There is something wrong about ‘Haplos’ lately.
Despite the fact that the GMA afternoon series is performing well in the ratings, the network chose not to promote its impending finale on TV or in any of its social media outlets. Instead, GMA decided to take a look at its successor series ‘Hindi Ko Kayang Iwan Ka’ (more on that later this week).
The only announcement that viewers got is this post that declares ‘Haplos” final three weeks. After that, GMA shut itself up.
This is not the first time that ‘Haplos’ got screwed by GMA management. On the day of the State of the Nation Address, GMA continued to air its afternoon dramas (‘Haplos’ included), and once President Rodrigo Duterte entered the Batasan Pambansa, ‘Haplos’ was inexplicably cut short.
That unfinished episode of ‘Haplos’ was never shown in its entirety again and GMA moved on with a new episode without any explanation whatsoever. Much like the characters of Sanya Lopez (as Angela) and Thea Tolentino (as Lucille), that episode of ‘Haplos’ ended up becoming a curse to the network for a while.
As a result, ‘Haplos’ will only have 164 completed episodes once it finishes this Friday. Counting the unfinished episode last July 24, the series will only have 164 1/3 episodes in total.
The only positive coming out of ‘Haplos’ was its constant success in the ratings. Since August, the series averaged around 14-15% and on most episodes defeated ABS-CBN counterparts ‘The Better Half’, ‘The Promise of Forever’ and ‘Hanggang Saan’ in that order.
Still, GMA’s mistreatment of ‘Haplos’ is very baffling to say the least. The series has an intriguing storyline that borders towards the supernatural and has two promising actresses in Sanya Lopez and Thea Tolentino, yet even with all the victories it accumulated, GMA screwed things up by not only leaving one episode unfinished, but also not promote its finale at all.
It will be interesting to see how a lack of hype will affect the last five episodes of ‘Haplos’. The series may have been a rousing hit, but it could end in a thud if GMA does not take the promotion of ‘Haplos’ very seriously.
From the Tube 
Perhaps, given the series’ decent ratings on Kantar and AGB, they probably felt that they shouldn’t bother give that the opponent (Hanggang Saan) remains weak and vulnerable, and they feel that they’ll win anyway regardless if they promote or not. They probably think that the series has a loyal fanbase which doesn’t need to be constantly reminded that the show is ending: just tell them once and they’ll stay until the end.
Still, for such a successful series, it going out with a whimper seems like a disgrace. Less successful series (Super Ma’am anyone?) had more graceful exits, so why not Haplos? Makes me worried that they might bungle IANU’s end too, which doesn’t feel fair.
Wonder why they don’t really bother promoting their series much anymore. No more budget? I remember they used to regularly air teasers for their shows, especially the primetime ones, on a regular basis. These days, at most you get a teaser that’s a few seconds long (mostly just informing that this series airs at this time), and that’s it. Even stuff like Bubble Gang, Pepito Manaloto, and Sunday Pinasaya get longer commercials than their teleseryes.
Man, Encantadia, M vs. R., and ARH must have drained their resources more than I thought.
Indeed, GMA is wasting lots of money that it compromises the other aspects of programming (e.g. promotion of a particular show). For a network with fewer business investments than ABS and a history of unwise spending, this has got to hurt.
Wonder where that attitude of overspending/financial mismanagement came from anyway. Apparently the company (or at least the TV station) is apparently more profitable than ABS (though that apparently excludes ABS’s non-TV divisions), so it’s weird to see that they can’t seem to invest those profits properly.
TV profits alone can’t solve GMA’s problems. They need their other divisions to step up. Unfortunately they don’t have the same luxuries that ABS has (e.g. cable channels and subscription service, on-demand app service) which is why they are still struggling.
Justin Tan can now quit yapping and spoil the upcoming HIVserye.
On this topic, I would say (with all sarcasm): Imagine my shock.
