GMA’s Mid-Morning Problems Continue with Kapuso Movie Festival

GMA is bringing back ‘Kapuso Movie Festival’ as they continue to figure out the problems that plague them every weekday morning. (Logo courtesy of GMA Network)

Poor ratings have characterized GMA’s mid-morning lineup.

After an impressive showing for the network’s Astig Authority block (some of which are often reaired), the drop-off in ratings becomes noticeable once they move into a different set of programs. This has been a perennial problem for the network since Lilybeth Rasonable took over, and they have tried everything just to shake the mid-morning slate up.

There was the ‘Kapuso Movie Festival’ block, which was their obvious answer to ABS-CBN’s ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’. Then came Heart of Asia Mornings, a block that contains new light-hearted Koreanovelas.

They even attempted to air talk shows (e.g. ‘Basta Every Day Happy’, ‘Yan ang Morning) and local dramas (e.g. ‘With a Smile’). Unfortunately, all of these attempts failed miserably.

Now they are going back to airing movies via the ‘Kapuso Movie Festival’ block. Not to mention a rerun of an old QTV program called ‘H20: Just Add Water’, which will be obviously dubbed in Filipino unlike its original airing on Channel 11.

Let’s face it, there is no way GMA can beat ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’ with their own movie block. Their portfolio of new movies to air is running low, and to make matters worse, GMA Films has only a few titles to choose from, which is basically 1/8th to 1/16th of what rival Star Cinema has produced lately.

If GMA were smart enough to admit that they can no longer beat ABS-CBN after 9:00 a.m., perhaps the time has come to welcome a TV shopping block of their own choosing. Whether or not it is Shop Japan, EZ Shop or even Shop TV, it doesn’t matter, as long as they fill in GMA’s programming hours every morning.

They could also welcome blocktimers who can produce their own programs. While they already have established blocktimers in TAPE, Inc. (‘Calle Siete’, ‘Eat Bulaga’) and APT Entertainment (‘Sunday PinaSaya’), they might as well need another for non-entertainment purposes, such as lifestyle shows or documentaries.

Still, it is up to GMA management to decide the fate of the mid-morning slot. They need to think twice about giving up this venture.

Otherwise, they will be stuck with this hashtag: #KMFMForever, which translates to Kapuso Movie Festival Mornings Forever.

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No Talk Show Rivalry for GMA, Again

‘Yan ang Morning’ will not go up against ‘Magandang Buhay’ after all.

GMA made that clear when it announced its new morning lineup last Monday. And with the premiere of ‘Yan ang Morning’ this Monday, this is how their current lineup looks like:

• 7:30 a.m. – Astig Authority block
  • ‘Shaman King’
  • ‘Yo-Kai Watch’
  • ‘Bleach’
  • ‘Dragon Ball Z’
  • ‘Knock Out’
• 10:00 a.m. – ‘Mako Mermaids’
• 10:45 a.m. – ‘Yan ang Morning’

That’s right, 10:45 a.m. For some reason, GMA decided not to have ‘Yan ang Morning’ face ‘Magandang Buhay’ head-to-head (the latter currently airs at 7:30 a.m.), and instead air the former in a timeslot that was traditionally occupied by previous long-running talk shows (e.g. ‘Today with Kris Aquino’, ‘SIS’).

There are some good and bad news on this decision. The good news is that despite some good reviews and strong showing in social media, ‘Magandang Buhay’ has not been able to make an impact in the ratings (much like ‘Kris TV’ before it), losing to the entire Astig Authority block by a wide margin.

As far as GMA is concerned, their anime block is doing just fine, even if they continue to air reruns of several beloved animes. For them, there is no point in sacrificing Astig Authority’s timeslot in favor of another program since the block continues to have a strong following.

The bad news? After Astig Authority, ratings for GMA in the morning slip predictably, as ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’ kickstart a momentum swing for ABS-CBN that would continue for the rest of the day.

That said, GMA’s ratings woes after Astig Authority will put significant pressure on ‘Yan ang Morning’. Considering that their previous talk show ‘Basta Every Day Happy’ did not fare well, ‘Yan ang Morning’ could have a hard time making an impact in its current timeslot.

Would GMA be better off if ‘Yan ang Morning’ go one-on-one with ‘Magandang Buhay’? We’ll never know, but then again, anything can happen, and if ‘Yan ang Morning’ is able to thrive in its current timeslot, that could help GMA’s morale.

