Tonight with Boy Abunda Turns One

‘Ang Probinsyano’ is not the only primetime program with a one-year anniversary celebration.

On the same night Coco Martin made his television return as a crime-fighting cop, Boy Abunda decided that he’ll be better off working on a talk show alone. His show, ‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’, premiered on September 28, 2015, replacing ‘Aquino & Abunda Tonight’ which he co-hosted with erstwhile ABS-CBN star Kris Aquino.

Initially thought of as a ‘transitional’ show, ‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’ managed to stay on the air longer than anyone could have imagined. The show was a decent hit in the ratings, even though late-night television tends to draw fewer viewers at this point in time.

Throughout the past year, ‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’ provided some memorable interviews with several of the country’s top subjects. The anniversary episode last Wednesday was no exception, as Boy’s guest Amy Perez talked about the latest news of her life and career.

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Kagabi sa TWBA: Chang Amy Perez with the King of Talk! Ibinahagi ni Amy na ipagdiriwang nila ng asawa niyang si Carlo Castillo ang kanilang 10th anniversary as a couple this year.

A post shared by Tonight With Boy Abunda (@twbaofficial) on Sep 29, 2016 at 12:19am PDT

In an age where late night talk shows are a rare breed in the country, ‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’ continues to stand tall. Although the show lasts for 15-20 minutes, the time duration is more than enough for Boy to grill his guests with the same explosive style that he has been known for all these years.

The seeming seriousness of the show may be intentional at times, but ‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’ has quietly carved out a loyal following since its premiere. And while the show is not as ‘comedic’ as other talk shows, Boy’s knack for bringing out the best in his subjects will always be an asset.

Now that it is on its second year, expect more explosion and revelation on ‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’. The show may have survived its first year, but the best is yet to come.

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Boy Abunda Goes Solo Starting Tonight

The spotlight every late weeknights now solely falls on Boy Abunda.

Starting tonight, Abunda will be the host of the now-retitled ‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’, which will take over the timeslot of its predecessor ‘Aquino & Abunda Tonight. This comes after erstwhile co-host Kris Aquino left the show due to health concerns.

‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’ will carry some of the elements from its predecessor, except that Abunda will be joined by some guest commentators who will analyze some of the hottest stories today. As always, interviews with some of the country’s headliners will highlight the show, with the participation of viewers via social media.

While the transition to Boy Abunda going solo will not be a problem (he’s already used to hosting solo on ‘The Bottomline with Boy Abunda’), there is one problem concerning the title of the show. Some viewers may think that ‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’ is related to GMA News TV’s ‘Tonight with Arnold Clavio’, despite its differences in format.

If ABS-CBN were smart enough, they could have promoted Boy Abunda’s new daily solo show as a spin-off to ‘The Bottomline with Boy Abunda’. Perhaps ‘The Daily Bottomline’, ‘Bottomline 15’ or ‘The Bottomline in 15 Minutes’ would have been a more appropriate title, isn’t it?

Or they would just rename it as ‘ 15 Minutes with Boy Abunda’. Either way, ABS-CBN would have been more creative if they created a better program title instead of copy-pasting one that is already used on another network.

As for Kris Aquino, her departure from the show leaves her with just one program in ‘Kris TV’. Perhaps it’s only good for her to do only one show, given the recent health scares that affected her, not to mention other projects not related to television appearances.

All 15 minutes of Boy Abunda on his new show should be interesting. Let’s see how it pays off.

‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’ airs weeknights after ‘Pinoy Big Brother: 737’ on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida.

PBB 737 Housemates Revealed Ahead of Season Premiere

Once again, ‘Pinoy Big Brother”s unpredictable nature manifests itself.

In a buildup to the premiere of ‘Pinoy Big Brother: 737’, the producers decided not to wait for the premiere to reveal this season’s cast of housemates. Instead, some of the housemates were announced during various live ABS-CBN programs.

Five new housemates have been introduced so far. They are:

Ryan Bacalla, Kid Sunshine of Cebu, 14 years old.

Bailey May, Global Gwapito of U.K., 12 years old.

Jimboy Martin, Barrio Rapper of Nueva Vizcaya, 17 years old.

Ailah Antopina, Faithful Daughter of Bacolod, 13 years old.

