Animes Return to ABS-CBN, But Problems Still Persist

ABS-CBN’s Team Animazing was dealt a huge blow with the pullout of ‘Haikyuu!!’. A new timeslot for the said anime is still to be determined. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN Animation Official Facebook)

ABS-CBN’s Team Animazing is back, but more problems await them.

Just one week into its run, ABS-CBN abruptly decided to remove the volleyball-themed anime ‘Haikyuu!!’ from the Umaganda lineup. In its place was the re-run of ‘Wansapanatym”s ‘My App Boyfie’, which currently airs as part of the seasonal version of ‘Wansapanatym’ called ‘WansapanaSummer’.

The pullout of ‘Haikyuu!!’ leaves ‘Naruto Shippuden’ as the lone remaining anime on the Umaganda block. The latter now airs after ‘Kris TV’, displacing the Filipino-dubbed Nickelodeon cartoon ‘Spongebob Squarepants’ in the process.

This sudden decision by ABS-CBN left anime fans boiling with anger. Reactions were overwhelmingly negative on social media, with some netizens questioning the motives behind ABS-CBN’s puzzling move.

Though ABS-CBN did promise to air ‘Haikyuu!!’ on a new timeslot soon (along with a new season of ‘Kuroko’s Basketball’), the bad blood over the pullout remains fresh from the minds of the Kapamilya anime fans. It was an unwise move on the part of ABS-CBN, simply because of the wrong timing surrounding the change.

The ‘Haikyuu!!’ row was the latest in a series of discouraging decisions involving ‘Team Animazing’. Just recently, ABS-CBN temporarily pulled out ‘Team Animazing’ in favor of Japanese adaptations of classic stories such as ‘Princess Sarah’, Cedie: Ang Munting Prinsipe’ and ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’.

For Kapamilya anime fans, the situation is simply demoralizing.

Things will only get worse once the NBA playoffs begin. ABS-CBN is expected air some playoff games on a delayed basis within the next two months, so anime fans will have to wait a little bit longer.

Right now, though, the pain of ‘Haikyuu!!’s sudden disappearance will have to be endured. Fans can only hope that the pain will dissipate once the Kapamilya network announces a new schedule for the said anime.

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The Decline of ABS-CBN’s Team Animazing

Animes on ABS-CBN are suddenly out of commission with the re-airing of classic adapted Japanese cartoons such as ‘Princess Sarah’ and ‘Cedie’. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN)

Hard-hitting animes on ABS-CBN are now a thing of the past.

With new seasons of ‘Naruto Shippuden’ and ‘Kuroko’s Basketball’ still months away from their premiere, ABS-CBN decided to re-air their popular 1990s Japanese adaptations of classic novels on the said block. This despite the fact that they have the backing of sister channel Hero to bring in new animes.

It is clear that Team Animazing, once a formidable rival to GMA’s Astig Authority block, is on the decline. And here are some reasons why.

It all started when ABS-CBN took advantage of ‘Princess Sarah”s renewed popularity on social media by re-airing the series in October. Then in a more desperate move, the Kapamilya network re-aired ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’, ‘Cedie: Ang Munting Prinsipe’ and ‘Dog of Flanders’, much to the dismay of their anime fans.

Worse, ‘Spongebob Squarepants’ continued to air on the said block, even though it is clear no one is in the mood to watch the Nickelodeon icon in Tagalized and heavily edited form.

As a result, Astig Authority overwhelmed Team Animazing in the ratings, even though they were frequently criticized for re-airing old animes regularly. But Team Animazing’s problems go beyond low ratings.

Unlike Astig Authority, which runs for over three hours, Team Animazing is only given half of what the former is allotted. This leads to fewer programs, and worse, heavily edited episodes, which does not bode well with viewers and the anime community in general.

And if there’s anything the Kapamilya anime fans want to blame, it is the presence of Kris Aquino in the mornings. ‘Kris TV’, which is now airing for four years but is struggling for ratings, continue to be honored by the network thanks to Kris’ ‘ironclad’ contract demands.

Team Animazing’s recent slump is only one of several problems that concern ABS-CBN today. That said, for the Kapamilya anime community, it is unfair for ABS-CBN to not commit towards new animes.

What’s the use of Hero if ABS-CBN won’t do favors to their anime fans? This definitely makes no sense.

Uncertain Mornings on ABS-CBN

With ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ ending this November, ABS-CBN now has an unenviable task of filling the show’s shoes, along with rebuilding the rest of its morning lineup. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN)

A state of uncertainty has finally reached ABS-CBN as far as their weekday morning shows are concerned.

