FTT Year 2013 in Review: ABS-CBN

Another year is about to end. But before the calendar flips to 2014, here is a look back at the year that was in television and radio. This article will focus on ABS-CBN, who dominated television ratings all year.

The Positives

Everything went right for ABS-CBN. And it showed in its weekday offerings. Primetime Bida teleseryes dominated the Kantar ratings, led by the year’s top-rated series ‘Juan dela Cruz’. ‘TV Patrol’ remains the most preferred evening newscast, while ‘Showtime’ introduced the most talked-about ‘That’s My Tomboy’ and ‘Kalokalike’ segments that propelled them atop the noontime pyramid. And thanks to the highly-anticipated November wedding between Maya (Jodi Sta. Maria) and Richard ‘Ser Chief’ (Richard Yap), ‘Be Careful with My Heart’ continued to lord over the late morning slot.

The Kapamilya network continued to rack up ratings victories on weekends, aided by its reality competition shows ‘The Voice of the Philippines’, ‘Masterchef Pinoy Edition’, and ‘Pilipinas Got Talent’. Also helping their cause were the long-running anthology ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya’ and game shows such as ‘Bet on Your Baby’ and ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal‘. ‘Gandang Gabi Vice‘ and ‘ASAP’ remain the most talked-about shows on social media.

Even its sports offerings beat the competition. The Miami-San Antonio NBA Finals and the La Salle-UST UAAP Men’s Basketball Finals scored big in the ratings and in the hearts of netizens. The network also continued to showcase top-notch boxing matches such as the ‘Pinoy Pride’ series and fights featuring Nonito Donaire.

The Negatives

While they were able to enjoy high ratings on primetime, there were still some shows that ended up lasting less than half a year. Examples include ‘Bukas Na Lang Kita Mamahalin‘, ‘Apoy sa Dagat‘ and ‘Muling Buksan ang Puso’, whose storylines required only at least four months of airing. Also getting the ax were the sitcom ‘Toda Max’, after lead star Robin Padilla reportedly left, and ‘The Buzz’, which was reformatted as ‘Buzz ng Bayan’. ABS-CBN’s programs were likewise not spared from MTRCB’s iron hands, as ‘ASAP’ was reprimanded in February for Anne Curtis’ sensual outfit and performance.

ABS-CBN personalities were also involved in various controversies. ‘Kris TV‘ was nearly cancelled when its host Kris Aquino announced her resignation after getting embroiled in a custody case with then-husband James Yap for their son Bimby. However, a month later, Aquino announced that she would only take a ‘leave of absence’ in June. As of now, ‘Kris TV’ continues to air in the morning slot.

And last November, Korina Sanchez criticized CNN’s Anderson Cooper regarding the latter’s report about the slow delivery of goods to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). As a result of the negative reaction she received from netizens, Sanchez took a ‘leave of absence’ before returning to duty a month later.

Outlook

ABS-CBN capped off the year by showcasing the love team of Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla on ‘Got to Believe’, young child star Raikko Mateo on ‘Honesto’, and budding star Jessy Mendiola on ‘Maria Mercedes’. For 2014, they are expected to introduce another potential star in Julia Barretto on ‘Mirabella’. Going forward, ABS-CBN is poised for another banner year, and as long as their products continue to entice audiences, ABS-CBN will remain the country’s top network.

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Reformatting GMA’s Afternoon Prime

Award-winning documentary programs such as ‘I-Witness’ will greatly benefit from the move to GMA’s ‘Afternoon Prime’.

Desperate times need desperate measures. And for GMA, it’s all about trying to reverse an ongoing ratings slide.

Already suffering from a decline in viewership in the Telebabad slot, the Kapuso network’s fortunes in the afternoon slot took a turn for the worse after ABS-CBN‘s post-‘Showtime’ afternoon ratings improved, largely due to the success of programs such as ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’,  ‘Galema: Anak ni Zuma’, ‘Pinoy True Stories‘, and ‘Princess Hours‘. As a result, GMA responded with their own movie block in ‘GMA Blockbusters’, which like its ABS-CBN counterpart, will feature more recent films from the GMA Films library.

But is the movie block really the answer for their ratings slide? As far as I’m concerned, ‘GMA Blockbusters’ is not the solution to the network’s problems. In fact, it would have been better if they moved their award-winning documentary programs out of the midnight slot. Why? Because the awards that shows like ‘I-Witness‘ earned would be worthless if no one is watching. By placing them into the afternoon slot it will help them attract more viewers, in the same way that ABS-CBN’s ‘Pinoy True Stories’ accomplished a few months earlier.