Kamille Filoteo, Teen Mama of Manila. 16 years old.

Two other housemates will be revealed later today, with the rest of the cast following suit in tomorrow’s season premiere.

So far, the housemates revealed for PBB: 737 were in their teens, hinting at the possibility of this season being the latest ‘teen’ edition. Last year’s ‘Pinoy Big Brother: All In’ used a mix of teens, celebrities and regular housemates, a first in the ‘Big Brother’ franchise.

‘Pinoy Big Brother: 737’ will be aired every day at these times:

• Weekdays after ‘Nasaan Ka Nang Kailangan Kita’ on Kapamilya Gold
• Weeknights after ‘Aquino & Abunda Tonight’ on Primetime Bida
• Saturday nights after ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya’
• Sunday nights after ‘Rated K’

PBB: 737 will also be available live and on-demand via iWanTV and on livestreaming via the ABS-CBN entertainment website. Bianca Gonzalez, Toni Gonzaga and Robi Domingo will be the hosts for this season.

‘Pinoy Big Brother: 737’ will mark the 10th anniversary of the ‘Pinoy Big Brother’ franchise.

Asianovelas on ABS-CBN To Be Affected Again By PBB

The entry of ‘Pinoy Big Brother: 737’ should cause some concern to Kapamilya Asianovela fans.

Starting next Monday, weekday editions of PBB: 737 will air twice a day, similar to prior seasons. The afternoon edition will air after ‘Nasaan Ka Nang Kailangan Kita’, and the primetime edition will air after ‘Aquino & Abunda Tonight’.

The two editions of ‘Pinoy Big Brother: 737’ will replace a pair of Asianovelas that are on their final week: Kapamilya Gold’s ‘Let’s Get Married’, and Primetime Bida’s ‘My Lovely Girl’.

With the Asianovelas about to be shut out in the afternoon and primetime slots, ABS-CBN will now have to find a way to maintain interest to these programs in a different timeslot. After all, they don’t want to rob Asianovela fans of their enjoyment and pleasure in watching such series.

One particular option may be the Umaganda block, where the network’s Asianovelas have enjoyed ratings success in recent years. However, the network has not broadcast an Asianovela in the morning since ‘Lovers in Paris’ re-aired from June to August of last year.

Currently the only open slot on Umaganda is ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’, which is merely a filler program. The movie block is up against GMA Asianovelas ‘Secret Garden’ and ‘Two Mothers’, and Latinovela ‘Corazon Indomable’, all of which were decent performers for the Kapuso network.

Replacing ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’ with either one or two Asianovelas may help ABS-CBN regain some sense of respectability in the morning block. It should also make up for the presence of PBB in their timeslots, in order to satisfy the cravings of Kapamilya Asianovela fans.

If ABS-CBN decides not to air an Asianovela at all, it will definitely hurt the network’s morale. After all, they are regarded as the ‘First and True Home of Asianovelas’, having first brought one in 2003 with ‘Meteor Garden’.

That said, keeping up with GMA’s ‘Heart of Asia’ should help ABS-CBN continue its tradition of bringing quality Asianovelas to the small screen. The Asianovela-loving fanbase is growing, so ABS-CBN has to heed to their demands.

GMA’s ‘Bet ng Bayan’ Premieres This Sunday

The schedule for ‘Bet ng Bayan’ is out.

GMA announced this week that ‘Bet ng Bayan’ will start on October 5, replacing ‘Sa Puso ni Dok’ in its timeslot. The talent show will also have a 15-minute ‘daily strand’ show on weeknights.

‘Bet ng Bayan’ was promoted in advance by the network, with auditions running throughout August and September. Initially, the show was to have a Filipino-themed logo featuring the ‘three stars and a sun’ motif, but in mid-September, a new, more futuristic logo was revealed on its Facebook account, and was duly promoted during commercial plugs.

‘Bet ng Bayan’ will also award three different winners instead of one. There will be one winner each in the singing, dancing and extreme talents categories, which will be determined week after week until the grand finals.

Looking ahead to the show’s premiere, things do not look good for the Kapuso network. ‘Bet ng Bayan’ will go up against the successful yet controversial ‘Gandang Gabi Vice’, and based on the show’s overwhelming success against GMA’s other programs, this is a potential disaster waiting to happen.

