Despite Wins, Primetime Bida’s Second Slot On a Slump

The second slot of ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida used to be as dominant as the first.

In a span of nearly two years, the second slot was given to either KathNiel, the love team of Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, or LizQuen, the love team of Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil. The run began with the latter’s ‘Forevermore’, followed by the former’s ‘Pangako Sa ‘Yo’, and concluded with ‘Dolce Amore’, also of the latter.

These three dramas consistently earned 30% or better ratings during their respective runs. On some occasions, they also reached 40% or better, which is around 20% more than the opposing teleserye that GMA pits against.

But on August 29, the fortunes of Primetime Bida’s second slot began to change. That night marked the premiere of JaDine’s (James Reid and Nadine Lustre) ‘Till I Met You’, which was the first series not to star either KathNiel or LizQuen in the 8:45 slot since ‘Ikaw Lamang’ in 2014.

The said series entered the scene with high expectations, and considering the smashing success of both KathNiel and LizQuen, many looked forward to a similarly dominant performance from JaDine. However, despite beating GMA Koreanovela ‘Descendants of the Sun’ in the ratings, their average mark of 26% is a far cry from the teleseryes of KathNiel and LizQuen.

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Three weeks later, ‘Till I Met You’ was demoted to the third slot, where JaDine has had success in the past. Its replacement ‘Magpahanggang Wakas’ fared no better, earning only a 25% average rating as of September 20.

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To make matters worse, the opposing GMA series began to close the gap. The final week of the Koreanovela ‘Descendants of the Sun’ averaged well over 22%, and the succeeding series ‘Alyas Robin Hood’, seemingly benefiting from the backlash that tagged them as an ‘Arrow’ copycat, earned an average of 21% through its first two episodes.

As victorious as ABS-CBN is, the recent slump in form for Primetime Bida’s second slot should give them a reason to worry. The fact is, people are getting tired of the repetitive formulas that the Kapamilya network use, and as such, have no motivation to continue watching their series.

Still, tagging the second slot of ‘Primetime Bida’ as ‘past its prime’ is premature. If ‘Magpahanggang Wakas’ can somehow create some interesting and heart-wrenching scenes in future episodes, the dominant showing of the past could resurface sooner or later.

One can only hope that ABS-CBN pushes the right buttons in order to return to their past dominance. Otherwise, GMA could end up as the winner if this slump continues.

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A Spectacular Ending for Pilipinas Got Talent

Season 5 of ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ ended on a great note.

For the first time in the talent show’s history, a non-singer won the grand prize of P2 million. Power Duo, a dancing act composed of real-life couple Anjanette and Gervin, was named the grand winner, following an impressive performance in the finale held during the weekend of May 21-22 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Dancing to the tune of the OPM classic ‘Ikaw Lamang’, Power Duo earned an average of 100% of votes from both the judges and the viewers to win the grand prize. Their awe-struck performance in the finale capped off an amazing run for the dance act, who began the season by receiving the Golden Buzzer and kept cruising all season.

Power Duo joins an elite list of winners in the ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ franchise, all of which were singers. They are Jovit Baldivino, Marcelito Pomoy, Maasinhon Trio, and Roel Manlangit.

Aside from Power Duo, the season’s other finalists include:

Dancers

• Crossover Family
• Mastermind
• Sto. Tomas Bulilit Generation
• Power Impact Dancers

Singers

• Next Option
• The Chosen Ones
• Kurt Philip Espiritu

Variety Acts

• UA Mindanao (motocross stunts)
• Amazing Pyra (fire dancing)
• Ody Sto. Domingo (magic)
• Dino Splendid Acrobats (acrobatic stunts)

While the finale went along smoothly, not all performers left the venue standing. UA Mindanao member Bornok Mangosong performed a risky back-flip that ultimately crashed, leaving him in a wheelchair afterwards.

Despite the mishap, the judges still praised UA Mindanao for courageously finishing the performance. Angel Locsin, one of the season’s judges, even gave the group a perfect score.

