Premiere of The Better Half & Wildflower Further Complicates ABS-CBN’s Afternoon Schedule

Seems like ABS-CBN has not learned from its 5:00 p.m. issues.

Several months ago, From the Tube made an article about ABS-CBN’s 5:00 p.m. scheduling problems. Three issues were raised in this topic; namely the presence of the ABS-CBN Regional-produced ‘TV Patrol’, the RNGs’ airing of the affected program at around 9:00 a.m. the next day, and its expected poor performance in the Kantar ratings.

Now, ABS-CBN is once again in a bind thanks to a pair of teleseryes that will premiere today. On Kapamilya Gold, ‘The Better Half’ will replace ‘Doble Kara’, while on Primetime Bida, ‘Wildflower’ will become the first teleserye to air at 5:50 since ‘We Will Survive’.

This leaves the game show ‘Minute to Win It’ in a precarious position. With the premiere of ‘Wildflower’ on Primetime Bida, the former has no choice but to move to 5:00 p.m., leaving themselves vulnerable to not only the regionals’ broadcast of ‘TV Patrol’, but also to rival GMA game show ‘Wowowin’.

That said, only the first 30 minutes of ‘Minute to Win It’ will be preempted, leaving the last 15 or 20 minutes for the viewers in the regions to watch. So where will the regional network viewers go to with regards to this predicament?

The most obvious answer is the iWanTV app, which is readily available and has episodes of a majority of ABS-CBN programs uploaded within hours of original broadcast. The only problem with this app though is that not all people have a mobile device, computer or tablet.

Which leaves ABS-CBN with three options to solve this problem. Either they:

1. Place the O Shopping or MYX block at 5:00 p.m. and move ‘Minute to Win It’ to before ‘Langit Lupa’
2. Produce a ‘TV Patrol’ that focuses solely on Mega Manila and move ‘Minute to Win It’ to before ‘Langit Lupa’
3. Cut ‘It’s Showtime”s last 30 minutes and return to a three-teleserye Kapamilya Gold

For all their dominance in the ratings game, the 5:00 p.m. slot is and will always be ABS-CBN’s weak point (this does not include their early morning programs). Unless they do something about it, the affected program’s viewership will remain compromised.

As for ‘The Better Half’ and ‘Wildflower’, this will be an opportunity to sustain ABS-CBN’s winning ways. It’s a challenge that ‘The Better Half”s Shaina Magdayao, Carlo Aquino, JC de Vera and Denise Laurel, and ‘Wildflower”s Maja Salvador and Joseph Marco should welcome despite the network’s scheduling issues.

Advertisement

Thoughts on Jodi Sta. Maria Winning P1 Million on Minute to Win It

Remember the topic about ABS-CBN game shows’ overdependence on celebrities as contestants?

Last night on ‘Minute to Win It: Last Man Standing’, Kapamilya actress Jodi Sta. Maria became a millionaire by completing the ‘Mouth to Mouth’ final challenge. She bested fellow finalist (and Kapamilya resident comedian) Pooh, in the process bagging a total of P1,070,000.

View this post on Instagram

Congrats ulit Jodi! weeeeeeee! #MTWIJodiskarte https://t.co/YNR0YL6Bhi

A post shared by Minute To Win It (@minutephl) on Sep 19, 2016 at 3:29am PDT

Jodi became the second celebrity to win a million on ‘Minute to Win It: Last Man Standing’. Last July, another Kapamilya actress in Meg Imperial also won P1 million.

It’s a shame to see ABS-CBN win in an unfair manner. Although ‘Minute to Win It: Last Man Standing’ maintains a consistent lead over GMA’s ‘Wowowin’ in the ratings, it is obvious that the good nature of Willie Revillame’s show is making a fool out of Luis Manzano.

Let’s face it, Luis is a great host, no doubt. But he’s no Willie Revillame, whose willingness to give away prizes to deserving and hard-luck individuals despite his past brushes with controversy make him an icon in Philippine game shows today.

The selfish nature of ABS-CBN game shows continue to overshadow its success in general. Looking at Jodi Sta. Maria’s victory last night, two options could be in the offing for her.

These options are:

1. Keep the P1 million prize to herself (a selfish move)
2. Give away the P1 million prize to charitable causes (a selfless move)

To be honest, the second option makes sense. After all, ABS-CBN prides itself in the corporate slogan ‘In the Service of the Filipino’, so why not give it away in order to contribute to society.

Still, it doesn’t change the fact that ABS-CBN is shutting out the Filipino people as far as participation in game shows are concerned. Unless their perception changes, this action will only serve to disrespect the network’s corporate brass.

