Big Challenge for Magkaibang Mundo

It’s been a rough 2016 for GMA’s Afternoon Prime.

Since the start of the year, ratings for the said block have gradually plummeted, while ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Gold enjoyed a renaissance of sorts. The ratings were so bad that by early April, GMA decided to cease producing any further episode teasers in an effort to save money.

But rather than admit defeat, they continued to produce new dramas, and today, they will have a new teleserye coming up. The upcoming series, ‘Magkaibang Mundo’, will mark the on-screen return of Louise delos Reyes for the first time since ‘Kambal Sirena’, and she will be paired with Juancho Triviño for this unusual drama.

In ‘Magkaibang Mundo’, Louise is Princess, the heiress of a couple (played by Assunta de Rossi and Gabby Eigenmann) who owns a shoe business. She was orphaned when her father died and her mother was forcibly separated from her, and from then on, she was harshly treated by her aunt and step-cousins.

Initially, she found comfort in Jeffrey (Dion Ignacio), but Princess soon realized that she already harbored her true feeling to a dwarf named Elfino (Juancho). Both were close since they were children, and while growing up, Princess again turned to Elfino for solace and hope, which eventually led to a relationship between the two.

Joining them in ‘Magkaibang Mundo’ are Rez Cortez, Gina Alajar, Maricar de Mesa, Isabelle de Leon, Mike ‘Pekto’ Nacua, Liezl Lopez, and Marika Sasaki. The viewers will also be introduced to YouTube sensation Balang, who will play one of Elfino’s friends.

While ‘Magkaibang Mundo’ has been promoted heavily leading up to its premiere, there are still two big obstacles facing the series. One is its ability to keep up with the final 30 minutes of ‘It’s Showtime’ and the first 10 of ‘Doble Kara’, and two, GMA’s recent decision to stop airing episode teasers of their dramas.

These two challenges will not be easy for ‘Magkaibang Mundo’. Still, if they can overcome these dwarfing obstacles, then it should help spike the series’ ratings in the long run.

Hopefully GMA can commit to this series for a long time. After all, with so much frustration over the poor ratings of their dramas, all they need now is some victories to right the ship, along with some badly-needed promotion.

Directed by Mark Sicat de la Cruz, ‘Magkaibang Mundo’ airs weekdays after ‘Eat Bulaga’ on GMA’s Afternoon Prime.

Advertisement

Nino, Secret Love Bow Out

‘Nino’, along with ‘Secret Love’, will end their runs this week on GMA Telebabad. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

Two GMA Telebabad programs will bid farewell within the next two days.

First up is ‘Secret Love’, whose finale will air later tonight. The Koreanovela premiered on July 14 and was one of GMA Telebabad’s stronger-performing programs.

Starring Ji Sung as Dominic, Hwang Jung Eum as Elise, and Bae Soo Bin as Howard, ‘Secret Love’ focused on Dominic’s obsession and eventual romance with Elise amid the latter’s involvement in the killing of Dominic’s girlfriend. The series also saw how Elise willingly accused herself of the crime for the sake of her then-boyfriend Howard, after which he called off their relationship and humiliated her.

During its two-month run, ‘Secret Love’ competed well against the likes of ‘Aquino & Abunda Tonight’, ‘Pinoy Big Brother: All In’ and ‘Miss Ripley’ on ABS-CBN. The Asianovela averaged at least 15% on AGB Nielsen’s national ratings, and at least 7% on Kantar.

No replacement will be made for ‘Secret Love’, since ‘I Hear Your Voice’, the Kapuso network’s supposed successor Asianovela, premiered last month while the former was still airing.

Meanwhile, ‘Nino’ and his Naynay Commandments will officially end their run tomorrow.

The teleserye starring Miguel Tanfelix premiered on May 26, replacing ‘Carmela’ while dislodging ‘Kambal Sirena’ out of its original timeslot. Despite its value-oriented nature, ‘Nino’ had an up-and-down run, as reflected by the AGB Nielsen and Kantar ratings.

‘Nino’ had a slow start against ‘Dyesebel’ in the AGB Nielsen ratings, but managed to pick up steam as the latter drew to a close. The series continued to win over viewers even after ‘Hawak Kamay’ took ‘Dyesebel”s timeslot on July 21, and should finish with an average of 22% by the end of its run.

But on Kantar’s count, ‘Nino’ performed badly against both ‘Dyesebel’ and ‘Hawak Kamay’. A 17% average for ‘Nino’ and a -10% disparity against rival ABS-CBN teleseryes should be a cause of concern for GMA management, even as ABS-CBN endured a slight decline in the ratings of their aforementioned programs.