Hopefully they win, otherwise another failure of a talk show is in the offing.

Hosted by Marian Rivera, with Boobay as her sidekick, ‘Yan ang Morning’ airs weekdays starting May 2 at 10:45 a.m. on GMA.

New Talk Shows to Shine on ABS-CBN, GMA

Rival networks ABS-CBN and GMA are set to premiere new morning talk shows in the summer.

On the Kapamilya camp, the trio of Karla Estrada, Melai Cantiveros and Jolina Magdangal are busy preparing for a still-untitled talk show. A teaser for this program was aired recently, with its timeslot and premiere date yet to be determined.

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Dizizit! Very soon.🙏🏻

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This talk show is expected to replace ‘Kris TV’, whose run ended during the Holy Week but have continued to air reruns due to a lack of an immediate replacement. Kris Aquino herself admitted that she was saddened by the continuous replays of ‘Kris TV’ even though it had already been concluded.

Initially, a new talk show solely hosted by Karla Estrada was rumored to take over ‘Kris TV”s timeslot, but the Kapamilya actress denied the rumors. Just last week, however, she announced that she will indeed host the show alongside Melai and Jolina.

Over on the Kapuso side, Marian Rivera is also busy preparing for a new talk show of her own. Titled ‘Yan ang Morning!’, a teaser for it was aired recently, as part of GMA’s summer programs plug.

‘Yan ang Morning!’ will be GMA’s first morning talk show since ‘Basta Every Day Happy’ two years ago. Its timeslot is also yet to be determined, though it may be likely that GMA will air the program during the mid to late mornings, as it was the case with ‘Basta Every Day Happy’.

For Marian Rivera, it will be her third upcoming or ongoing project since returning from maternity leave. Her two other programs are the soon-to-air ‘Encantadia’ requel and ‘Sunday PinaSaya’.

Whether or not the two talk shows will face each other in the same timeslot or not remains to be seen. Still, it will be interesting to see how will they fare in a block that does not usually make an impact in the ratings.

Deal or No Deal Returns, Plus Umaganda’s Slump Continues

‘Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal’ returns with a new format this Monday. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN)

‘Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal’ returns for a new season with a new twist.

The popular ABS-CBN game show will have its fifth season premiere on February 9, with Luis Manzano again taking over hosting duties. This time around, a different format will encompass KDND’s latest season.

Gone are the ’26K Girls’ that held the show’s briefcases in previous seasons. Instead, celebrity guests will be holding the briefcases containing an unknown amount of money, and will be dubbed as the ’20 Lucky Stars’.

In addition, the day’s studio player will be selected from the aforementioned 20 celebrities via a roulette. The said player has the choice of keeping or trading briefcases with the other 19 ‘Lucky Stars’.

As was the case in prior seasons, the objective of the game is for the player to open each briefcase in hopes of getting a better offer from the unnamed banker.

The new season of ‘Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal’ will replace ‘Bet on Your Baby’ beginning this Monday. The second season of the latter game show will have its final episode aired tomorrow afternoon.

Also down to its final episode tomorrow is ‘The Singing Bee’. The long-running game show was a consistent top-rater for the Kapamilya network for the majority of its run, dispatching rival GMA game show ‘Don’t Lose Your Money’ and talk show ‘Basta Every Day Happy’ in the process.

But its success paled in comparison to the rest of the shows on Umaganda, especially Team Animazing. And starting this Monday morning, expect Umaganda’s quality to get even worse with the return of ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’.

The temporary movie block will replace both ‘The Singing Bee’ and ‘Pedro Penduko’ on Umaganda. And if that was not enough, ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’ will take on supposedly weaker competition in GMA’s ‘Corazon Indomable’ and ‘Women in the Sun’.

That said, the return of ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’ should give ABS-CBN more problems than solutions. Unless they quickly find a replacement program or two in the soonest possible time, expect Umaganda to grow even staler while giving GMA some much-needed breathing room in the mornings.

This is definitely not a good way for ABS-CBN to cement its dominance as the No. 1 network in the country with all the moves they make these days.

So Long, ‘Basta Every Day Happy’

‘Basta Every Day Happy’ officially bowed out yesterday morning. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

For the first time since December 30, 2011, Chef Boy Logro has no weekday program on the GMA Network.

