ABS-CBN Sports Erroneously Advertised Game 2 of UAAP Finals as Airing on Channel 2

Ateneo did win after all at UP’s expense.

And it was not even close. Game 2 of the UAAP Season 81 men’s basketball finals ended with a 99-81 score in favor of the Blue Eagles, clinching their tenth championship and eighth in this millennium.

But in the days leading up to Game 2 there was some confusion as to which channels would air the game. A look at ABS-CBN Sports’ Facebook page and it was clear that their social media team screwed up with the announcements.

This post was taken last Tuesday.

Then they made another post hours prior to the game.

The same posts were tweeted on ABS-CBN Sports’ Twitter account, although the latter post was deleted a few hours later. Either way this was a perplexing situation.

The photo stated that Game 2 would be aired on ABS-CBN Channel 2, S+A, via live stream on ABS-CBN Sports’ official website and iWant. However, Channel 2 did not advertise the game at all, and instead aired episode teasers of ‘Kadenang Ginto’, ‘Los Bastardos’, ‘Pinoy Big Brother Otso’ and ‘Meteor Garden’ throughout the morning and early afternoon last Wednesday.

Sure enough, Channel 2 continued on with Kapamilya Gold while Game 2 ended up airing only on S+A. In short, ABS-CBN Sports social media made quite an epic gaffe over the announcement.

Since 2009, ABS-CBN Sports’ contract with the UAAP allowed for at least one game of the Finals to air on Channel 2 (usually on Saturdays). However, Channel 2 ended up airing only Game 1 on most seasons and rarely does the channel air the more compelling Games 2 and/or 3 which are potential championship clinchers.

With the addition of S+A as a secondary option in 2016, ratings of the UAAP finals on Channel 2 saw some precipitous drops, and this year was no exception. Game 1 of the 2018 Finals between Ateneo and UP on Channel 2 only finished with an 11.2% rating, whereas GMA shows ‘Wish Ko Lang’, ‘Imbestigador’ and ’24 Oras Weekend’ posted better numbers.

There are two things that are to blame for Channel 2’s low ratings of the Finals. First, viewers were more accustomed to watching the game on S+A (especially now with the addition of the ABS-CBN TVPlus), and second, Game 1 was not even significant to begin with as there is nothing on the line except the first victory.

That said, with the Finals on Channel 2 experiencing low ratings of late, perhaps ABS-CBN Sports should make some adjustments to the airing schedule. Since Game 1 is not that important, they should look at Games 2 and 3 as potential ratings draws and schedule them on a Saturday so that Channel 2 can join in.

If not, just abandon said practice and air all games on S+A only. That could be a fair deal.

The good news is that the ‘Battle of Katipunan’ UAAP finals attracted many spectators and viewers alike. But unless ABS-CBN does something smarter to make the finals more enticing, expect lower ratings in future games on Channel 2.

Faith Restored: Halik’s High Ratings a Godsend for ABS-CBN Primetime Bida

ABS-CBN finally got it right.

It turns out ‘Halik’ was the series ABS-CBN needed to resuscitate the fortunes of its much-maligned fourth slot on Primetime Bida. The October 25 episode of ‘Halik’ garnered a series-high 27.1% rating according to Kantar, besting rival series ‘Pamilya Roces’ by 16.5%.

The episode in question featured an intense confrontation between Lino (Jericho Rosales) and Ace (Sam Milby) over the latter’s act of cheating. During that scene, Lino caught Ace and Jade (Yam Concepcion) cheating on him and Jacky (Yen Santos), leading to a fight between Lino and Ace.

‘Halik’ also became the most-viewed program on iWant TV, reaching over two million views per week. Thursday’s episode also trended on Twitter and memes related to the aforementioned confrontation scene also spread on social media.

In many ways, this episode of ‘Halik’ encapsulates what the fourth slot of Primetime Bida is all about. For Kapamilya audiences here and abroad, this timeslot always tingle their senses whenever they see scenes of confrontation, jealousy, anger, sensuality and desire.

No offense to the lighter-themed dramas that were aired on the fourth slot (e.g. ‘On the Wings of Love’, ‘A Love to Last’), but it is obvious that viewers wanted something that will keep them awake and tense deep into the night. And if ‘Halik”s ratings are of any indication, they are probably right in their assessment.

First aired on August 13, ‘Halik”s ratings have been on a gradual upswing from the start. The series started with an 18.2% rating during its debut, reached 20% by the end of August, and peaked at 27.1% last Thursday.

That said, it will not be a surprise to see ‘Halik’ reach 30% in the near future. This series has been by far ABS-CBN’s best offering in the fourth slot and if it continues to please audiences, it might as well enjoy a long and fruitful run.

