No Replacement for MariMar, At Least for Two Weeks

‘MariMar officially concludes tomorrow, but its replacement ‘That’s My Amboy’ will not be seen until January 25.  (Logo courtesy of GMA Network)

GMA is taking a ‘less is more’ approach on Telebabad. at least for the next two weeks.

Tomorrow night marks the final episode of ‘MariMar’, the second Filipino remake of the classic Mexican telenovela. The series, starring Megan Young as the titular character, will officially end with a total of 100 episodes.

High expectations awaited this version of ‘MariMar’ when it first premiered on August 24, 2015. After all, the original starring Thalia and the first remake starring Marian Rivera were each big hits when they were aired here.

Unfortunately for GMA, the new ‘MariMar’ failed to make an impact in the ratings. The series lost regularly to both ‘Nathaniel’ and ‘Ang Probinsyano’, forcing GMA to consider moving ‘MariMar’ to a later timeslot, only to renege on that promise.

Looking back, it is clear that this ‘MariMar’ was a letdown for the Kapuso network. The series was supposed to be a hit, bar none, but with viewers already used to the story, not to mention a shorter wait between remakes and tougher competition from Primetime Bida, it lost its appeal.

In the end, it was a mistake that GMA would like to forget. For Megan Young, the comeback trail following her victory at the Miss World pageant was a rough one to begin with.

So what’s next for GMA after ‘MariMar’? GMA has already confirmed that ‘That’s My Amboy’, the follow-up project of ‘The Half-Sisters’ stars Barbie Forteza and Andre Paras, will replace ‘MariMar’, but the series will not begin until January 25.

This means that for the next two weeks, GMA Telebabad will only have five programs on the menu, with two teleseryes highlighting the lineup. The schedule is as follows:

5:45 p.m. – The Producers

6:30 p.m. – 24 Oras

7:45 p.m. – Little Nanay

8:30 p.m. – Because of You

9:15 p.m. – Kapuso Primetime Cinema

With only two local dramas starting this Monday, GMA Telebabad is at a clear disadvantage against Primetime Bida’s five teleseryes. Both ‘Little Nanay’ and ‘Because of You’ will now face ‘Ang Probinsyano’ and ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’; an obvious mismatch ratings-wise.

That said, the next two weeks will be a difficult one for Telebabad. While waiting for ‘That’s My Amboy’ (‘The Half-Sisters’ ends January 15, hence the delayed premiere), viewers will need to endure watching only two teleseryes on GMA’s primetime lineup.

FTT Year 2013 in Review: GMA

Another year is about to end. But before the calendar flips to 2014, here is a look back at the year that was in television and radio. This article will focus on the GMA Network, which had a rather abysmal performance this year.

The Positives

There have been a few bright spots for the Kapuso network. ‘Bubble Gang‘, ‘Eat Bulaga‘ and ‘Startalk‘ continued to impress in the ratings on their 18th year. ‘Pepito Manaloto‘ and ‘Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho‘ became social media stars, and ‘I-Witness’ racked up nominations on various international award-giving bodies. They even gained notoriety by unveiling eight-year-old child star Ryzza Mae Dizon as host of her eponymous talk show.

But perhaps GMA’s most important contribution of the year was ‘My Husband’s Lover’, whose same-sex relationship storyline was both praised and derided by critics during its run. The network also scored big with Megan Young‘s victory at the 2013 Miss World and Manny Pacquiao‘s win over Brandon Rios.

GMA’s other network News TV 11 branched into the teleserye genre with ‘Bayan Ko’ and ‘Titser’, with both series earning critical and commercial acclaim. Despite the fact that both programs were uncharacteristic of a typical all-news network, its political and socially conscious storylines made it an appropriate choice to air on the said network.

The Negatives

Teleseryes like the revived ‘Anna Karenina’, ‘Indio’, ‘Kahit Nasaan Ka Man’ and ‘Love & Lies’ didn’t even last at least six months, and despite the success of ‘My Husband’s Lover’, none of the other teleseryes clicked with viewers. GMA also tried to place a kiligserye (‘With a Smile’) in the morning slot, but it didn’t work out either.

