Karelasyon Officially Cancelled by GMA

The one-time archrival of ‘Ipaglaban Mo’ is now history.

Last Saturday marked the 108th and final episode of the GMA drama anthology series ‘Karelasyon’. Hosted by (and occasionally featured) Carla Abellana, the series focused on love and relationship stories that has hostility, jealousy, temptation and infidelity written on it.

‘Karelasyon’ first premiered on April 11, 2015, and as such, it was GMA’s own response to rival ABS-CBN’s revival of ‘Ipaglaban Mo’. While the series had some moments of ratings glory during its run, it was no match to the more superior and compelling stories that ‘Ipaglaban Mo’ presents.

On September 3, 2016, ‘Karelasyon’ was demoted to a later timeslot, which remained for the rest of its run. The change did little to improve ratings, as ‘Karelasyon’ regularly fell short to its new opponent in ‘SOCO’.

So why did ‘Karelasyon’ fail to pan out? Looking at its format, it was clear that the show has no place in GMA’s Saturday afternoon lineup due to these factors.

Similarity to Wish Ko Lang

Anyone who watches ‘Wish Ko Lang’ lately know that the program is no longer the wish-giving public service show that the now-ABS-CBN News personality Bernadette Sembrano once hosts. Under Vicky Morales, ‘Wish Ko Lang’ became just another drama anthology in GMA’s scheme of things.

That said, the similarity between ‘Karelasyon’ and ‘Wish Ko Lang’ made viewers too uncomfortable. GMA would have been smart to cancel ‘Wish Ko Lang’, but instead they gave ‘Karelasyon’ the boot.

Case Solved and Imbestigador

‘Case Solved’ and ‘Imbestigador’ also added to ‘Karelasyon”s issues. Both shows may have the words ‘public service’ and ‘docu-drama’ written all over it, but their occasional focus on love stories that end in tragedy may have also turned viewers off.

Entry of Ika-6 na Utos to the Saturday Lineup

When GMA decided to extend the weekday afternoon drama ‘Ika-6 na Utos’ to Saturdays, it turned out to be the last straw for ‘Karelasyon’. The former continued its momentum that it established on weekdays, while the latter sunk even further.

Despite airing for over two years, ‘Karelasyon’ will forever be remembered as a show that was aired at the wrong place and at the wrong time. Its format alone may be intriguing, but from the looks of it, GMA concocted a grave mistake on their part.

Thanks for the good (and bad) memories, ‘Karelasyon’. This show is worth forgetting for.

GMA’s Unstable Sabado Star Power Continues

Saturdays have been a source of frustration for GMA.

Once again, the Kapuso network decided to make a change in their Sabado Star Power afternoon lineup. Gone was ‘Laff, Camera, Action’, and in came ‘#Like’, the newest reality talent show hosted by Tom Rodriguez and internet sensation Balang.

‘#Like’ is a talent show featuring online sensations battling against each other in a barangay setting. To the surprise of no one, it is just another concept produced by the GMA Public Affairs team, whose penchant for producing non-news shows becomes more infectious and more criticized than ever.

The premiere of ‘#Like’ took place last September 3, but instead of replacing ‘Laff, Camera, Action’ on its 4:30 timeslot, GMA decided to air the said show after ‘Eat Bulaga’. As a result, this is the how the schedule looks like:

• 2:30 p.m. – #Like
• 3:00 p.m. – Karelasyon
• 4:00 p.m. – Wish Ko Lang
• 5:00 p.m. – Imbestigador

However, the change did little to improve the ratings. All four of GMA’s post-‘Eat Bulaga’ afternoon programs were on the losing end, with ‘Wish Ko Lang’ the least impressive at 9.4%.

Let’s face it, would’ve been better for ‘#Like’ to go up against ‘Mga Kwento ni Marc Logan’ instead of the last half-hour of ‘It’s Showtime’? Probably, given that Marc Logan’s show also features internet sensations and GMA would’ve loved to see that matchup.

Still, GMA had no regrets in making the change once again. However, they would have been better off if ‘Wish Ko Lang’ and ‘Imbestigador’ were to be cancelled, since they are no longer the same programs as they once were.

Meanwhile, another new program premiered last Saturday on the said network. The new show, ‘Superstar Duets’, replaced ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’, whose run finally ended after seven months.

Based on the format alone, ‘Superstar Duets’ appears to be the second coming of ‘Celebrity Duets’, except that the celebrities in the show were paired alongside impersonators of foreign singers. The show is currently hosted by Jennylyn Mercado, with Allan K, Aicelle Santos and Christian Bautista serving as judges.

The premiere of ‘Superstar Duets’ didn’t quite impress many, as it earned a 13.2% rating. On the other hand, ‘Pinoy Big Brother Lucky Season 7’ fared much better with a 16.4% rating.

This is going to be a tough battle as far as ‘Superstar Duets’ were concerned. Though it has the potential to run just as long as ‘Lip-Sync Battle Philippines’ did, the possibility of winning remains tricky at best.

‘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.