Marian Rivera Won’t Face Angel Locsin in Primetime

Instead of facing Angel Locsin, Marian Rivera will face Kathryn Bernardo as ‘Carmela’ debuts this Monday opposite ‘Got to Believe’.

GMA has announced the airing schedule for the upcoming series ‘Carmela’ and ‘Rhodora X’. And as expected, Marian Rivera will not face Angel Locsin in the same timeslot, even as fans of both camps clamor for the two ex-Darna stars to clash at the same time.

‘Carmela’ will face ‘Got to Believe’ on its timeslot. The latter series, starring Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla, have been on a roll of late thanks to high ratings and social media returns, and the entry of ‘Carmela’ gives them the opportunity to battle another veteran star in Marian Rivera. Previously, ‘Got to Believe’ toppled the Dingdong Dantes-starrer ‘Genesis’, leading to its rather premature finish before the end of 2013.

On the other hand, Angel Locsin’s new teleserye ‘The Legal Wife’ will be up against Jennylyn Mercado’s series ‘Rhodora X’. In a lead-up to their upcoming primetime face-off, Mercado made it clear that she wanted no part in her ex-boyfriend Luis Manzano’s reconciliation with Locsin, and she wished them good luck in their romance. Mercado last appeared on the GMA Network via the reality competition series ‘Anak Ko Yan’, which once faced ‘Minute to Win It’ hosted by Luis Manzano. Meanwhile this is Locsin’s first teleserye since ‘Imortal’ in 2010, and during that span, she co-starred in the sitcom ‘Toda Max’ and made several movies.

In addition to ‘Carmela’ and ‘Rhodora X’, GMA will roll out another teleserye in its ‘Telebabad’ block. ‘Paraiso Ko’y Ikaw’ will replace ‘Prinsesa ng Buhay Ko’ in the sunset slot. The new teleserye, starring Kim Rodriguez and Kristoffer Martin, will be the latest in a series of attempts to topple the long-running ABS-CBN series ‘Annaliza’, which has defeated both ‘Home Sweet Home’ and ‘Prinsesa ng Buhay Ko’ since debuting in May 2013. And like Julie Vega in the original series, Andrea Brillantes has been splendid in playing the titular character, leading to its consistently high ratings.

Even as GMA tries to counter ABS-CBN with their new primetime offerings, I expect another ratings beatdown from the Kapamilya network. Simply put, GMA cannot beat ABS-CBN anymore, and I have made it clear that the race has already been conceded.

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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.

GMA’s Weekend Evening Mess

GMA’s weekend schedule has been a mess of late. Slight tweaks would help them regain footing. (Logo courtesy of GMA Network)

Just last week, GMA 7‘s ‘Kap’s Amazing Stories‘ returned to its original Sunday schedule, bumping ‘Pepito Manaloto‘, ‘Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho‘ and ‘Imbestigador‘ off their usual timeslots. This move of the said show back to Sundays is to make way for the fantaserye ‘One Day, Isang Araw’, which debuted on June 15. This is the latest in GMA’s ongoing shuffle of weekend programming, which has been scrambling for viewers since ABS-CBN’s reality shows took over weekend evenings and gained a larger audience.

Simply put, GMA’s evening programming on weekends is a mess. After ‘One Day, Isang Araw’ on Saturdays, which airs opposite ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal‘, they follow with ‘Vampire ng Daddy Ko’ opposite ‘Wansapanataym’, ‘Magpakailanman’ opposite ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya‘, and ‘Celebrity Bluff‘ opposite either a reality show or ‘Toda Max‘. On Sundays, they air ‘Kap’s Amazing Stories’ opposite ‘Goin’ Bulilit’, ‘Pepito Manaloto’ opposite ‘Rated K’, ‘Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho’ opposite a reality show and ‘Imbestigador’ opposite ‘Gandang Gabi Vice‘. For me, GMA did not improve their weekend programming schedules at all; it is just cluttered and disorganized.

The one show on GMA that is really out of context on weekend evenings is ‘Kap’s Amazing Stories’. Simply put, it is a show about human feats, stories about flora and fauna, and new technologies. However, it would have been served well if it is aired on weekend mornings, particularly opposite ABS-CBN’s ‘Matanglawin’. I know ‘Aha’ is a great educational tool, but ‘Kap’s Amazing Stories’ is a more appropriate match to ‘Matanglawin’.

GMA worsened its weekend programming with the addition of a movie block on Saturdays, which has been utilized primarily to fill in programming hours. The airing of ‘Kapuso Movie Night’ is a hindrance to the network. They already have two Sunday movie blocks (‘Kapuso Movie Festival‘ and ‘SNBO’), so why the need of adding another? All they need is to move one of their Sunday programs to Saturday just to fill the void; ‘Pepito Manaloto’ would do just that, as it is a worthy ratings challenger to either ‘Toda Max’ or ‘Banana Split’.

My other proposals would include moving ‘Celebrity Bluff’ opposite ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’, moving ‘Alisto’ to Saturday evenings opposite a reality show, and ‘One Day, Isang Araw’ opposite ‘Goin’ Bulilit’. The other programs would remain on its original schedules.

If GMA uses this setup, it would help them challenge other networks for weekend programming supremacy. At the moment the network’s weekend schedule is a mess, so they need to figure out a way to run programs opposite the other networks.