‘Ipaglaban Mo’ Has Finally Met Its Match

After a promising start, ‘Ipaglaban Mo”s fortunes have taken a dip in recent months. The entry of GMA’s ‘Karelasyon’ only made it worse. (Logo courtesy of ABS-CBN)

After dominating the post-noontime scene on Saturdays for the early part of its run, ‘Ipaglaban Mo”s luck appears to be running out.

Thanks to a rare stroke of genius by GMA management, the renewed success of the newly-revived ‘Ipaglaban Mo’ began to wear thin. A pair of programming moves by the Kapuso network gave ABS-CBN and the father-and-son legal team of Atty. Jose and Jopet Sison a lot to worry about.

In its first two months on the air, ‘Ipaglaban Mo’ made mincemeat of ‘Startalk’, whose return to Saturday afternoons failed to arrest their continuing ratings decline. Then on August 16, 2014, GMA switched the timeslots of ‘Startalk’ and ‘Wish Ko Lang’, and from there, ‘Ipaglaban Mo”s fortunes took a slight dip.

But it was the entry of ‘Karelasyon’ which gave ‘Ipaglaban Mo’ its stiffest challenge yet. After one month, the latter was just lucky to survive on ABS-CBN’s trusted provider Kantar Media, but the same cannot be said on the figures provided by GMA’s own partner AGB Nielsen.

Here is the comparative ratings between ‘Karelasyon’ and ‘Ipaglaban Mo’ according to both AGB Nielsen and Kantar Media.

April 11

Karelasyon (16.5%) over Ipaglaban Mo (8.1%) – AGB Nielsen

Ipaglaban Mo (14.8%) over Karelasyon (11.9%) – Kantar Media

April 18

Karelasyon (17.3%) over Ipaglaban Mo (8.6%) – AGB Nielsen

Ipaglaban Mo (14.7%) over Karelasyon (11.8%) – Kantar Media

April 25

Karelasyon (20%) over Ipaglaban Mo (7.8%) – AGB Nielsen

Karelasyon (13.7%) over Ipaglaban Mo (12.9%) – Kantar Media

May 2

Karelasyon (16.3%) over Ipaglaban Mo (10.3%) – AGB Nielsen

Ipaglaban Mo (16.3%) over Karelasyon (12.6%) – Kantar Media

May 9

Karelasyon (14.1%) over Ipaglaban Mo (10.1%) – AGB Nielsen

Ipaglaban Mo (15.2%) over Karelasyon (12.4%) – Kantar Media

Based on the figures, ‘Karelasyon’ proved to be a thorn on ‘Ipaglaban Mo”s side, at least according to AGB Nielsen. However, the only time ‘Karelasyon’ swept both Kantar and Nielsen to date was on the April 25 episode starring Rocco Nacino and Kris Bernal, defeating the ‘Ipaglaban Mo’ episode starring Andrea del Rosario and Yam Concepcion.

While ‘Karelasyon’ only managed to beat ‘Ipaglaban Mo’ once in Kantar so far, they proved to be a more competent program than the latter’s first two opponents in ‘Startalk’ and ‘Wish Ko Lang’, based on its double-digit rating performances.

That said, it is clear that ‘Ipaglaban Mo’ is no longer the ratings juggernaut it once was. The program’s initial run of dominance is now a distant memory.

‘Karelasyon”s surprising success should only strengthen ‘Ipaglaban Mo”s resolve. A tweak or two is needed to restore ‘Ipaglaban Mo”s former glory, otherwise everything will go ‘Karelasyon”s way.

And that should only concern ABS-CBN even further.

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‘Ipaglaban Mo”s Return a Throwback to 90s Weekend TV Habits

This Saturday, ABS-CBN’s legal drama series ‘Ipaglaban Mo’ returns after a 16-year absence. And for older viewers, the comeback of ‘Ipaglaban Mo’ harkens back to the days when weekend drama anthologies filled the airwaves in the 1990s.

Back then, numerous drama anthologies were aired after noontime shows such as ‘Eat Bulaga’, ‘Sa Linggo Napo Sila’, ‘GMA Supershow’, ‘Salu-Salo Together’ and others. These anthologies feature only one story per episode, which means that viewers would be able to watch an entire story develop for over an hour. Examples of weekend drama anthologies include ‘Lovingly Yours, Helen’, ‘Coney Reyes on Camera’, and ‘GMA Telesine Specials’, and ‘Ipaglaban Mo’, all of which lasted deep into the latter part of the decade.

By the late 90s, anthologies gradually fell out of favor, and were replaced by weekend afternoon drama series. These featured a continuous storyline that takes place in each succeeding episode, typical of today’s teleseryes. ‘Anna Karenina’, produced by both GMA and VIVA Television, aired for nearly six years, and set the stage for other weekend drama series to follow. Another example was ABS-CBN’s ‘Tabing Ilog’, which aired for four years.

The next decade witnessed the decline of the weekend drama series in the Philippines. ‘Startalk”s move to Saturday afternoons in 1998 helped them earn high ratings in their new timeslot. On the other hand, ABS-CBN struggled with dramas such as ‘Sa Sandaling Kailangan Mo Ako’, and in 2003 they decided to create their own showbiz programs, beginning with ‘S2: Showbiz Sabado’. Teen-oriented series then took over Sunday afternoons, and in 2013, GMA and ABS-CBN experimented with horror-themed programs.

This year, ABS-CBN brought back a program that was once a staple every weekend. ‘Ipaglaban Mo’, hosted by Atty. Jose Sison, aired for nine years on the Kapamilya network, and its success led to two Star Cinema-produced films. Like the original, the new ‘Ipaglaban Mo’ will feature a particular court case that is dramatized on TV. This time around, Atty. Sison will be joined by his son, Jopet Sison, while the country’s top directors will be assigned to different episodes.

The new ‘Ipaglaban Mo’ airs this Saturday after ‘It’s Showtime’ on ABS-CBN. The show should not only attract a new generation of viewers, but also increase awareness towards a wide variety of legal cases in the country.