Well, blame GMA for wasting too much money on fantaseryes and compromising other shows’ performance. Now here they are not doing anything to promote their afternoon dramas at all.
kaya siguro d na ipromote ung last week ng Haplos dhil nasumpa sila dun sa pag ere ng episode kahit magsisimula ang SONA, eh pano nagkabaligtad ang mundo kung sa News TV na pala ang full coverage pre at post, eh sa mismong mother network sa show proper talaga..
at ska nga, nagastusan pa sila dun sa online exclusives na weekly inuupload sa youtube
Pero nananalo naman ito sa ratings which I don’t understand. Then again, those other investments, good or bad, may have played a role here.
…and I think I can see the problem here: they’re still relying on AGB. And they’re still promoting almost every day their ratings, unlike ABS who don’t really push their Kantar ratings too often (maybe once in a while at best, almost never in their news broadcasts). Maybe if they can show both AGB and Kantar they could show that Haplos really is beating Hanggang Saan hard (which is actually true according to both ratings providers).
Unless, of course, GMA gives in and subscribes to Kantar as well (which is next to impossible given their loyalty to AGB). And perhaps they should just stop showing these ratings on TV because it only perceives them as being ‘mayabang’.
It’s funny, and this is an observation that many Kapamilya fanboys and even some loyal Kapusos have noticed: it seems that having high AGB ratings or even winning on AGB doesn’t seem to be enough to keep shows on the air. Like how allegedly Destined to Be Yours frequently won against My Dear Heart on AGB, but DTBY still ended quickly. There are many many other examples too (Sunday All Stars comes to mind as well), but people seem to joke that, ironically, winning on AGB is a kiss of death since plenty of GMA shows that “won” on AGB still ended up having short runs.
Blame that on the limited coverage area that AGB presents and GMA’s poor promotional tactics. Also, lack of social media exposure does not help GMA shows too. Twitter’s trending topics are usually loaded with more ABS programs than GMA’s.
GMA has a lot of promising young artists (Fortaleza, Binene, Umali, Tanfelix, and Tolentino could probably become popular artists if their careers are handled well), but I guess until the day comes when GMAAC gets a good-enough talent manager, their artists will always be less well-known outside of loyal Kapuso circles. You know GMAAC is in trouble when even the actress you were grooming to be your next leading actress (Louise Delos Reyes) left GMA to become a freelancer (with Viva), and to rub salt into the wound, even had a guest stint on FPJAP.
There have been numerous occasions where underutilized GMA artists left and became top stars with ABS (see Cristine Reyes, Paulo Avelino, Jake Cuenca), all because of preferential treatment to more established stars and lack of opportunities to grow. Fact is, if you’re not happy with what GMA is giving you, you are free to pack your bags and walk from Timog to Mother Ignacia where Johnny Manahan might give you a better opportunity.
corection pls.. FORTEZA, not Fortaleza.. jusko, bka maresbakan ka pa ni Roberto
Sorry po. Seems to be a common misspelling of her name too.
“…but I guess until the day comes when GMAAC gets a good-enough talent manager, their artists will always be less well-known outside of loyal Kapuso circles.”
….I think of somebody like Beverley Vergel to fit such role, but it will only happen if a boardroom coup occurs in EDSA cor. Timog Ave.
Their most recent StarStruck winners Klea Pineda and Migo Adecer have yet to make an impact, unlike the most recent PBB winner Maymay Entrata who is getting quite a break with quality projects. Pretty much shows the differences in talent level between GMAAC and Star Magic.
GMA really needs a shake-up whether it’s a publicized coup of some kind or a private board meeting. The entertainment group is in shambles and not even the help of the public affairs group (which I think is unnecessary given their specification towards news) will turn things around.
Interestingly enough, it seems that the Kapamilya fantard pages refuse to admit defeat, and are claiming that it is Haplos that lost to Hanggang Saan (given that it’s now ending), never mind that the latter is losing in both AGB and Kantar.
They’re probably in denial. Typical fantards.