Overall, ‘Nino’ was a decently good teleserye, but not as revered as the likes of ‘May Bukas Pa’, ‘100 Days to Heaven’, and ‘Honesto’ on the Kapamilya network. And with GMA becoming infamous for producing merely filler teleseryes that have shorter timespans, ‘Nino”s near five-month run is just another example of why GMA is resorting to this tactic with little results.

Replacing ‘Nino’ on its timeslot will be ‘Strawberry Lane’, another family drama starring Bea Binene, Kim Rodriguez, Joyce Ching, Joanna Marie Tan, and Rita de Guzman. The series, which centers on five juvenile girls seeking a new direction in life, will premiere on September 15.

 

Hawak Kamay Replaces Dyesebel on ABS-CBN

Just as GMA is warming up with their value-oriented teleserye in ‘Nino’, ABS-CBN decides to counter with one of their own.

Enter ‘Hawak Kamay’, the Kapamilya network’s newest teleserye that is set to debut this Monday. The series, starring Piolo Pascual, Iza Calzado, Zaijan Jaranilla and Xyriel Manabat, Andrea Brillantes and Yesha Camille, will replace ‘Dyesebel’.

The Anne Curtis-starred series has been a ratings winner since it debuted on March 17. ‘Dyesebel’ defeated rivals ‘Kambal Sirena’ and ‘Nino’ during its five-month run.

In ‘Hawak Kamay’, Pascual plays a frustrated musician turned guardian named Gin. He was tasked to take care of three orphans named Emong (Jaranilla), Dara (Manabat) and Ningning (Camille), who lost their parents in a car crash.

Throughout the series, Gin would evolve from a reluctant to a responsible guardian who is determined to keep all of his orphans together, despite enduring serious trials. Along the way, Gin’s life would change with the help of Bianca (Calzado), a lawyer who helped arrange the adoption, and her sister Lorrie (Brillantes), who would develop a friendship with the three orphans.

‘Hawak Kamay’ is named after the popular song recorded by Yeng Constantino in the late 2000s. The song was remade by Piolo Pascual specifically for the series.

ABS-CBN is no stranger to producing successful value-oriented series. After all, they produced winners in ‘May Bukas Pa’, ‘100 Days to Heaven’, ‘Budoy’ and Honesto’, all of which earned high ratings and critical acclaim. The success of these teleseryes should add some pressure on ‘Hawak Kamay’, but considering the network has been winning the primetime race of late, it should not pose a problem to the new series.

‘Hawak Kamay’ premieres this July 21, after ‘TV Patrol’. The teaser to the upcoming series can be viewed below.

Notes: From the Tube would like to extend our condolences to the victims of Typhoon Glenda and Malaysian Airlines Flight MH 17. Our thoughts and prayers are for the families of the said victims.

‘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.

‘Sirena Wars’ End Prematurely

The ‘Sirena Wars’ between ‘Dyesebel’ and ‘Kambal Sirena’ was dominated by the former.

Tonight on GMA Telebabad, the much-awaited value-oriented drama series ‘Nino’ will make its primetime debut. But instead of premiering on the timeslot vacated by ‘Carmela’, GMA decided to make a programming change.

‘Nino’ was placed on the timeslot following ’24 Oras’, essentially following the same formula used by ABS-CBN in series such as ‘May Bukas Pa’, ‘100 Days to Heaven’, and ‘Honesto’. It also meant that the so-called ‘Sirena Wars’ waged between the Kapuso network’s ‘Kambal Sirena’ and ABS-CBN’s own adaptation of ‘Dyesebel’ had to end with this timeslot change, as ‘Kambal Sirena’ was moved at a later time opposite ‘Ikaw Lamang’.

The ‘Sirena Wars’, which lasted from March 17 to May 23, overwhelmingly favored ‘Dyesebel’ in the ratings. According to TNS Kantar’s figures, ‘Dyesebel’ consistently registered a double-digit winning margin over ‘Kambal Sirena’, with the former’s ratings reaching 30% or better against the latter’s 16% or lower average. Over at AGB Nielsen, the margin was close to nearly 5%, but it still favors ‘Dyesebel’ over ‘Kambal Sirena’, albeit by lower scores compared to Kantar’s.

‘Dyesebel’ was also a hit among social media netizens, with hashtags and topics related to the series consistently ranking among the top trends on Twitter. The same cannot be said for ‘Kambal Sirena’, however.

To GMA’s credit, ‘Kambal Sirena’ managed to hold its own against ‘Dyesebel’. While the series was outplayed by ‘Dyesebel’ in the ratings, it enabled Louise delos Reyes to continue improving her acting prowess, in what is only her second lead role in primetime. And while Anne Curtis remains among primetime’s top female stars, there is no question that delos Reyes is a formidable primetime actress herself, and has a bright future ahead of her.