GMA’s The Clash Endures Poor Reviews and Bad Ratings After Two Weeks

Welp!

Four episodes in and ‘The Clash’ does not look too enticing to say the least. The GMA singing competition show is off to a poor start, both critically and commercially.

During the weekend of July 7, ‘The Clash”s ratings were at 19.4 and 19.6% on Saturday and Sunday respectively. On the other hand, ABS-CBN’s ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids’ season 2 ended with 32.2 and 34.1%.

But it is not just the underwhelming ratings that hurt ‘The Clash’. From the moment it aired viewers complained about the bad lighting, shaky camera angles, awful sound quality and fake audience reactions.

Much of the blame was pointed to director Louie Ignacio. Despite the fact that he is one of the most in-demand directors in television, people can’t help but think why this man had to be at the helm of ‘The Clash’ when in fact he had been the culprit for the downfall of ‘Party Pilipinas’ several years ago.

And while GMA claimed that ‘The Clash”s pilot episode topped Twitter’s trending topics, the overwhelmingly negative reception to the program muted this achievement. But things only got worse for ‘The Clash’.

GMA's newest talent competition 'The Clash' took the first spot on Twitter yesterday, July 7. https://t.co/U94oDvaaVS

— GMA Network (@gmanetwork) July 9, 2018

The second weekend of ‘The Clash’ last July 14-15 saw the program dip to 17.3% and 17.6% in the ratings. Meanwhile, ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids’ remained consistent, posting figures of 33.4 and 32.4%.

There were still some negative reactions from netizens but the impact was less considerable from the first weekend. As a result, ‘The Clash’ became a non-factor on Twitter whereas ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids’ got a boost thanks to Marco Masa’s winning portrayal of Enrique Gil.

The good news for ‘The Clash’ is that the competition still has a long way to go. Judging them as a flop after only four episodes may be a tad premature.

But how much longer can the viewers tolerate a mess of a talent show? Unless certain improvements are to be made in terms of presentation, public sentiment against ‘The Clash’ will only grow from hereon.

Going National: Thoughts on the Potential of the Unified MOR Brand

ABS-CBN’s MOR (My Only Radio) FM stations are set to become one national entity.

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MOR Philippines is uniting 17 MOR stations in the country under one sound and one vibe to bring more entertainment and information to KaMORkadas nationwide. #MORPMA2018 #MOR1AndOnly

A post shared by ABS-CBN PR (@abscbnpr) on Jun 1, 2018 at 6:38am PDT

In a recent press conference led by the DJs of the flagship MOR 101.9 (DWRR-FM) Manila station, they announced that MOR 101.9 and its 16 regional affiliates will join forces together to form MOR Philippines. Via ABS-CBN PR:

“Under MOR Philippines, 17 MOR stations will unite to bring listeners from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao one vibe and one sound.”

The press release cited the MOR stations’ strong performance in the ratings as the main reason for the launch of MOR Philippines. For instance, the Manila flagship MOR 101.9 got 33% of the average audience share among all Mega Manila stations in the recent Kantar Media survey.

So what are the possibilities that lie ahead for MOR Philippines? Here are three potential plans for the network.

Simulcast of MOR 101.9 Shows in Other Stations

Simulcasting a Manila radio program in the provinces is nothing new in the Philippines. In fact, on a few occasions, MOR 101.9 sister station DZMM 630 simulcasts some of its newscasts to other ABS-CBN-owned AM stations in the country.

The unified MOR Philippines could also do the same thing on some of its programs. For instance, ‘Dear MOR’ and ‘Heartbeats with Chacha’ are very popular shows in 101.9, and putting them on a nationwide scale via simulcast will only grow their audience further.

Improving the Standard of MOR Provincial Stations

While MOR stations in the provinces performed well in their own right, there is still a need for improvement, especially since MOR Manila is the only one with social media handles throughout. ABS-CBN, being the darlings of social media and the master of constant innovation, could do just that.

Providing each MOR provincial station with its own Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts could help broaden their fanbase further. Not only that, upgrading its facilities and strengthening its reach may also enable MOR to penetrate beyond other far-flung areas.

Same Plugs, Same Playlist

In order to live up to the ‘one vibe and one sound’ motto of MOR Philippines, each of the 17 stations will need to have something in common. This means a more ‘national’ station ID for all stations and a more consistent playlist to boot.

Such a reboot will take some time to develop. But when done correctly, MOR 101.9 and its affiliates should flourish with a much-improved beat.

MOR Philippines will be one hell of a rebuilding project that ABS-CBN’s radio division will have to take. It will be interesting to see how this unification of all MOR stations will pay off, so good luck.