Had they cut ‘Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho’ to an hour (similar to rival ‘Rated K’), ‘Bet ng Bayan’ would have fared better against ‘I Do’. Instead, they are placed on a timeslot that is unfavorable to talent shows.

Also not looking good is ‘Bet ng Bayan”s overall schedule. Instead of airing a Saturday edition, GMA decided to utilize brief 15-minute updates every weeknights.

The aforementioned ‘Bet ng Bayan’ updates will take on the Kapamilya network’s ‘Aquino & Abunda Tonight’, thus giving GMA Telebabad equal footing to ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida. But it remains to be seen if the 15-minute tablet approach will pay off, considering shows like ‘Pinoy Idol’ and ‘Protege’ never became successful when utilizing this format.

‘Bet ng Bayan’ is definitely GMA’s latest attempt towards making a successful talent show. Having seen ABS-CBN and TV5 step up a notch with the likes of ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ and ‘Talentadong Pinoy’, the pressure is now on ‘Bet ng Bayan’ to deliver the same kind of success as the two aforementioned programs. This is a hit or miss situation for GMA, so good luck to them.

 

Nino, Secret Love Bow Out

‘Nino’, along with ‘Secret Love’, will end their runs this week on GMA Telebabad. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

Two GMA Telebabad programs will bid farewell within the next two days.

First up is ‘Secret Love’, whose finale will air later tonight. The Koreanovela premiered on July 14 and was one of GMA Telebabad’s stronger-performing programs.

Starring Ji Sung as Dominic, Hwang Jung Eum as Elise, and Bae Soo Bin as Howard, ‘Secret Love’ focused on Dominic’s obsession and eventual romance with Elise amid the latter’s involvement in the killing of Dominic’s girlfriend. The series also saw how Elise willingly accused herself of the crime for the sake of her then-boyfriend Howard, after which he called off their relationship and humiliated her.

During its two-month run, ‘Secret Love’ competed well against the likes of ‘Aquino & Abunda Tonight’, ‘Pinoy Big Brother: All In’ and ‘Miss Ripley’ on ABS-CBN. The Asianovela averaged at least 15% on AGB Nielsen’s national ratings, and at least 7% on Kantar.

No replacement will be made for ‘Secret Love’, since ‘I Hear Your Voice’, the Kapuso network’s supposed successor Asianovela, premiered last month while the former was still airing.

Meanwhile, ‘Nino’ and his Naynay Commandments will officially end their run tomorrow.

The teleserye starring Miguel Tanfelix premiered on May 26, replacing ‘Carmela’ while dislodging ‘Kambal Sirena’ out of its original timeslot. Despite its value-oriented nature, ‘Nino’ had an up-and-down run, as reflected by the AGB Nielsen and Kantar ratings.

‘Nino’ had a slow start against ‘Dyesebel’ in the AGB Nielsen ratings, but managed to pick up steam as the latter drew to a close. The series continued to win over viewers even after ‘Hawak Kamay’ took ‘Dyesebel”s timeslot on July 21, and should finish with an average of 22% by the end of its run.

But on Kantar’s count, ‘Nino’ performed badly against both ‘Dyesebel’ and ‘Hawak Kamay’. A 17% average for ‘Nino’ and a -10% disparity against rival ABS-CBN teleseryes should be a cause of concern for GMA management, even as ABS-CBN endured a slight decline in the ratings of their aforementioned programs.

Overall, ‘Nino’ was a decently good teleserye, but not as revered as the likes of ‘May Bukas Pa’, ‘100 Days to Heaven’, and ‘Honesto’ on the Kapamilya network. And with GMA becoming infamous for producing merely filler teleseryes that have shorter timespans, ‘Nino”s near five-month run is just another example of why GMA is resorting to this tactic with little results.

Replacing ‘Nino’ on its timeslot will be ‘Strawberry Lane’, another family drama starring Bea Binene, Kim Rodriguez, Joyce Ching, Joanna Marie Tan, and Rita de Guzman. The series, which centers on five juvenile girls seeking a new direction in life, will premiere on September 15.