Overall, Season 5 of ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’ was a runaway winner, averaging around 35% and consistently topping the list of the 20 most-watched shows every Saturday and Sunday. To cap it all off, the two-part finale garnered ratings of 33.8% (Saturday) and 36.7% (Sunday), beating the competition on both occasions.

It was indeed a spectacular ending for ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’. While its future is once again up in the air, there is glimmer of hope, since the just-concluded season gave all acts a fair share of the spotlight, capped off by a non-singer in Power Duo winning the grand prize.

Hopefully ABS-CBN can bring back the ever-successful franchise sooner rather than later. For now though, another talent show franchise in ‘The Voice Kids’ is on the spotlight starting this weekend.

In 100 Words: ‘Dream Dad”s Baby Returns as ‘Ningning’

The breakout star from ‘Dream Dad’ returns with a new teleserye.

Child actress Jana Agoncillo will lead the cast of ‘Ningning’. The upcoming ABS-CBN drama series will be Jana’s second starring role, after appearing in support roles on ‘Honesto’ and ‘Ikaw Lamang’.

But Jana will not be the only ‘Dream Dad’ star in this series, as Beauty Gonzalez is also confirmed to be a part of ‘Ningning’. The former ‘Pinoy Big Brother’ housemate has enjoyed a career renaissance following years of weight problems, culminating in a breakout role in ‘Dream Dad’.

Initial teasers for ‘Ningning’ have already been released by the network, with the premiere date and timeslot still to be determined. Stay tuned for further updates.

As Ilustrado Debuts, Ikaw Lamang Departs

A new-look GMA Telebabad premieres this week, while ABS-CBN says goodbye to one of their hits.

The ‘bayani-serye’ ‘Ilustrado’ will make its much-anticipated premiere later tonight. The series will be led by Alden Richards as Jose Rizal and Kylie Padilla as Leonor Rivera, with supporting roles by Solenn Heussaff, Max Collins, Eula Valdez, Jaclyn Jose, Polo Ravales, Ricardo Cepeda, Freddie Webb and Mailes Kanapi.

‘Ilustrado’ will focus less on Rizal’s struggles for Philippine independence and his work on ‘Noli Me Tangere’ and ‘El Filibusterismo’. Instead, it will feature a more human side in the life of the national hero and his fellow reformists, from their relationships to their day-to-day struggles with ordinary citizens.

The premiere of ‘Ilustrado’ should be an interesting one, as it will go up against ‘Two Wives’. The latter series has been on a roll since it debuted last week, and should pose a challenge to the more qualitative and informative ‘Ilustrado’.

Meanwhile, the still-struggling ‘Hiram na Alaala’ will be moved to an earlier timeslot, opposite an ABS-CBN Primetime Bida  teleserye that is about to end this week.

‘Ikaw Lamang’, the period drama that started last March, will bid goodbye on October 24. The series will have two chapters and 162 episodes at the end of its run.

Initially starring Kim Chiu (as Isabelle) Julia Montes (as Mona), Coco Martin (as Samuel) and Jake Cuenca (as Franco), Montes’ character was killed off just as Book 1 was winding down. When Book 2 got underway, Chiu and Martin were now assigned to portray the roles of Gabriel and Andrea, respectively.

Book 2 also featured Amy Austria, Joel Torre and Christopher de Leon as the older Isabelle, Samuel and Franco, while KC Concepcion took on the role of Natalia, daughter of Isabelle and Franco.

‘Ikaw Lamang’ was one of ABS-CBN’s highly-rated teleseryes throughout its run. The show even outlasted its main arch-rival ‘My Destiny’, whose run from June 30 to October 17 came just as the former was at the peak of its success.

That said, it should be interesting to see how ‘Ikaw Lamang’ will fare in its final week against ‘Hiram na Alaala’.  Expect the conclusion of this series to be a highly-anticipated one.

‘Ikaw Lamang’ will be replaced by ‘Forevermore’, starring Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano.

 

GMA Tries to Take Advantage with My BFF

 

‘My BFF’ hopes to sustain the momentum that its predecessor ‘My Love from the Star’ generated during its run.

