Koreanovelas Return to ABS-CBN

What’s going on, ABS-CBN?

In an extremely unusual move, the Kapamilya network decided to bring back Koreanovelas after an eight-month absence. Their newest Koreanovela, ‘My Love Donna’ will air starting this Monday, and will replace ‘And I Love You So’ on the Kapamilya Gold block.

‘My Love Donna’ stars Joo Jin-Mo and Kim Sa-Rang. It will be the first Koreanovela since ‘Let’s Get Married’ and ‘My Lovely Girl’ to air on ABS-CBN.

Bringing back Koreanovelas on ABS-CBN doesn’t make sense. They already have the resources and technology to produce more local programming, so why do they still need to import foreign series when in fact interest in Koreanovelas are declining and there are some Star Magic artists who are waiting for opportunities to shine.

In addition, ABS-CBN is infamous for cutting a lot of good scenes when it comes to foreign dramas, so much so that their runs are shorter than originally indicated (remember ‘Ana Manuela’?). The fact that these dramas are short-term in nature doesn’t help ABS-CBN at all, and it only hurts their viewership whenever they are present.

By bringing ‘My Love Donna’ to Kapamilya Gold, ABS-CBN has made the wrong decision and the wrong time to bring back a Koreanovela. On the same day ‘My Love Donna’ premieres, GMA will bring in a new teleserye, the Andrea Torres-starred ‘The Millionaire’s Wife’, on the very same timeslot (more on that this Monday).

Remember, the Kapuso network only airs Koreanovelas in the morning and evening slots, and on Mondays to Thursdays as well. The presence of ‘Wowowin’ and longer teleseryes means that there is no place for them to add Koreanovelas in the afternoon.

That said, expect ABS-CBN to lose in the ratings with their newest Koreanovela. This is a definite mismatch for the Kapamilya network, and thus, it won’t help them at all.

What was thought to be the ‘end of an era’ for Koreanovelas on the network turned out to be false hope. Yes, ABS-CBN brought back a Koreanovela, but it won’t be long before they stopped airing them anew.

Other Notes: Speaking of Koreanovelas, GMA will have Korean movies every Monday to Thursday at 10:00 p.m. as part of the ‘Heart of Asia Presents’ series. It will replace ‘Temptation’ starting March 14.

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GMA Shakes Up Weekday Morning Lineup Anew

A teleneovela and a long-overdue Koreanovela makes its way to GMA this Monday morning.

First on the menu is ‘Corazon Indomable’, otherwise known as ‘Wild at Heart’. The telenovela stars Ana Brenda Contreras and Daniel Arenas as lovers with contrasting roots.

‘Corazon Indomable’ first aired in 2013 throughout Mexico, and was a remake of the hit telenovela ‘Marimar’. The latter, first shown on RPN-9 and later re-aired and locally remade on GMA, took Philippine television by storm in the mid-1990s.

The entry of ‘Corazon Indomable’ will mark the latest attempt to rekindle the fading popularity of the telenovela. The genre has endured tremendous amount of abuse from the rightsholder in the last few years, as telenovelas like GMA’s ‘Lola’, ABS-CBN’s ‘Ana Manuela’, and IBC-13/ATC’s ‘The Two Sides of Ana’ and ‘La Teniente’ were either cancelled or shortened for various reasons.

It will be foolish for GMA to once again cut short another telenovela, considering the backlash that they endured upon cancelling ‘Lola’ due to low ratings. If they keep their heads calm, then ‘Corazon Indomable’ will be able to finish in full.

Immediately following ‘Corazon Indomable’ will be the Koreanovela ‘Women in the Sun’. It will star Kim Ji-soo, Lee Ha-na, Han Jae-suk, and Jung Gyu-woon.

‘Women in the Sun’ premieres in Philippine shores nearly seven years after it first aired in its native South Korea. In its original airing, the Koreanovela received an average rating of nearly 14% and won four KBS Drama Awards.

The long gap is uncharacteristic for any Koreanovela in the country, as GMA and ABS-CBN usually air their Koreanovelas within one or two years from its original Korean broadcast. Still, for any devoted follower of Asianovelas, ‘Women in the Sun’ should be worth the wait.

Now the question is, will they have a chance to make an impact against ‘The Singing Bee’? It is highly doubtful, since ‘The Singing Bee’ has had GMA’s number for the past few months, and not even the extended running time of the Astig Authority block can rattle its confidence.

That said, the onus is on GMA to make the two series as good as advertised. This is a make or break situation for them as far as their morning lineup is concerned, so good luck.

‘Corazon Indomable’ and ‘Women in the Sun’ airs starting February 2, right after Astig Authority and before ‘The Ryzza Mae Show’.

Note: The trailer for ‘Corazon Indomable’, which is now shown on GMA, is unavailable on YouTube as of this writing.

Inauspicious Start for Revamped Kapamilya Gold

Despite tremendous hype surrounding the return of Jolina Magdangal and Marvin Agustin to ABS-CBN, ‘Flordeliza’ failed to make an impact against its counterpart ‘The Half-Sisters’ on its first week. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN)

ABS-CBN’s new-look Kapamilya Gold is off to a slow start.

Ratings from the network’s trusted source Kantar Media showed that last Monday’s pilot episodes of ‘Flordeliza’ and ‘Nasaan Ka Nang Kailangan Kita’ registered a paltry 9.7 and 8.9% figures, respectively. On the other hand, GMA Afternoon Prime counterparts ‘The Half-Sisters’ and ‘Yagit’ earned better marks of 14.9% and 11.6%.

The two shows’ ratings also failed to improve following last Tuesday’s episodes. ‘Flordeliza’ earned an 8.2% mark against ‘The Half-Sisters” 15.5%, while ‘Nasaan Ka Nang Kailangan Kita’ managed a 7.9% rating opposite ‘Yagit”s 11.9%.

And following last Wednesday’s episodes, ‘Flordeliza’ and ‘Nasaan Ka Nang Kailangan Kita’ garnered ratings of 9% and 8.7%, respectively. Meanwhile, ‘The Half-Sisters’ and ‘Yagit’ fared much better with 14.8% and 12.3%.

The struggle has been all too real for Kapamilya Gold. Since ‘Moon of Desire’ ended its run in August, the afternoon block has been on the decline, both in terms of quality and in viewership.

From mid-August to mid-January, ABS-CBN did not produce any local teleseryes for the said block. The vacant slot in between ‘It’s Showtime’ and the News and Current Affairs programs was first filled in by the ill-fated telenovela ‘Ana Manuela’, followed by the movie block ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’.

The lack of local teleseryes clearly took its toll on Kapamilya Gold. As a result, Afternoon Prime retook control in the ratings, led by the top-rated ‘The Half-Sisters’, and never looked back.

It is clear that both ‘Flordeliza’ and ‘Nasaan Ka Nang Kailangan Kita’ have a lot more work to do in order to match, let alone surpass the ratings of their rivals. The hype surrounding the two shows is undeniable, but unless they back it up with an improved ratings performance, all that hype will go to waste.

That said, it is up to the executives at ABS-CBN to make some improvements for Kapamilya Gold. They are undoubtedly the No. 1 television network today, but it doesn’t mean they are invincible with this weakness.

Note: ‘Flordeliza’ and ‘Nasaan Ka Nang Kailangan Kita’ will be bumped to earlier timeslots in order to make way for the Koreanovela ‘Fated to Love You’, starting today.