Koreanovelas Return to ABS-CBN

What’s going on, ABS-CBN?

In an extremely unusual move, the Kapamilya network decided to bring back Koreanovelas after an eight-month absence. Their newest Koreanovela, ‘My Love Donna’ will air starting this Monday, and will replace ‘And I Love You So’ on the Kapamilya Gold block.

‘My Love Donna’ stars Joo Jin-Mo and Kim Sa-Rang. It will be the first Koreanovela since ‘Let’s Get Married’ and ‘My Lovely Girl’ to air on ABS-CBN.

Bringing back Koreanovelas on ABS-CBN doesn’t make sense. They already have the resources and technology to produce more local programming, so why do they still need to import foreign series when in fact interest in Koreanovelas are declining and there are some Star Magic artists who are waiting for opportunities to shine.

In addition, ABS-CBN is infamous for cutting a lot of good scenes when it comes to foreign dramas, so much so that their runs are shorter than originally indicated (remember ‘Ana Manuela’?). The fact that these dramas are short-term in nature doesn’t help ABS-CBN at all, and it only hurts their viewership whenever they are present.

By bringing ‘My Love Donna’ to Kapamilya Gold, ABS-CBN has made the wrong decision and the wrong time to bring back a Koreanovela. On the same day ‘My Love Donna’ premieres, GMA will bring in a new teleserye, the Andrea Torres-starred ‘The Millionaire’s Wife’, on the very same timeslot (more on that this Monday).

Remember, the Kapuso network only airs Koreanovelas in the morning and evening slots, and on Mondays to Thursdays as well. The presence of ‘Wowowin’ and longer teleseryes means that there is no place for them to add Koreanovelas in the afternoon.

That said, expect ABS-CBN to lose in the ratings with their newest Koreanovela. This is a definite mismatch for the Kapamilya network, and thus, it won’t help them at all.

What was thought to be the ‘end of an era’ for Koreanovelas on the network turned out to be false hope. Yes, ABS-CBN brought back a Koreanovela, but it won’t be long before they stopped airing them anew.

Other Notes: Speaking of Koreanovelas, GMA will have Korean movies every Monday to Thursday at 10:00 p.m. as part of the ‘Heart of Asia Presents’ series. It will replace ‘Temptation’ starting March 14.

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KPC to Stay Despite Premiere of Temptation

‘Kapuso Primetime Cinema’ will remain on GMA Telebabad for the next two weeks.

The said movie block will stay on the lineup despite the premiere of the Koreanovela ‘Temptation’. The latter, starring ‘Stairway to Heaven”s Cholo and Jodi (Kwon Sang-woo and Choi Ji-woo respectively), will air starting tonight after ‘Kapuso Primetime Cinema’.

The reason behind it is that ‘That’s My Amboy”s premiere will not take place until January 25. ‘The Half-Sisters’, an ongoing Afternoon Prime series that also starred Barbie Forteza and Andre Paras, will air its final episode this Friday, and premiering ‘That’s My Amboy’ tonight would cause a conflict of interest.

Keeping ‘Kapuso Primetime Cinema’ would also maintain the balance of GMA’s Telebabad lineup in check. However, this won’t help the viewers of ‘Saksi’, as they will be forced to watch the newscast at a much later time than usual.

Over the next two weeks, ‘Temptation’ will air five times a week, a rare occurrence for late primetime Koreanovelas on Telebabad. It will air Mondays to Thursdays at 10:45 p.m., after ‘Kapuso Primetime Cinema’, and Fridays at 9:15 p.m., in between ‘Because of You’ and ‘Bubble Gang’.

This means that every Monday to Thursday will see ‘Temptation’ go up against both ‘Tonight with Boy Abunda’ and the early part of ‘Bandila’, while on Fridays, it will go up against ‘On the Wings of Love’. While they may have a chance to win from Monday to Thursday, albeit with a reduced viewership, the same probably can’t be said for Friday.

Of course, this will only take place for the next two weeks. Once ‘That’s My Amboy’ premieres, expect ‘Temptation’ to revert back to a four times a week broadcast on the late primetime slot.

With that, here is the GMA Telebabad lineup for the next two weeks.

5:45 p.m. – The Producers

6:30 p.m. – 24 Oras

7:45 p.m. – Little Nanay

8:30 p.m. – Because of You

9:15 p.m. – Kapuso Primetime Cinema (Mondays-Thursdays)/Temptation (Fridays)

10:45 p.m. – Temptation (Mondays-Thursdays)

Quite a mess for GMA Telebabad to start the year. But oh well, good luck.