But in the end, GMA needed a change. Realizing that ABS-CBN was successful in airing ‘May Bukas Pa’, ‘100 Days to Heaven’ and ‘Honesto’ after news programs, GMA decided to move ‘Kambal Sirena’ to a later timeslot and place ‘Nino’ instead. However, it remains to be seen whether or not ‘Nino’ will match, if not surpass the success of ABS-CBN’s value-oriented teleseryes.

Beginning tonight, both ‘Kambal Sirena’ and ‘Dyesebel’ will continue to air on primetime. But the ‘Sirena Wars’ is no more. And it was fun while it lasted.

The Impact of Annaliza on GMA’s Programs

Annaliza’s 10-month run included a near-30% ratings average, and a total of 215 episodes which doubled that of the four different rivals in its timeslot.

For 10 months, the ABS-CBN drama series ‘Annaliza’ was the ratings leader in its timeslot, outplaying its GMA counterparts by a wide margin. As the series concludes this week, let’s look back at how ‘Annaliza’ was able to force GMA to regroup.

Annaliza vs. Home Sweet Home

‘Home Sweet Home’ debuted on GMA’s Telebabad block on April 22, 2013. Meanwhile, ‘Annaliza’ debuted over a month later, on May 27. In its pilot episode, ‘Annaliza’ managed a promising 16.7 % over ‘Home Sweet Home”s 8.8%, setting the stage for its lengthy 10-month run.

While ‘Home Sweet Home’ had a decently good story and a cast led by Raymart Santiago, Bea Binene and Jake Vargas, they were unable to overcome the surprisingly strong acting chemistry between young actress Andrea Brilliantes and co-stars Patrick Garcia, Kaye Abad and Denise Laurel. ‘Home Sweet Home’s final episode on July 19 managed only an 11.4% rating, while ‘Annaliza’ earned 20.4%. ‘Home Sweet Home’ had a total of 64 episodes during its run.

Annaliza vs. Binoy Henyo

‘Annaliza”s next opponent was ‘Binoy Henyo’, featuring another young Kapuso talent in David Remo. ‘Binoy Henyo’ debuted on July 22, but only managed a 12.8% against ‘Annaliza”s 22.1%. Unlike ‘Home Sweet Home’, ‘Binoy Henyo’ enjoyed a rather brief run, lasting for only two months and 45 episodes, with its finale on September 20 managing a paltry 14.4% against ‘Annaliza”s 27%.

Unfortunately for Remo, he was never seen again after ‘Binoy Henyo’, while the showbiz career of Andrea Brilliantes continues to soar with each episode. As a result, GMA decided to create a new series, this time casting a popular love team in hopes of changing their fortunes.

Annaliza vs. Prinsesa ng Buhay Ko

Up next for ‘Annaliza’ was ‘Prinsesa ng Buhay Ko’, starring the tandem of Kris Bernal and Aljur Abrenica. But despite the obvious age and experience gap between Andrea Brilliantes and the so-called ‘Alkris’ love team, ‘Annaliza’ still topped ‘Prinsesa ng Buhay Ko’ on its September 23 pilot, registering a 27.3% over the latter’s 15.1%.

Nevertheless, ‘Prinsesa ng Buhay Ko’ proved to be a more formidable opponent in its five-month run. But formidable was not enough, and it showed by its performance in the ratings. ‘Prinsesa”s final episode on January 24 managed only a 10.5% rating to ‘Annaliza”s 20.6%. After the series, Aljur Abrenica was paired with Louise delos Reyes in ‘Kambal Sirena’, temporarily putting ‘Alkris’ on the shelf.

Annaliza vs. Paraiso Ko’y Ikaw

‘Annaliza”s 10-month run would conclude against ‘Paraiso Ko’y Ikaw’. The series, starring Kim Rodriguez and Kristoffer Martin, debuted on January 27, but only mustered an unimpressive 9.6% against ‘Annaliza”s 23.7%. Like ‘Binoy Henyo’, ‘Paraiso Ko’y Ikaw’ failed because of poor marketing and storytelling, and as a result, it only lasted 45 episodes, with its finale scheduled to air on March 28, which at this point the Julia Barretto-starred ‘Mirabella’ was on its first week.

When it’s all said and done, ‘Annaliza’ had topped them all. In its 10 months on the air, ‘Annaliza’ proved to be a more dramatic, more passionate, and more well-written series than anyone had ever imagined. And its successful run should give Andrea Brilliantes something to look forward to as she moves on to bigger and better things.

As for GMA, it was a harsh lesson to learn. Fortunately for them, ‘Annaliza’ will no longer be the least of their problems come next week. However, the impact that ‘Annaliza”s had on GMA’s programs will continue to reverberate on the Kapuso network in the months to come.