Another Revamp for ABS-CBN’s NCA Programs

If there is one department that ABS-CBN needs to improve, it’s the News and Current Affairs department.

Starting this week, the NCA afternoon block, formerly known as ‘Pinoy True Stories’, will have a new look. Four new programs will make their debut on the newly-revamped block, with only ‘Tapatan ni Tunying’ retained from the previous group.

The new programs are:

Mission Possible

Hosted by Julius Babao, ‘Mission Possible’ will showcase inspiring stories from struggling individuals, no matter the circumstances. At the end of the program, a surprise gift will await the featured person.

‘Mission Possible’ airs every Monday.

3 in 1

Hosted by Karen Davila, K Brosas and Atty. Claire Castro, ‘3 in 1’ will discuss a wide variety of topics, from news to general interest stories. The talk show will be seen live every week.

‘3 in 1’ airs every Tuesday.

RealiTV: Mga Bidyong Nakakabilib

Hosted by Atom Araullo, ‘RealiTV: Mga Bidyong Nakakabilib’ will feature death-defying home videos from various parts of the world. Warning: this program is not for the faint of heart.

‘RealiTV: Mga Bidyong Nakakabilib’ airs every Wednesday.

Sports U

Hosted by Dyan Castillejo, ‘Sports U’ will profile the lives of Filipino athletes from various sports. The program will be a spinoff to the long-running ‘Sports Unlimited’.

‘Sports U’ airs every Thursday.

The four programs will replace ‘Bistado’, ‘My Puhunan’, ‘Mutya ng Masa’ and ‘Red Alert’. It is the third such revamp on the NCA block since it moved to the afternoon slot nearly three years earlier.

This latest turnover clearly shows the lack of consistency within ABS-CBN’s News and Current Affairs department. While news programs such as ‘TV Patrol’ made the said department one of the most credible, it is their public affairs programs that still need some work, both in terms of storytelling and longevity.

For the ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs, establishing these attributes begin with these four new programs and ‘Tapatan ni Tunying’. If GMA proved that with their award-winning public affairs programs, so can ABS-CBN, and it all starts now.

The ABS-CBN NCA block airs weekdays after ‘Fated to Love You’ on Kapamilya Gold, available only on select areas nationwide.

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.