Resolving ABS-CBN’s 5 O’Clock Problem

Weekdays at 5:00 p.m. has spelled trouble for ABS-CBN.

And it has been that way since mid-April, when ‘We Will Survive’ was demoted from Primetime Bida to Kapamilya Gold to make way for ‘My Super D’. Now that both series will end this Friday, ABS-CBN must resolve this ongoing problem that is the 5:00 p.m. slot as soon as possible.

Looking at the root of this situation, it is clear that by the time the clock strikes 5:00 p.m. (17:00 in military terms), not every area in the country will receive the same program. Instead, what most provincial areas receive is their dialect-based version of ‘TV Patrol’, which focuses on news in a particular region or province.

The affected program (currently ‘We Will Survive’) was then aired the next morning at 9:00 a.m. Unfortunately, during the network’s broadcast of the 2016 NBA Finals in June, the series was preempted at times, and those without iWanTV subscription were left scratching their heads wondering why those episodes never aired.

To make matters worse, by the time ‘Magandang Buhay’ was bumped to 8:00 a.m. on June 21, the final 30 minutes of the talk show was preempted just to make way for the said affected program. Something is not quite right.

The end result of this was that ‘We Will Survive’ endured inconsistent ratings since its demotion to Kapamilya Gold. That said, with this timeslot considered a trouble spot, teleseryes should be off-limits going forward.

As of today, ABS-CBN has confirmed that the returning ‘Minute to Win It’, to be hosted by Luis Manzano, will take over the soon-to-be vacated timeslot of ‘My Super D’. Which leaves the 5:00 p.m. slot up for grabs, and for ABS-CBN to resolve this problem, one program would be better off airing.

Enter the ‘O Shopping’ program block. Usually airing during the wee hours of the morning, the said program should pose no threat to ABS-CBN’s overall programming when it airs at 5:00 p.m., simply because it is merely a filler show.

That said, its presence will mean a lot to ABS-CBN in the long-term. ‘Magandang Buhay’ will now be aired for a full 90 minutes in all areas, while preempting a program for ‘TV Patrol’ in the regions will no longer carry a risk factor ratings-wise.

Still, it is up to ABS-CBN management to convince themselves of a change in strategy. If they decided to once again air a teleserye at 5:00 p.m. (‘The Greatest Love’ is being pegged as a replacement for ‘We Will Survive’), then good luck in trying to be more consistent in the ratings.

Hopefully ABS-CBN does something right here. This is one important issue to address.

The Singing Bee Now Six Days a Week

‘The Singing Bee’ will now be seen six times a week starting February 24.

With ‘Kapamilya: Minute to Win It’ about to finish its run this week, ABS-CBN didn’t look any further for its replacement. And it happens to be another game show.

‘The Singing Bee’, already a highly-rated show on Saturday afternoons, will now be seen six times a week beginning February 24. The game show will air every weekday mornings just before the highly-rated series ‘Be Careful with My Heart’. Previously ‘The Singing Bee’ aired during weeknights in its first season.

Since it debuted in November 2013, ‘The Singing Bee’ has become an instant ratings hit, thanks to the chemistry of hosts Roderick Paulate and Amy Perez, and its unconventional format of contestants guessing a missing lyric while singing. ‘The Singing Bee’ was such a big hit that it forced rival ‘Startalk’ of GMA Network to move back to Sunday afternoons last January, and with its run now extended to weekday mornings, it is expected to outdraw ‘Tunay na Buhay’ as well.

Meanwhile, the final two episodes of ‘Kapamilya: Minute to Win It’ will have Angel Locsin as a contestant. In the weeks leading up to the finale, Locsin and host Luis Manzano were reported to have reconciled and started dating again after a few years’ separation. As a result, the finale of MTWI is shaping up to be one of the most highly-anticipated episodes in the program’s one-year history, and should give ABS-CBN a ratings victory in the weekday morning slot and some much-needed momentum for the entry of ‘The Singing Bee’.

One game show out, another comes in. It looks like ABS-CBN found a great opportunity to extend ‘The Singing Bee’ to weekdays. And it should pay off in a weaker morning field.

A Viewer’s Guide to the 2014 NBA All-Star Weekend

 

This year’ NBA All-Star Weekend in the Philippines will again be shared by both ABS-CBN and Solar’s Basketball TV.

On February 15-17 (Manila time), the NBA will once again stage its annual All-Star Weekend. And at the midseason classic in New Orleans, hundreds of media outlets around the world, including the Philippines, will be on hand to cover the proceedings.