‘Basta Every Day Happy’, the talk show hosted by Alessandra de Rossi, Gladys Reyes, Donita Rose and the aforementioned Chef Boy Logro, officially bowed out of the airwaves yesterday morning. As a result,  GMA replaced ‘Basta Every Day Happy’ with yet another rerun of ‘Slam Dunk’.

This left GMA without a local program in between ‘Unang Hirit’ and ‘The Ryzza Mae Show’. Considering their so-called ‘success’ with the ‘Astig Authority’ block, they may have made a wise decision, but rival ABS-CBN’s late morning programs like ‘The Singing Bee’ prove otherwise.

Debuting on May 12, 2014, ‘Basta Every Day Happy’ was GMA’s latest attempt at producing their own talk show (‘The Ryzza Mae Show’ doesn’t count since it is produced by blocktimer TAPE, Inc.).  However, it had consistently low ratings, leading to yet another short run for a post-‘SIS’ GMA talk show.

Worse, GMA placed ‘Basta Every Day Happy’ to an unfavorable timeslot (opposite Kapamilya shows like ‘The Singing Bee’), further accelerating its demise. Had it been placed opposite ABS-CBN’s equally low-rated morning show ‘Kris TV’, ‘Basta Every Day Happy’ would have fared much better.

Instead, GMA’s most recent morning talk show became an expected thumbs down, as previously predicted on From the Tube.

So what’s next for GMA after ‘Basta Every Day Happy’?

For now, they’ll live and die with the ‘Astig Authority’ block and their high propensity to re-air classic animes for ‘loyal’ audiences. But without the support of local programming, GMA will have a harder time competing against ABS-CBN’s programs, unless drastic things happen within the next few weeks.

As for Chef Boy Logro, he will still be a regular on the Kapuso network, as his other show, GMA News TV’s ‘Idol sa Kusina’, continues to air today. The future of his co-hosts, however, remain uncertain.

‘Basta Every Day Happy’ was a good show, had GMA made the right choices. But every misstep comes with a price, and in the end, it was GMA’s questionable decisions which cost another of their shows.

This is definitely not a good way to start 2015 for the embattled folks inside Timog Avenue, especially when it started with another programming casualty.

Be Careful’s Rivals Revisited (Part I)

‘Be Careful with My Heart’ easily overwhelmed ‘Kusina Master’, hosted by Chef Boy Logro (above), during its first few months on the air. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

‘Be Careful with My Heart’, ABS-CBN’s long-running ‘kiligserye’ series, ends this Friday, November 28. As a tribute to its unexpected success and longevity, From the Tube will look back at ‘Be Careful”s rivals and their performance against the said late morning drama series.

On July 9, 2012, ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ debuted on ABS-CBN’s late-morning slot. The then-debuting series introduced viewers to the characters Maya and Ser Chief, portrayed by Jodi Sta. Maria and Richard Yap, respectively.

In its maiden episode, ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ registered ratings of 14.1 and 15.2%, according to AGB Nielsen and Kantar figures, respectively. The series defeated its first rival, the then-dominant GMA cooking series ‘Kusina Master’ of host Chef Boy Logro, who ended up with paltry ratings of 13.5 and 8.8%, respectively.

Soon after, ‘Be Careful’ began to overwhelm the once-confident ‘Kusina Master’, and by October 22, the latter show had been demoted to an earlier timeslot, in favor of ‘Cielo de Angelina’. At this point, ratings of 20% or better were a regular occurrence for ‘Be Careful’.

However, on November 12, ‘Kusina Master’ returned to its original 11:30 a.m. timeslot, thus facing ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ for the second time. But it bombed even further in the ratings, and on February 18, 2013, it was moved back to the 10:00 a.m. timeslot, this time for good.

Make no mistake, ‘Kusina Master’ had been a force to be reckoned with prior to the entry of ‘Be Careful with My Heart’. Chef Boy Logro’s unorthodox and fast-paced cooking style were a hit with audiences, and his ability to interact and entertain with the viewers helped him become a household name.

But once ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ entered, it was all downhill for ‘Kusina Master’, to the point that it was demoted again to an earlier timeslot, and then reformatted in the final year of its run. Still, the show was fortunate to have lasted over two years, thanks to its loyal viewers who kept the show alive.

‘Kusina Master’ was cancelled on May 9, 2014, and was replaced by ‘Basta Every Day Happy’.

Tomorrow on Part II, From the Tube will look back at ‘Be Careful with My Heart”s next rival, ‘Cielo de Angelina’.