Tag Archives: Holy Week 2016

action, drama, entertainment, Philippines, television

Ang Probinsyano, One Year Later

The ‘One-Year Teleserye Club’ has inducted another member.

Last night marked the first anniversary of ‘Ang Probinsyano’, the cop-themed action drama starring Coco Martin and was a TV adaptation of the Fernando Poe Jr. classic. The series, which first premiered on September 28, 2015, has aired a total of 253 episodes as of yesterday (two dates were preempted due to Holy Week, and one due to Halalan 2016 coverage).

‘Ang Probinsyano’ became the first Primetime Bida series in over six years to reach the one-year mark. The last such series to make the grade was ‘May Bukas Pa’, which reached the mark in its final week.

With ‘Ang Probinsyano’ joining the first anniversary club, ABS-CBN now has two ongoing teleseryes that have reached the one-year plateau. Nearly a month earlier, ‘Doble Kara’ also turned a year old, and like ‘Ang Probinsyano’, is a top-rater in its timeslot.

Speaking of top-raters, ‘Ang Probinsyano’ has been a ratings leader from the start. Its premiere garnered a 41.6% national rating (according to Kantar), and has consistently hit or come close to this mark ever since.

Along the way, four rivals fell. First came the 2015 version of ‘MariMar’, then came the move of ‘Little Nanay’ to GMA Telebabad’s leadoff spot, followed by ‘Poor Señorita’, and now the new version of ‘Encantadia’.

Much of ‘Ang Probinsyano’s success comes from its police-oriented storyline. In an era where the fight against drugs, corruption and other crimes are common in primetime newscasts, ‘Ang Probinsyano’ takes cue from such news, and in the process, gives viewers a lesson in fighting crime.

While ‘Ang Probinsyano’ was a runaway success, it also weathered numerous casting changes during its first year. The most notable of these changes include the departures of Bela Padilla and Maja Salvador, and the entry of Yassi Pressman.

Overall, the first year of ‘Ang Probinsyano’ became memorable in more ways than one. Even PNP chief Ronald Dela Rosa was impressed with the show, saying that it helps restore the Filipino’s trust in the Philippine National Police.

As tribute to its first anniversary, a thanksgiving concert will take place on October 8. Now that it concludes its first year, one can only hope that ‘Ang Probinsyano’ will continue to provide some memorable moments as it enters its second year.

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entertainment, Philippines, talk show, television

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.

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.

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Philippines, Sports, television, United States

NCAA March Madness Belatedly Returns to Solar Sports, BTV

There will be US NCAA March Madness in the Philippines after all.

This weekend, Solar Sports and Basketball TV will join forces to cover Sunday’s Final Four and Tuesday’s National Championship of the US NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament. Sunday’s games are as follows:

  • Villanova vs. Oklahoma (6:00 a.m. live on Solar Sports and Basketball TV)
  • Syracuse vs. North Carolina (8:45 a.m. live on Solar Sports and 10:30 a.m. delayed broadcast on Basketball TV)

The winners of the above games will face off in Tuesday’s National Championship. It will take place at 8:00 a.m. live on Solar Sports and Basketball TV.

This marks the return of the NCAA tournament to the Solar networks for the first time since 2013. Unfortunately, the return of March Madness to Solar was somewhat belated, due to a lack of interest from various networks.

Sports5, the rightsholder of the last two US NCAA March Madness tournaments, decided to back out owing to cost-cutting measures and the yearly observance of Holy Week. Fox Sports Philippines, who covers conference college tournaments, also did not express interest, and neither did ABS-CBN Sports due to its focus on the UAAP.

With no other options, Solar Sports decided to step in, but their involvement came way too late. As a result, they missed out covering the preliminaries, from the First Four to the Elite Eight.

Still, as far as Solar is concerned, it’s better late than never. After all, March Madness is considered a must-watch event, even if a few Filipinos religiously follow the tournament.

It remains to be seen whether or not Solar will be willing to cover another year or two of March Madness. But hopefully, once they express interest again, the coverage won’t be just the Final Four and the National Championship, but also the First Four, the rounds of 64 and 32, the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight, for the full March Madness experience.

Good luck.

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drama, entertainment, Philippines, television

Shortened Final Week Awaits Little Nanay, You’re My Home

Only five episodes remain for ‘Little Nanay’ and ‘You’re My Home’.

Both series will officially conclude this Holy Wednesday, March 23. Since Maunday Thursday and Good Friday will feature special religious-themed programming, the final week of the two shows will be uncharacteristically abbreviated than usual.

GMA’s ‘Little Nanay’ first aired on November 16, 2015, and will have run for 129 episodes by the time it ends. The series starred Kris Bernal, Chlaui Malayao, Nora Aunor and Eddie Garcia, among others.

‘Little Nanay’ was pitted against ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’ from the moment it premiered, but the series endured poor ratings against the KathNiel-starred drama. Not even a change of timeslot from January 11 onward helped change its fortunes, as they didn’t come close to the feats achieved by ‘FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano’.

On the other hand, ABS-CBN’s ‘You’re My Home’ first aired a week earlier, on November 9. The series, which starred Dawn Zulueta, Richard Gomez, Jessy Mendiola and JC de Vera, among others, will have a total of 136 episodes once it concludes.

‘You’re My Home’ was created essentially to take advantage of GMA’s weaker offerings during the late evening slot. While the series started slow, it has since earned respectable ratings, and helped consolidate the dominance of ABS-CBN during weekday primetime.

The conclusions of both ‘Little Nanay’ and ‘You’re My Home’ mark a rare occasion in which a drama series will end on Holy Wednesday. As mentioned earlier, regular programming on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are set aside for religious-themed programs, hence the shorter final week.

That said, with only three episodes remaining before the Paschal Triduum kicks in, expect ‘Little Nanay’ and ‘You’re My Home’ to have a compelling conclusion. One can only hope that the two series will make a final impression as they enter the homestretch.

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