Aside from the GMA documentary programs, I also liked to see ‘Love Hotline’ move from GMA News TV to the mother network. ‘Love Hotline’, a love advice program hosted by Jean Garcia, has been airing on weeknights since it debuted last October, opposite the main networks’ newscasts. Moving ‘Love Hotline’ to GMA’s afternoon slot will greatly benefit the program, as it will now go head-to-head against TV5’s ‘Face the People’ on the same timeslot.

With that, here is what I think should be the best lineup for GMA’s ‘Afternoon Prime’:

2:30 p.m. – Villa Quintana

3:20 p.m. – Magkano Ba ang Pag-Ibig

4:10 p.m. – I-Witness/Reporter’s Notebook/Born to Be Wild/Alisto/Out of Control

5:00 p.m. – Love Hotline

With ABS-CBN pushing the right buttons for the past few years, perhaps it is time for GMA to do the same. And shuffling its afternoon slot should help.

GMA, ABS-CBN Tied for Best TV Station at the 2013 PMPC Star Awards

Marian Rivera and Coco Martin (tied with Richard Yap) won the top acting awards for drama in the 2013 PMPC Star Awards for TV.

In the recently concluded PMPC Star Awards for TV, both ABS-CBN and GMA shared honors for best TV station this year. And even though both stations were tied for the top television award, it was ABS-CBN who grabbed a lion’s share of awards thanks to some of their highly-rated programs and impressive performances from its stars.

ABS-CBN earned 31 of the 56 awards in the recent event. Among the winners were Kapamilya stars Coco Martin and Richard Yap (Best Drama Actor), KC Concepcion (Best Drama Supporting Actress), Arjo Atayde and Arron Villaflor (Best Drama Supporting Actor), and Nikki Gil (Best Single Performance for an Actress). Programs such as Juan dela Cruz (Best Primetime Drama Series), Be Careful with My Heart (Best Daytime Drama Series), Showtime (Best Variety Show), ASAP (Best Musical Variety Show), Umagang Kay Ganda (Best Morning Show) and Kris TV (Best Celebrity Talk Show) were also cited.

Not to be outdone, GMA stars such as Marian Rivera (Best Drama Actress), Rufa Mae Quinto (Best Comedy Actress) and Michael V (Best Comedy Actor) were also honored. In addition, GMA programs such as Pepito Manaloto (Best Comedy Show), Bubble Gang (T-Best Gag Show), Celebrity Bluff (Best Game Show), Startalk (Best Showbiz Oriented Talk Show), Magpakailanman (Best Drama Anthology), and the now-defunct Extra Challenge (Best Reality Competition Program) also won their respective awards. Sister network GMA News TV also left victorious thanks to wins by State of the Nation (Best News Program), Biyahe ni Drew (Best Travel Show), I Juander (Best Magazine Show), and Fashbook host Solenn Heussaff (Best Lifestyle Show Host).

While ABS-CBN and GMA dominated the proceedings, some of the minor TV networks were also cited. TV5 walked away with three awards, winning Best Children’s Show for Batibot, Best Talent Search Program for Talentadong Pinoy, and Best Female Showbiz Oriented Talk Show Host for Ang Latest host Cristy Fermin. And the lone award won by a UHF television station came from Net 25, whose program Convergence won Best Lifestyle Show.

The PMPC Star Awards were held last November 24 at the AFP Theater in Camp Aguinaldo, and were hosted by the Gutierrez twins (Richard and Raymond) and the Gonzaga sisters (Toni and Alex). The entire awards ceremony will be seen this Sunday on ABS-CBN’s ‘Sunday’s Best‘. And for the entire list of awardees, click here. 

Killer Karaoke and Singing Bee Debut Today

Today will officially mark the first episodes of two sing-along game shows: ABS-CBN‘s ‘The Singing Bee‘, and TV5’s ‘Killer Karaoke Pinoy Naman’. Both programs have been hyped heavily over the past couple of weeks, so expect a whole lot of fun watching the two programs.

‘The Singing Bee’ makes its long-awaited return on the Kapamilya network. The original iteration was previously hosted by current Kapuso talent Cesar Montano, and aired from 2008-10. The new version of ‘The Singing Bee’ will be hosted by Roderick Paulate and Amy Perez, and will be joined by the dancing crew The Honeybees, the all-vocal ensemble The Songbees, and the instrumental band The Bandible Bees. The main objective of the program is to guess either the missing line or the lyrics, arrange a particular line of a song in the correct order, and guess the artist who sang a particular song.

