Take a bow, Marian Rivera.
After over five months, ‘Marian’ will officially air its final episode tomorrow. The dance show’s finale will feature a dance number starring Rivera and her fiance Dingdong Dantes, along with highlights of their ‘Despedida de Soltera’.
No third season will be produced, as Rivera expressed the need for rest in preparation of her wedding on December 30.
Debuting on June 21, ‘Marian’ hoped to be GMA’s solution to its ongoing ratings woes on Saturday evenings. Instead, the show failed to live up to the hype, losing on a consistent basis to ABS-CBN rivals ‘The Voice Kids’, ‘Wansapanatym’, and ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ during its run.
While Marian Rivera was undoubtedly GMA’s top female star, the fact that their biggest asset failed to deliver in the ratings may have affected the network’s morale. The truth is, ‘Marian’ was basically intended to keep her on television, but as it turned out, not even her skill in dancing can keep audiences interested.
Looking ahead, GMA will now have a vacancy to fill on their Saturday night lineup come December 13. The question is, will ‘Bet ng Bayan’ fill that void?
When the second season of ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ added a Saturday edition on November 8, it gave GMA a huge mismatch. This forced the Kapuso network to switch the timeslots of both ‘Marian’ and ‘Magpakailanman’ the following week, but even with that change, it still failed to beat the former.
Meanwhile, the first two months of ‘Bet ng Bayan”s run had been uneventful. The reality talent show would have given ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ a run for their money*, but instead, they were handcuffed by the lack of airtime space on Saturday nights, and the extended running time of ‘Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho’ on Sunday nights.
That said, getting rid of the 15-minute recap shows on weeknights in favor of a 90-minute episode on Saturday nights should give ‘Bet ng Bayan’ a more competitive spot on weekends. More importantly, it should provide a little more breathing room for GMA Telebabad to thrive upon.
Still, the fate of the vacated timeslot of ‘Marian’ will be up to GMA management. Hopefully they make the right decision as soon as possible.
Note: ‘The Voice of the Philippines’ season 2 debuted on October 26, three weeks after ‘Bet ng Bayan’ premiered.*
From the Tube 