A change in programming took place earlier this morning. Popular classic animes ‘Princess Sarah’ and ‘Marcelino Pan Y Vino’ began to re-air in place of ‘Kuroko’s Basketball’ and ‘Naruto Shippuden’, both of which took a brief season hiatus.

In addition, a re-run of ‘Da Adventures of Pedro Penduko’ replaced the recently re-aired ‘Precious Hearts Romances: Midnight Phantom’. As a result, three of ABS-CBN’s old programs now occupy the network’s mid-morning slot.

Coupled with the announcement that the final episode of ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ will be on November 28, ABS-CBN will now have the daunting task of rebuilding its programming schedule on weekday mornings. Easier said than done.

While ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ remained a popular show, at least according to Kantar’s totals, it is clear that the viewers’ patience are beginning to run thin. As a result, some have begun to tune out in favor of ‘The Ryzza Mae Show’, who suddenly proved to be more formidable than GMA’s previous efforts.

It would have made sense if ABS-CBN ended ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ at its peak. Instead, the show is expected to end with a whimper, unless a memorable and well-written ending is made to finish the show the same way they started: as a big hit with viewers.

Filling the shoes of ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ will be very complicated, so good luck to the Kapamilya network in trying to sort this out.

Going through the rest of ABS-CBN’s weekday morning lineup post-‘Umagang Kay Ganda’, there are more problems to consider. With the exception of ‘The Singing Bee’, all other programs seem not up to par with the standard of excellence that ABS-CBN is trying to create.

‘Kris TV’, for example, has not been a success ratings-wise. While it is obvious that Kris Aquino does not want the show’s schedule to move considering her endless amount of demands in her contract, it would be of the best interest for ABS-CBN and herself to change ‘Kris TV”s timeslot to something more viewer-friendly, that is, if Kris finally loosens the grip.

As for the re-runs, it is still puzzling to see why ABS-CBN decided to re-air them, despite the presence of Jeepney TV and Hero on SkyCable. They could have used this time period to air a new Koreanovela or some new anime, but instead they meekly go throwback mode in the same manner as GMA’s overt dependence on classic animes.

That said, the time to rebuild weekday mornings is now for ABS-CBN. It may be very difficult considering the circumstances, but it’s the best that they can do in hopes of earning some respect in this timeslot.

So good luck to them in making this work.

ABS-CBN Takes the GMA Route in Re-Airing Princess Sarah

Once a rival, always a rival.

ABS-CBN recently announced that the popular children’s anime ‘Princess Sarah’ (Filipino title ‘Sarah, Ang Munting Prinsesa’) will be re-aired on the Animazing block starting October 13. The series, based on the Frances Hodgson Burnett novel ‘A Little Princess’, was first aired in Japan in 1985, and was later picked up by ABS-CBN in the early 90s.

The rebroadcast of ‘Princess Sarah’ was intended to capitalize on the recent popularity of internet memes that are related to the series. Most of the memes focus on Sarah, Becky, and potatoes.

In addition to ‘Princess Sarah’, ‘Marcelino Pan Y Vino’ will also be re-aired on Animazing. The two shows’ timeslots will be announced within the weekend.

In a reversal of roles, ABS-CBN is beginning to copy rival GMA’s own style of re-airing old animes in the early morning slot. And a lot of it has to do with their lack of success in this particular viewership period.

Whether it is Kantar or AGB Nielsen, ABS-CBN always falls prey to a more unconventional approach that GMA employs in this slot (sorry ‘Kris TV’ viewers). Even though GMA’s rebroadcasts of old animes deserve a whole lot of criticism, the fact that anime loyalists continue to enjoy such shows over and over again attests to their continued success.

On the other hand, new animes (or new seasons of existing animes) on ABS-CBN failed to garner any viewership, mainly due to constant preemptions in favor of events like the recently concluded 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Worse, the Tagalized ‘Spongebob Squarepants’ and ‘Mr. Bean’ are heavily edited, giving additional reason for viewers to tune out.

As a result, ABS-CBN decided to do the most unthinkable way possible, by re-airing ‘Princess Sarah’ and ‘Marcelino Pan Y Vino’. In doing so, they realized that in order to win back viewers in this timeslot, they need to copy someone else’s style and re-air some of their classic animated series, something that GMA has always been doing for years.

Whether or not they will succeed in the imitation of another station’s style remains to be seen. But for ABS-CBN, desperation is starting to sink in.