A Love to Last, For the Last Time

The curtains finally fall on the Andeng-Anton saga.

On Friday, September 22, ‘A Love to Last’ will air its final episode. The ABS-CBN primetime drama series has been on the air since January 9, and for the most part, it was a ratings success.

Initially, ‘A Love to Last’ replaced ‘Magpahanggang Wakas’ on Primetime Bida’s fourth slot. While the series defeated GMA’s ‘Alyas Robin Hood’ in its first two weeks, ABS-CBN quickly realized that ‘A Love to Last’ was not a good fit for the fourth slot.

On January 23, ‘A Love to Last’ was moved to the fifth slot replacing the JaDine-starred ‘Till I Met You’, and would stay that way for the remainder of its run. Despite criticisms that the show was a ‘snoozefest’ (one commenter even labeled it as an ‘antok-serye’), ‘A Love to Last’ was able to thrive in its new timeslot.

Along the way, ‘A Love to Last’ surged past ‘Meant to Be’ (which premiered on the same day as ‘A Love to Last’), ‘I Heart Davao’ and ‘My Korean Jagiya’ in the ratings game. The series was also popular on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

Overall, ‘A Love to Last’ will have a total of 183 episodes when it was all said and done. That total alone is quite impressive considering that the series was assigned to the fifth slot where viewership is less than those of the first four slots.

For viewers who have tuned in to ‘A Love to Last’ from the beginning, the love story between Anton (Ian Veneracion) and Andeng (Bea Alonzo) was a thrill to watch. The duo showed remarkable chemistry despite the fact that it was the first time that they were paired together.

It also helped that Iza Calzado, as Andeng’s rival Grace, showed some poise and character in her first foray as a villain. Her portrayal of Grace proved that Iza is just as effective playing the bad girl as she was playing the good girl.

Finally, the supporting cast of ‘A Love to Last’ should be commended for adding plenty of flavor to the series. Throughout its run, Julia Barretto, JK Labajo, Ronnie Alonte and Enchong Dee have had their moments to shine, and the success of ‘A Love to Last’ only added to their growing reputations as stars on the rise.

Come this Friday, the love story of Anton and Andeng is about to end. But for the viewers of ‘A Love to Last’, the series’ memories will last a lifetime.

AlDub ‘Wedding’ Catapaults Eat Bulaga to Victory

The ‘wedding’ between Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards became a must-watch.

On Saturday, October 22, ‘Eat Bulaga’ presented a special edition of the newly-revived Kalyeserye segment. The emphasis of the three-hour episode was on the aforementioned ‘wedding’ between Maine and Alden’s characters, which was set inside Christ the King Church in Quezon City.

The ‘wedding’ featured numerous special guests, such as Ai-Ai delas Alas (in her Lola Babah character), Jake Ejercito, Mike Enriquez, Rodjun Cruz, Helen Gamboa and Irma Adlawan. As always, the ‘Eat Bulaga’ hosts played special roles in the event, which included a rare appearance of Vic Sotto’s Dodong character.

The seemingly realistic marriage between the two had been carefully prepared throughout the week, from the pre-nuptial shoots and bridal showers to the proposals for Maine’s wedding gown. The skits even went as far as preparing an invitation to the said ‘wedding’, and inviting Liz Uy and Jason Magbanua to play key roles.

The ‘wedding’ itself took over an hour to complete, a majority of which were spent without commercial interruption. Near the end of the segment, however, Lola Nidora (played by Wally Bayola) fainted in the midst of Alden and Maine’s exchange of I dos, prompting ‘Eat Bulaga’ to take a commercial break in order to add drama.

Despite the incident, Lola Nidora was able to regain consciousness, and the ‘wedding’ proper eventually pushed through without further incident. In the end, Maine and Alden left the episode as a ‘married’ couple.

The episode, which took place nearly a year after the successful Sa Tamang Panahon event, gave ‘Eat Bulaga’ a rare victory in Kantar’s national ratings, as it barely finished o.1% above ‘It’s Showtime”s figures.  More importantly, netizens took the hashtag #AlDubWedding to one of the top global trending spots on Twitter, with over five million tweets.

Considering that the show has been struggling to remain relevant in the months after Sa Tamang Panahon, this episode was in many ways a shot of adrenaline. Still, not even a rare victory can satisfy any AlDub fan, or whoever’s left of the once-highly popular fanbase, as they try to rekindle the tandem’s glory days.

At least there are still ‘Eat Bulaga’ loyalists who have supported the show even before Alden and Maine came aboard. As long as they’re here, ‘Eat Bulaga’ will still enjoy some moral victories, no matter how small it becomes.