The new edition of ‘The Singing Bee’ airs every Saturday at 3:00 p.m. following ‘Showtime’. The first guests of the show will be former Apo Hiking Society singer Boboy Garovillo, actresses Carmi Martin, Eric Fructuoso and Kiray Celis, and showbiz host Ogie Diaz. The program marks the reunion of ‘Dick and Amy’ on television, having first seen in the ‘Pera o Bayong’ segment of the defunct ‘Magandang Tanghali Bayan‘.

Meanwhile, TV5’s Pinoy version of the popular American game show ‘Killer Karaoke’ finally makes its highly-anticipated debut. The program, known locally as ‘Killer Karaoke Pinoy Naman’, will be hosted by Michael V, best known for his lengthy service with GMA’s gag show ‘Bubble Gang’. The program’s first guests will be Ogie Alcasid, Arci Munoz, Eula Caballero, Shalala, Jayce Flores and Rufa Me.

‘Killer Karaoke Pinoy Naman”s main objective is to sing while being subjected to a variety of challenges. These challenges range from the disgusting to the shocking, regardless of the difficulty. The final challenge will see the contestants being forced to sing while spinning on a turntable, with the last contestant standing adjudged as the jackpot winner.

‘Killer Karaoke Pinoy Naman’ airs every Saturday at 8:30 p.m. after ‘Tropa Mo Ko Unli’, on TV5’s ‘Weekend Do It Better’. This will be Michael V’s first TV5 appearance since ‘Tropang Trumpo’, and his first solo hosting job since his defunct comedy shows ‘Bitoy’s Funniest Videos’ and ‘Bitoy’s ‘Showwwtime’.

ABS-CBN’s 60th Anniversary Weekend

ABS-CBN kicks off its 60th anniversary of television broadcasts with the Grand Kapamilya Weekend from October 5-6.

On October 23, 1953, ABS-CBN launched the first television broadcast in the Philippines. In the sixty years since its first broadcast, the Kapamilya network grew into a national and global network, becoming the first network in the country to air in color, in high definition, and via satellite. On the weekend of October 5-6, ABS-CBN will hold a variety of events to commemorate the 60th anniversary of its television broadcasts.

The Grand Kapamilya Weekend will be held at the Quezon Memorial Circle, and noontime variety shows ‘Showtime’ and ‘ASAP‘ will hold live shows at the venue. In addition, a bazaar, a medical mission, a soup kitchen, an exhibition game between Star Magic and ABS-CBN Sports staff, a Star Cinema live screening, and a story-telling session will also be held at the venue. The nightly festivities will see a live concert sponsored by MOR 101.9, and a live Kapamilya KTV.

In addition, a pair of charitable eco-runs will also take place, with both the ‘One Run, One Philippines: Isang Bayan Para sa Kalikasan’ and the ‘Run for the Pasig River‘ aiming to raise money for environmental concerns. And finally the Kapamilya All-Star Games will be held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on October 5 for basketball, and at the Marikina Sports Complex on October 6 for Volleyball.

For more on the schedules regarding the activities for the Grand Kapamilya Weekend, click on this link.

Talentadong Pinoy Ends

An era ends: ‘Talentadong Pinoy’ finishes its five-year run on Sunday.

On August 18, TV5 Original ‘Talentadong Pinoy‘ will air its final episode. The series finale will pit the seven ‘Hall of Famers’ against each other in a battle for the right to be the ‘Ultimate Talentado’, slated to be held at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Before there was ‘Showtime’ or ‘Pilipinas Got Talent‘, there was ‘Talentadong Pinoy’. It was a talent show like no other, and it ran continuously every week, pitting some of the most talented individuals in the country to showcase their tricks to a live audience. Most importantly, the show had its ‘Hall of Fame’, where they induct new members in the event they won the audience and judges’ hearts for five straight weeks. While the program got off to a slow start, it eventually gained a sizable viewing audience despite stiff competition from ABS-CBN’s slew of talent shows. Later on, ‘Talentadong Pinoy’ has its own kids version and a global version, which were also a hit with viewers. By the time the program ends its five-year run on Sunday, ‘Talentadong Pinoy”s place on Philippine television history has been secured.

Ryan Agoncillo has been the host of the show from the beginning. No stranger to hosting reality shows (he previously hosted GMA’s ‘Pinoy Idol’), Agoncillo’s experience and enthusiasm helped the show gain its much-needed recognition. Already well-known as the husband of actress Judy Ann Santos, Agoncillo gained further recognition thanks to ‘Talentadong Pinoy’, enabling him to earn various accolades and positive reviews throughout the show’s run.

Undoubtedly this was one of the most underrated reality shows on Philippine television. But make no mistake about it, ‘Talentadong Pinoy’ is still the original reality talent show, a benchmark for all other shows to follow.