez, Mel Tiangco and Vicky Morales, was at the scene to present a somewhat brief pre-speech and post-speech report of the SONA.
If that is not enough for Felipe Gozon and company, it was sister station GMA News TV that actually picked up the slack. Channel 11’s coverage, which was anchored by Jessica Soho and Arnold Clavio, was a redemption of sorts for the network after their inability to air an extensive coverage of the SONA the past two years.
Overall, GMA’s decision to air teleseryes on SONA day came back to haunt them. The network’s programming organizers underestimated the SONA’s unpredictable nature, as evidenced by the fact that the SONA ended well before 6:30 p.m.
As a result of the SONA’s lengthy duration, Monday’s episode of ‘Haplos’ was left unfinished, and it remains to be seen if GMA will reair that very episode in full later today. Had they become aware of its unpredictability, they could have preempted all of their afternoon teleseryes and devote themselves to the SONA instead of leaving one of them incomplete.
In the end, GMA’s latest gaffe should be a harsh lesson for everyone involved. One can only hope that they will learn from this mistake and do the right thing come the 2018 State of the Nation Address.
Otherwise, expect more of the same jokes from critics and haters alike. That said, good luck GMA in correcting this failure.
From the Tube 
Since you mentioned the toll of Haplos’ episode, let me say to the GMA Drama Department an infamous Game of Thrones meme: SHAME. SHAME. SHAME. (Rings the bells)
I remember that WNYW in New York had (or has) a segment on their newscasts called “Shame, Shame, Shame”, which talked about problems no one was trying to rectify. It’s clear that if WNYW were to look at the state of GMA’s management, they would have had it on their segment and disparaged them. And yeah, we should ring the bell on that.
For Sanya Lopez, Rocco Nacino and Thea Tolentino, having an episode of their teleserye cut short thanks to SONA is an insult to their careers. GMA made a risky move, yes, but their inability to make up for the mistake by reairing that unfinished episode could cost Haplos not only its viewers but also the reputation of the three young stars. If only they had some backup in the form of YouTube or other streaming sites such as iFlix, this mistake would have been made up.
Alas, GMA skipped to the chase and went ahead to a new episode of Haplos without issuing a public apology to its viewers. What a way to enhance a growing reputation for failure.
Even their airing of Haplos even managed to score a rating of 12.2 based on Kantar, kahit na naputol ang airing nito.
Even their decision of airing three dramas on SONA day proved to be futile, as many viewers tuned in to ABS-CBN’s coverage (16.6 rating) than GMA’s (just scored a 7.8 rating).
It really shows how important a SONA primer is. Too bad GMA made fools out of themselves by deferring to News TV and air teleseryes instead. They truly paid the consequences.
Akala ko di na ipapalabas sa GMA ang Sona, yan pala nagkainterrupt ang Haplos and pre empted ang Wowowin…. OK lang for me… Its too late…
Bad move talaga ang ginawa ng GMA. Kung yung ABS right move ang hindi iere ang mga teleserye sa hapon, baliktad naman ang nagawa ng GMA, all for the sake of ratings. Unfortunately, that desperate act didn’t pan out dahil mas marami ang nanood ng SONA sa Dos. GMA really hasn’t learned anything. Resistance can also be the enemy ika nga.
DAPAT HINDI NA IPINALABAS SA GMA NG SONA SINCE MAY ”NEWS TV” NAMAN.
Mandatory pa rin sa kanila na ipalabas ang SONA whether we like it or not. They’ve been doing this for years now. It’s the teleseryes that need to give way for such an important event.
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tama si timow maybe its time tv networks should stop daily teleseryes and instead air it like the practice in south korea : the monday-tuesday, wednesday-thursday and friday-saturday setup then use the freed up time for comedy/entertainment shows or programs that target the upper class audience
But ABS and GMA need to stop being so greedy. Being so obsessed with big bucks is what put them into trouble against critics more often than not. They need to sacrifice those needs and emphasize quality over quantity.
precisely, if you compare our primetime tv programing to that of south korea mas angat pa nga sila kesa sa atin also mas maganda ng quality ng shows nila kasi walang kumpitisyon at fantardism over networks may mga time nga na sanib pwersa pa ng MBC, SBS at JTBC para sa isang event (concert or charity show)
Only drawback for Korean series is its tendency to run for only a few episodes. Kaya when it airs, at best one or two months lang ito itatagal. Mas maganda yung sa US where most shows air once a week and have a greater amount of creative freedom.
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