Here’s is a viewer’s guide on how to watch the NBA All-Star Weekend in the Philippines.

ABS-CBN, Solar Will Use Separate Feeds

ABS-CBN will send Boom Gonzales and TJ Manotoc to cover the All-Star Game. Like last year, the duo will also be on hand to call the All-Star Saturday events. As a result of Boom’s assignment to the All-Star Game, the UAAP women’s volleyball play-by-play for the rest of the eliminations will be handled by Anton Roxas and Eric Tipan. The Rising Stars Challenge on ABS-CBN will likely use TNT’s broadcasters.

Basketball TV and NBA Premium will use the TNT play-by-play for all three events. In addition, BTV will send Riki Flores to do player interviews and document other All-Star events such as Jam Session. Riki’s All-Star coverage will be used on the short segments ‘The Grind’, ‘One on One’, and ’24 Seconds’.

Both networks will be using the NBA TV International feed for all three events.

All-Star Saturday and All-Star Game on Sports + Action

Unfortunately, ABS-CBN Channel 2 will only broadcast the Rising Stars Challenge. The rest of the All-Star events will be handled by sister network ABS-CBN Sports + Action on Channel 23, as the broadcast of these events will be in conflict with ABS-CBN programs such as ‘Matanglawin’, ‘Kapamilya: Minute to Win It’ (last two weeks), and ‘Be Careful with My Heart’.

Expanded Coverage on Basketball TV and NBA Premium

And finally, from February 15-17, most, if not all programs on Basketball TV and NBA Premium will be related to All-Star Weekend. This includes Jam Session, the All-Star Celebrity Game, the NBA D-League’s own All-Star Weekend, Commissioner Adam Silver’s press conferences, pre-event and post-event coverage of the Rising Stars, All-Star Saturday and All-Star Game, and the player practices for the All-Star Game. The NBA TV feed will be used for most of the programs.

With that, I expect both networks to give their best in broadcasting the annual NBA All-Star Weekend. The showcase is a fun and exciting event that basketball fans will surely not miss. After all, it is an ‘All-Star Weekend’, where the league’s best players converge in one roof.

Marian Rivera Won’t Face Angel Locsin in Primetime

Instead of facing Angel Locsin, Marian Rivera will face Kathryn Bernardo as ‘Carmela’ debuts this Monday opposite ‘Got to Believe’.

GMA has announced the airing schedule for the upcoming series ‘Carmela’ and ‘Rhodora X’. And as expected, Marian Rivera will not face Angel Locsin in the same timeslot, even as fans of both camps clamor for the two ex-Darna stars to clash at the same time.

‘Carmela’ will face ‘Got to Believe’ on its timeslot. The latter series, starring Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, have been on a roll of late thanks to high ratings and social media returns, and the entry of ‘Carmela’ gives them the opportunity to battle another veteran star in Marian Rivera. Previously, ‘Got to Believe’ toppled the Dingdong Dantes-starrer ‘Genesis’, leading to its rather premature finish before the end of 2013.

On the other hand, Angel Locsin’s new teleserye ‘The Legal Wife’ will be up against Jennylyn Mercado’s series ‘Rhodora X’. In a lead-up to their upcoming primetime face-off, Mercado made it clear that she wanted no part in her ex-boyfriend Luis Manzano’s reconciliation with Locsin, and she wished them good luck in their romance. Mercado last appeared on the GMA Network via the reality competition series ‘Anak Ko Yan’, which once faced ‘Minute to Win It’ hosted by Luis Manzano. Meanwhile this is Locsin’s first teleserye since ‘Imortal’ in 2010, and during that span, she co-starred in the sitcom ‘Toda Max’ and made several movies.

In addition to ‘Carmela’ and ‘Rhodora X’, GMA will roll out another teleserye in its ‘Telebabad’ block. ‘Paraiso Ko’y Ikaw’ will replace ‘Prinsesa ng Buhay Ko’ in the sunset slot. The new teleserye, starring Kim Rodriguez and Kristoffer Martin, will be the latest in a series of attempts to topple the long-running ABS-CBN series ‘Annaliza’, which has defeated both ‘Home Sweet Home’ and ‘Prinsesa ng Buhay Ko’ since debuting in May 2013. And like Julie Vega in the original series, Andrea Brillantes has been splendid in playing the titular character, leading to its consistently high ratings.

Even as GMA tries to counter ABS-CBN with their new primetime offerings, I expect another ratings beatdown from the Kapamilya network. Simply put, GMA cannot beat ABS-CBN anymore, and I have made it clear that the race has already been conceded.