The Unexpected and Quiet Cancellation of Sabado-Badoo

‘Sabado-Badoo’ last aired on July 25, with GMA quietly pulling out the show from its lineup. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

It was a cancellation that no one saw coming.

The GMA comedy program ‘Sabado-Badoo’ was last seen on July 25. The show, hosted by Sef Cadayona and Betong Sumaya, featured a wide variety of videos that were variously presented in a humorous manner; most of which contained scenes from classic GMA shows.

When it premiered last March 14, ‘Sabado-Badoo’ was supposed to be GMA’s answer to ABS-CBN’s ‘Mga Kwento ni Marc Logan’. But it failed to even make a dent in the national ratings, as viewers find Marc Logan’s presentation style to be even funnier and quirkier than Sef and Betong’s.

‘Sabado-Badoo”s most recent episode came on July 25. After that, however, no further episodes were aired, and instead, ‘Pepito Manaloto: Ang Tunay na Kwento’ was moved to an earlier timeslot.

GMA did not officially announce the cancellation; instead they quietly pulled out ‘Sabado-Badoo’ from its Sabado Star Power lineup. Meanwhile, Sef was given a lead role in ‘Juan Tamad’, which began airing on August 23 (this should also explain why Sef left ‘Vampire ang Daddy Ko’ in order to concentrate on this project).

‘Sabado-Badoo’ could have been a good show had GMA chose a more experienced presenter. Too bad they don’t have a match for humor-oriented journalist Marc Logan, who is a regular on TV Patrol’s closing segments and a host on DZMM’s ‘Sakto’ with Amy Perez.

It was an unfortunate ending to a promising show. Let’s just hope that GMA learns from this latest ordeal.

Loss of Regional Outlets Another Cause of Concern for GMA

Regional networks become the latest area of concern for GMA. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

Things have gone from bad to worse for GMA.

After enduring numerous issues concerning programs, artists, manpower, advertising and revenue, the Kapuso network’s next obstacle comes from its regional networks. Just last weekend, GMA closed its four regional offices in Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Naga and Ilocos, cancelled morning shows in Cebu and Davao, and laid off at least 100 employees.

In response, GMA released a statement saying that“the strategic streamlining is geared towards increasing ratings and revenues of all of its regional stations from more efficient operations.” 

Furthermore, the network stated that they are “not closing down any regional station”, but rather they (except Cebu, Davao, Iloilo and Dagupan) will be continued as “satellite selling stations”, pending completion of the study and recommendation of the Regional TV Review Committee.

The network also mentioned that the news programs in Cebu, Davao, Iloilo and Dagupan will remain and will be strengthened, despite the cancellation of other regional programs in the morning. And finally, GMA also promised to offer its affected personnel “severance packages”.

This latest development definitely hurt GMA’s regional network group. Even though the network mentioned that no regional stations will be closed, it is clear that the lack of manpower and operations in the key cities will force GMA to use its Metro Manila relay feed, rendering them at a disadvantage against ABS-CBN’s RNGs.

That said, with ABS-CBN’s regional stations in Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Naga and Ilocos still operating, viewers may find themselves watching more regional news on ABS-CBN than on GMA due to the latter station’s closure. It may also contradict their statement regarding strategic streamlining for increased ratings and revenues, further hurting the network’s overall budget.

GMA’s loss of regional outlets will be severely felt throughout Timog Avenue and its remaining satellite offices. One must wonder when GMA will ever rebuild its regional network group after this debacle. Only time will tell.

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.