Tag Archives: Ika-6 na Utos GMA

drama, entertainment, Philippines, television

Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko and Ika-5 Utos Falter Despite Swapping Timeslots

It’s just another blunder for the much-maligned GMA Afternoon Prime.

Despite a change in timeslots, the performance of ‘Ika-5 Utos’ did not change drastically. The series continues to falter in the ratings, with ‘Ika-5 Utos’ averaging only 12% compared to 17% for ‘Kadenang Ginto’.

Even ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’, the series that took over ‘Ika-5 Utos” previous timeslot, is underachieving as well. Its premiere episode last October 22 managed only an 11.2% rating compared to 16.7% for ‘It’s Showtime’.

‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko”s first foray into Saturday afternoons was somewhat respectable, as it came within 2.1% of ‘It’s Showtime”s rating last October 28. However, the following Saturday’s episode felt like a repeat of the weekday episodes performance-wise as ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’ fell to 10.7% whereas ‘It’s Showtime’ rose to 18.1%.

So far, ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’ averages only 11% while ‘It’s Showtime’ scores at around 17%. To their credit, though, the ratings disparity between the weekday and Saturday episodes is not as drastic compared to its previous occupant ‘Ika-5 Utos’.

Still, it did not change the fact that GMA continues to wear its viewers down with a six-a-week teleserye. They tried it successfully with ‘Ika-6 na Utos’, but after that, it grew stale.

Let’s face it, pitting a teleserye against Vice Ganda and company is an exercise in futility. And considering how strong ‘It’s Showtime’ is right now, GMA is making themselves pay for this risk-or-reward move.

While it’s still too early to judge ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’, its poor start may have set the tone for yet another underachieving GMA Afternoon Prime drama. Unless it turns things around like what happened to ‘Ika-6 na Utos’, GMA may as well cut short ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’ if it continues that way.

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GMA’s Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko Looks to Make Saturdays Relevant Anew

As stubborn as they come.

Even in a losing cause GMA continues to defy the norm. Their insistence comes in the form of one afternoon drama that airs from Monday to Saturday.

Initially they only used this formula for ‘Ika-6 na Utos’, by far their most successful afternoon drama in the recent past. But later dramas such as ‘Contessa’ and ‘Ika-5 Utos’ proved to be flukes as neither show was able to keep viewers tuned in six times a week.

And after only 36 episodes, GMA demoted ‘Ika-5 Utos’ to a later timeslot to make way for yet another ‘kabitserye’. As far as the new series ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’ is concerned, there is no need to explain, not even the story itself.

(Spoiler alert: one of the lead characters is a gay man who underwent sexual reassignment surgery ala Jake Zyrus to become a woman)

For those who still want to check in on the plot, just click this link. Enough said.

Anyway, ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’ will be led by Kris Bernal, Rayver Cruz, Thea Tolentino and Jason Abalos. The supporting cast will include Lotlot de Leon, Devon Seron, Annalyn Barro, Caprice Cayetano, Jean Saburit, Ricardo Cepeda, Maricris Garcia, Matthias Rhoads, and Phil Noble.

While ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’ has some recognizable names and an intriguing yet familiar storyline, the challenge now for the show is its ability to keep viewers glued to their seats from Monday to Saturday. Considering its opponent is ‘It’s Showtime’, it is not going to be an easy task, especially on Saturdays.

That said, GMA can only hope that ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’ will give Vice Ganda and company a lot more than they can chew. If not, then it will not be a surprise to see GMA demote this series and try a new strategy every Saturday.

Directed by Mark Sicat dela Cruz, ‘Asawa Ko, Karibal Ko’ airs every Monday to Saturday after ‘Eat Bulaga’ on GMA.

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Demoted: Ika-5 Utos to Move to Second Slot of Afternoon Prime

After only 36 episodes, ‘Ika-5 Utos’ will move to a new timeslot next week and will no longer air on Saturdays as it continues to underachieve in the ratings. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

Talk about ending a relationship before it even started.

Starting Monday, October 23, ‘Ika-5 Utos’ will air in the second slot of GMA’s Afternoon Prime to make way for the upcoming series ‘Karibal Ko ang Asawa Ko’ (more on that later this week). The series will take over the timeslot that will be vacated by ‘The Stepdaughters’.

‘Ika-5 Utos’ was initially placed in the leadoff slot of Afternoon Prime when it first premiered last September 10. The spiritual successor of the successful ‘Ika-6 na Utos’, many expected ‘Ika-5 Utos’ to be as competitive and as formidable as its sister series.

Instead, ‘Ika-5 Utos’ never lived up to the hype. Its premiere episode only scored 10% while ‘It’s Showtime’ managed 16.2%.

From that point forward, ‘Ika-5 Utos’ barely hit the 10% mark in some of its episodes while ‘It’s Showtime’ scored around 15% or better. However, things only got worse once Saturday arrived.

On average, ‘Ika-5 Utos’ only scored 6% less than ‘It’s Showtime’ every Saturday; in contrast, its weekday episodes average 4-5% less. Considering these factors, it is clear that viewer fatigue is starting to set in and they grew disinterested with another episode on Saturdays.

Overall, ‘Ika-5 Utos’ will have aired 36 episodes by the time the show moves to a new timeslot next week. The good news for the series moving forward is that there will be no more Saturday episodes, a day in which ‘Ika-5 Utos’ tends to underachieve more.