On weekends, ‘Party Pilipinas‘, ‘Extra Challenge‘, ‘Teen Gen‘, ‘Dormitoryo’, ‘Hot TV’, ‘One Day Isang Araw’, and ‘Para Sa ‘Yo Ang Laban Na ‘To’ became victims of GMA’s continued purging of that slot. Eventually GMA resorted to airing four movie blocks on weekends in order to save costs. But the truth is, a majority of GMA programs have been extremely lackluster of late, and as a result of declining ratings and ad sales, its revenue declined from last year.

Worse, GMA programs ‘Bubble Gang’, ‘Unang Hirit’, ‘Party Pilipinas’ and ‘The Ryzza Mae Show’ were summoned by the MTRCB for indecent episodes. Even sister network News TV 11 suffered thanks to repetitive public affairs programs and unconventional movie blocks.

Outlook

So what’s next for GMA? They are expected to unveil a trio of new teleseryes starring Jennylyn Mercado (‘Rhodora X’), Marian Rivera (‘Carmela’) and Louise delos Reyes (‘Kambal Sirena’) in the new year. However, with its rival continuing to push the envelope thanks to its younger roster of stars and newly-acquired television franchises, GMA is again under pressure to improve its lackluster 2013 showing. And with its lack of purpose and ability to adapt and change haunting them, it looks like GMA is poised for another down year.

Megan Young Wins Miss World 2013

The 2013 Miss World was held at Bali, Indonesia. Amid protests by the hardline Muslim groups, the event proceeded as scheduled. A record 126 candidates from around the world participated in the pageant, but one of them would make history for the archipelago of over 1,700 islands.

Heading into the contest, the Philippines‘ Megan Young was considered one of the top contenders for the title, and she proved worthy of the crown by winning the Top Model challenge and finishing in the top five of the Beach Fashion and Multimedia Award contests. Those placings, along with the online votes she received heading into the tournament, helped her become the first Filipino to win the coveted Miss World crown. Second place in the pageant went to France’s Marine Lorphelin, while Ghana‘s Carranzar Naa Okailey Shooter earned third place honors.

Young’s victory was validated by this confident answer to the question ‘Why should you be crowned Miss World?’. She then replied, ‘I treasure a core value of humanity and that guides people why they act the way they do. I will use this to show other people how they can understand each other… as one, we can help society.’

The journey of Megan Young to the Miss World crown was enthusiastically followed by many fans through social media, and once her victory was validated, the Miss World contest and its related terms quickly became a trending topic on Twitter.  Young also won the contest despite the British media’s attempt to support her disqualification by using her controversial Rogue magazine cover the previous year.

While Young’s victory quickly made the rounds of both social media and online news outlets, the main coveror GMA aired the contest not knowing that the winner had already been revealed. The Kapuso network started airing the Miss World pageant at around 10 p.m., several minutes after Young’s victory was made public. They would not air it live because it would affect their other programs. But with social media starting to become a force in the entertainment industry, GMA should have pre-empted their other programs just for this occasion. Instead they carried on with their other programs for fear of losing the ratings battle with ABS-CBN.

Nevertheless, it was an ultimate victory for the Philippines. Megan Young’s victory was the country’s first for a major beauty pageant since Precious Lara Quigaman‘s 2005 Miss International victory. And along with Mutya Datul’s victory at the Miss Supranational, it only gave the Philippines some added motivation and hope heading into the Miss Universe pageant, with Ariella Arida as its standard-bearer.

In 100 Words: Miss World Philippines

At the Solaire Resort and Casino last night, actress Megan Young, currently seen on TV5’s ‘Misibis Bay’, won the 2013 Miss World Philippines, and will represent the country in the 2013 Miss World this September 28 in Indonesia. The result was not surprising, considering Young is among the most popular and well-recognized showbiz personalities today.

Aired on GMA’s ‘Sunday Night Box Office‘, Miss World Philippines is expected to outdraw ABS-CBN’s ‘Gandang Gabi Vice‘ once the ratings figures for the week were published. This despite the fact that the broadcast was aired on tape delay. The event also trended on social media outlets such as Twitter, with many showing their appreciation on Young’s victory.