The last time GMA aired a local teleserye before ’24 Oras’, they were rocked in the ratings. But with ABS-CBN’s ‘Mirabella’ not living up to expectations, GMA has decided to take advantage.

Starting June 30, ‘My BFF’ will take on ‘Mirabella’ on the timeslot preceding the news. The series, starring Jillian Ward, Mona Louise Rey, Janno Gibbs and Manilyn Reynes, will replace the highly successful and competitive ‘My Love from the Star’.

This will be GMA’s first local teleserye in the 5:45-6:30 p.m. slot since ‘Paraiso Ko’y Ikaw’. The series, starring Kristoffer Martin and Kim Rodriguez, performed poorly in the midst of ‘Annaliza”s dominance. As a result, GMA shied away from producing a local series in that timeslot for over two months.

During that span, two programs were aired: ‘GMA Sinebabad’ and ‘My Love from the Star’. The latter series was a success, outplaying ‘Mirabella’ in the AGB Nielsen ratings while staying competitive in the TNS Kantar ratings. The popularity of ‘My Love from the Star’ prompted the network to re-air the program every Sunday.

Meanwhile, ‘Mirabella’ is struggling to sustain the momentum that ‘Annaliza’ gained throughout its run. The 20% rating of ‘Mirabella’ is less than the 25-30% ratings that ‘Annaliza’ managed in its 10 months on air. The low ratings of ‘Mirabella’ is uncharacteristic of ABS-CBN’s recent string of dominance on primetime, where ‘Dyesebel’, ‘Ikaw Lamang’ and ‘Sana Bukas Pa ang Kahapon’ became their strongest suits.

Simply put, ‘My Love from the Star”s success gave GMA some momentum, and now they hope to capitalize with ‘My BFF’. The latter, with its light-hearted story and emphasis on family and friendship, should give ‘Mirabella’ a difficult time attracting viewers. And if ‘My BFF’ wins, it will be a huge victory for the Kapuso network.

‘Dyesebel’ Stands Tall as ‘Kambal Sirena’ Ends This Week

‘Kambal Sirena”s final episode will be this Friday on GMA.

GMA’s ‘Kambal Sirena’ is now down to only five episodes. The series, once an arch-rival to ABS-CBN’s ‘Dyesebel’, will bid farewell this Friday.

‘Kambal Sirena’, starring Louise delos Reyes and Aljur Abrenica, debuted last March 10. However, the series made little noise throughout its run. ‘Kambal Sirena’ was defeated by the departing ‘Honesto’ in its first week’, then got spanked in the subsequent weeks thanks to ‘Dyesebel’, starring Anne Curtis.

On May 26, GMA decided to demote ‘Kambal Sirena’ in favor of ‘Nino’, but the results remained the same despite airing at a later timeslot. Rival ‘Ikaw Lamang’, starring Kim Chiu, Coco Martin, Julia Montes and Jake Cuenca, proved too much to handle for ‘Kambal Sirena’, as the former series dominated the latter in both Kantar and AGB Nielsen ratings.

To be honest, ‘Kambal Sirena’ was worth the try for budding star Louise delos Reyes. After all, she was one of GMA’s emerging young stars, and a bankable talent for years to come. Accepting a role that involves wearing a man-made fin and swimming topless is no easy task, but for delos Reyes, it is a huge step forward in her development as an actress.

In the end, however, it was ‘Dyesebel’ who won the hearts of viewers more than its younger counterpart in ‘Kambal Sirena’. The former is simply too hard to ignore, thanks to an established actress, an accomplished production company, and a legendary Mars Ravelo creation to boot. But that doesn’t mean GMA did not do well in producing ‘Kambal Sirena’. They made the story their own, and they picked an actress whose star is about to shine. Too bad viewers did not respond to a newbie in the sea.

‘Kambal Sirena’ was a good project, but it failed to reverse GMA Telebabad’s slumping fortunes. Now the pressure is on ‘My Destiny’, and GMA hopes that the chemistry of Tom Rodriguez and Carla Abellana will be the key for turning things around.

But for now, ‘Kambal Sirena’ takes a bow. As for Louise delos Reyes, there is still a lot more to improve.