It will also mean a new opponent for ‘Ika-5 Utos’. Instead of getting humiliated by Vice Ganda, the series will now have to face Beauty Gonzalez, Dimples Romana, Adrian Alandy and Albert Martinez of ‘Kadenang Ginto’.

But this does not mean the end of ‘Ika-5 Utos” troubles. If the pilot episode is of any indication, then ‘Kadenang Ginto’ could become a difficult hurdle for ‘Ika-5 Utos’ to overcome.

Next week will be a new place and a new time scenario for ‘Ika-5 Utos’. But can a change of scenery help ‘Ika-5 Utos’ reverse its fortunes?

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In 100 Words: Ika-5 Utos Underachieves in Pilot Week

Maybe Vice Ganda should extend his invitation to the cast of ‘Ika-5 Utos’ on ‘It’s Showtime’.

After all, the new GMA afternoon series started off on a disappointing note. The premiere episode of ‘Ika-5 Utos’ last September 10 only registered an 11% rating while ‘It’s Showtime’ fared better at 16.2%.

The trend would continue for the remainder of the week. In fact, the first Saturday episode of ‘Ika-5 Utos’ only scored a 10.3% rating compared to ‘It’s Showtime”s 16.6%.

Overall, it was not a good start for ‘Ika-5 Utos’. Still, it is too early to tell if this series will become a flop considering that the sample size is only six episodes so far.

Who knows, maybe some kind of an ‘Ika-6 na Utos’-like comeback can give this series new life. We’ll just see.

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Desperate Times: Ika-5 Utos Represents GMA’s Last Hope for Six-a-Week Relevance

Let’s state the obvious to begin with.

On Monday, September 10, GMA will introduce a new drama called ‘Ika-5 Utos’. And the series will air from Monday to, not Friday, but Saturday afternoons after ‘Eat Bulaga’.

‘Ika-5 Utos” main plot centers around three families whose bonds will be destroyed by a series of incidents. The series, in particular, will take a look at the issue of hazing in college fraternities.

The cast of ‘Ika-5 Utos’ includes Jean Garcia, Gelli de Belen, Valerie Concepcion, Jake Vargas, Kiko Estrada, Inah de Belen, Tonton Gutierrez, Antonio Aquitania, Jeric Gonzales, Migo Adecer and Klea Pineda. The series, like its sister program ‘Ika-6 na Utos’, will be directed by Laurice Guillen.

So another teleserye that will air six times a week? It seems like GMA is obsessed with this new habit.

And since they do not have any further ideas to fill in on a Saturday afternoon (they do not even bother producing a program to match ABS-CBN’s ‘Pareng Partners’), they are stuck with using a teleserye as a desperate ploy to boost ratings. But as seen in the ill-fated tale that is ‘Contessa’, it was a flawed strategy to begin with.

The approach initially worked on ‘Ika-6 na Utos’ due to ‘insistent public demand’ (its finale earned around 20% despite airing on a Saturday). But when ‘Contessa’ took over viewers were soon fed up by GMA’s over-saturation tactics, and instead opted to watch either Vice Ganda running his mouth on national television or Netflix shows online.

As a result, ‘Contessa’ underachieved and GMA’s strategy backfired. With that in mind, ‘Ika-5 Utos’ is now stuck in the crossroads that will either appease its audience to watch the series or force GMA to finally admit the problems in its approach.

It will be interesting to see how this latest maneuver plays out. Can ‘Ika-5 Utos’ deliver on a six-a-week basis, or will GMA ever regret making this risky move?

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Contessa Bids Farewell

The merciful end of ‘Contessa’ has finally arrived.

After a run of 147 episodes, ‘Contessa’ will officially close its book Saturday afternoon. And while 147 episodes seem like a successful run by GMA’s standards, its performance was anything but.

When ‘Contessa’ began, GMA initially penciled the series to air only from Monday to Friday. But when no suitable replacement for the Saturday timeslot came, GMA reluctantly added a Saturday episode to ‘Contessa’.

That said, GMA placed extremely high expectations on ‘Contessa’. They thought that airing ‘Contessa’ six times a week would capitalize on the gains made by its predecessor ‘Ika-6 na Utos’.

Unfortunately, that did not happen. ‘Contessa’ started slow, registering ratings of under 10% during its initial few weeks.

While the series was able to increase its ratings to 12-14% over the next several months, it was clear that ‘Contessa’ underachieved in comparison to ‘Ika-6 na Utos’. Many viewers felt that the series was never compelling enough to begin with and some even went as far as comparing ‘Contessa’ to ABS-CBN’s ‘Wildflower’ due to its similar themes.

It also did not help that ‘Contessa’ struggled against ‘It’s Showtime”s ‘Tawag ng Tanghalan’. Even with the criticism surrounding the latter’s penchant to go overtime (thank you Vice Ganda), ‘Contessa’ was unable to capitalize simply due to the viewers’ apathy of the situation.

If there is one solace for ‘Contessa’, it is that it gave Glaiza de Castro a chance to play the victim. Normally known for her antagonistic roles, Glaiza’s complete 360 on ‘Contessa’ proved that she is just as good playing the compassionate and sometimes vengeful characters.

Still, it did not change the fact that ‘Contessa’ never became a hit series despite its long run. Let’s face it, adding a Saturday episode was a mistake and viewers got burned out, consequently resulting in poor ratings.

In the end, GMA should learn a harsh lesson from this debacle. Airing a series five times a day was enough, but six was simply too much to feed your viewers.

On Saturday, it will be ‘Contessa”s last stand. Perhaps the time has come for GMA to end this charade once and for all.

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