Ex-SOP Stars Take Over ASAP Stage

The long and storied rivalry between ABS-CBN’s ‘ASAP’ and GMA’s ‘SOP’ has been well-documented.

For 13 years, the two Sunday variety shows duke it out for not only high ratings, but also the best performance. While ‘SOP’ managed to become successful, it failed to sustain the momentum that the now 21-year-old ‘ASAP’ enjoys nowadays.

Successor GMA variety shows in ‘Party Pilipinas’ and ‘Sunday All-Stars’ followed suit, but neither proved to be a match to ‘ASAP’. As a result, GMA abandoned the purely musical variety format in favor of ‘Sunday PinaSaya”s comedy-infused approach, which was initially successful but now struggles to regain form.

With ‘Sunday PinaSaya’ employing a new cast and a new outfit in APT Entertainment, the performers that were once part of GMA’s past variety shows were forced to look elsewhere. Eventually, it led them to ‘ASAP’, and their performances on the said show felt like a throwback to many who watched ‘SOP’ for years.

While Kyla, Jay-R, Jolina Magdangal and Jona Viray were the first former ‘SOP’ stars to join ‘ASAP’, the biggest surprise came in July, when long-time ‘SOP’ cornerstone Ogie Alcasid stepped into the ‘ASAP’ stage for the first time. Not long after, Jaya came aboard, and last Sunday, a tribute for Ogie included a reunion between the two ‘SOP’ icons.

Backstage, another former ‘SOP’ mainstay paid a visit to the ABS-CBN studio. Ogie’s wife Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, who remains under contract with GMA, was at the dressing room reuniting with her old ‘SOP’ pals.

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From @patty_mayoralgo Happy Sunday indeed with friends @reginevalcasid @jona_viray @mariajolina_ig

A post shared by Jaya (@jaya) on Oct 9, 2016 at 1:45am PDT

The reunion of former ‘SOP’ stars became a much-needed boost to ‘ASAP’, as it defeated ‘Sunday PinaSaya’ by 1.6% that day. Despite that, many are still hoping for a full reunion, as Regine remains a GMA talent while another former ‘SOP’ cornerstone in Janno Gibbs was nowhere to be found.

With so many performers in tow, how much longer can ‘ASAP’ sustain this high-quality trend? Only time will tell, but for now, enjoy this reunion of old rivals.

One Year After Debut, Sunday PinaSaya Struggles to Remain Relevant

Seems like viewers still favor musical numbers over comedic skits in a Sunday variety show.

It has been a struggle lately for GMA’s ‘Sunday PinaSaya’ as they enter their first anniversary this week. The APT-produced variety show was off to a strong start when it first aired, but like ‘Eat Bulaga”s AlDub phenomenon (Alden Richards happens to be a cast member of ‘Sunday PinaSaya’), its momentum soon faded as the calendar turned to 2016.

On the contrary, ABS-CBN’s ‘ASAP’, now on its 21st year, returned to the top of the game thanks to its improved production values and new segments. The show also got a boost when it added former Kapuso performers Kyla, Jay-R and most recently Jona Viray.

Ratings for the two shows clearly indicate how things quickly change on the Sunday noontime scene. ‘Sunday PinaSaya’ was able to dominate early on because viewers were curious about this new comedy-centric variety show, but as the months wore on, it was obvious that they still prefer the music and dance numbers of ‘ASAP’.

It was also evident that the AlDub phenomenon dictated the early success of ‘Sunday PinaSaya’, especially since Alden Richards was a cast member and Maine Mendoza made a few appearances. Unfortunately, even AlDub is bound to lose sometime, and when bandwagon fans grew bored of the love team, the ratings of ‘Sunday PinaSaya’ soon plummeted.

The improvements on ‘ASAP’ should cause a lot of concern to the people behind ‘Sunday PinaSaya’. The show overall was not bad, but they need to understand that they should not rest on their laurels and make some tweaks every once in a while.

That said, the priority of ‘Sunday PinaSaya’ at this point is to possibly add new cast members and create new skits that will further engage its viewers. If done properly, they could regain the momentum that they lost at the beginning of the year.

As ‘Sunday PinaSaya’ celebrates its first anniversary, one thing is certain: they want to go back on top. But it remains to be seen whether or not they will be able to make some improvements in hopes of regaining their lost viewership.