ABS-CBN Wins All Timeslots Last Monday According to Kantar

Not even AlDub’s much-anticipated primetime debut can stop ABS-CBN from reaching an immaculate record.

On Monday, February 27, all ABS-CBN programs defeated their respective GMA counterparts in the ratings, according to Kantar Media. This includes a rare victory for ‘Magandang Buhay’ (8.1%), as it swept all of GMA’s Astig Authority block (‘Ghost Fighter’ (5.9%), ‘Pokemon XY’ (6.7%) and ‘Bleach’ (7.3%)) and the European fantasy series ‘Wolfblood’ (6.8%).

As always, ABS-CBN’s usual suspects dominate the list, with the network continuing to prevail from late morning to late night. Six of the top ten slots belong to ABS-CBN programs, with ‘Ang Probinsyano”s 42.8% leading the way.

Even the network’s programs in the wee hours earned a victory as well. The 4:00-5:30 a.m. slot was won by ‘O Shopping’ (0.4%) and a rerun of ‘Mga Kwento ni Marc Logan’ (1 %) over ‘Reporters Notebook’ (0.9%), while the 11:45-1:00 a.m. slot was won by ‘Mission Possible’ (1.8%) and ‘O Shopping’ (0.9%) over ‘The 700 Club Asia’ (1.2%) and ‘EZ Shop’ (0.6%) respectively.

But the highlight of the day was the matchup between newcomer ‘Destined to Be Yours’ and ‘My Dear Heart’. The former, starring Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza, entered the night with high expectations, and considering the duo’s popularity in the last two years, the series was poised to get off to a sizzling start.

Instead, it was fellow young star Ria Atayde who turned heads. Her debut as Margaret’s (Coney Reyes) daughter Gia helped ‘My Dear Heart’ defeat ‘Destined to Be Yours’ 29.1 to 20.2%.

And finally, two shows that are normally affected by ABS-CBN Regional’s own programming managed to beat the odds. Both ‘Umagang Kay Ganda’ (5.2%) and ‘Minute to Win It’ (14%) prevailed over ‘Unang Hirit’ (4 %) and ‘Wowowin’ (13.7%) respectively, despite getting preempted by ABS-CBN Regional morning shows and ANR-produced ‘TV Patrol’.

Overall, it was thorough domination on the part of ABS-CBN. No one knows when will this rare wire-to-wire win will take place again, but one thing is for sure: ABS-CBN continues to reign as the Philippines’ top network.

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Unang Hirit Extended, Responds to Umagang Kay Ganda

GMA extended ‘Unang Hirit’ for another 30 minutes in response to ‘Umagang Kay Ganda’, whose recent dominance in the early mornings became a cause of concern. (Logo courtesy of GMA Network)

The morning rivalry between ‘Unang Hirit’ and ‘Umagang Kay Ganda’ gets a little more interesting.

Two weeks after ABS-CBN’s ‘Umagang Kay Ganda’ received a 30-minute extension, GMA responded Monday by giving ‘Unang Hirit’ an additional 30 minutes of their own. This means that the two rival morning shows now air from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.

The 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. slot is nothing new to ‘Unang Hirit’. In the show’s early years, GMA aired it on the exact same timeslot, only to cut it to 2 1/2 hours and shuffle between start times of 5:00 a.m., 5:15 a.m. and 5:30 a.m in later years.

Unfortunately, the extended run of ‘Unang Hirit’ proved to be a consequence to the Astig Authority block. By adding 30 minutes to ‘Unang Hirit, GMA managed to sacrifice 30 minutes of anime programming, and considering that their animes are currently their strongest suit, this will not suit well with their anime fans.

And neither are viewers of ‘Yan ang Morning’. GMA would have had an opportunity to move the low-rating ‘Yan ang Morning’ to an earlier timeslot (in the process cutting ‘Unang Hirit’ to only two hours and giving it a head-start over ‘Magandang Buhay’), but it is clear that GMA’s marquee morning program is in no mood to give way.

Looking at the ratings between ‘Unang Hirit’ and ‘Umagang Kay Ganda’, it is obvious that GMA would have been better off doing a little bit of cost-cutting for the former. In recent years, ‘Umagang Kay Ganda’ has had the upper-hand, winning by a small margin on most days.

Let’s face it, after nearly 17 years on the air, ‘Unang Hirit’ is clearly wearing down. Their core lineup of hosts are showing their age, and if there is any chance for the show to survive much longer, they need a lot of tweaks to fit in with a younger generation of viewers.

As far as GMA News is concerned, there is a lot more to do in order to resuscitate the declining ratings of ‘Unang Hirit’. And extending the show by another 30 minutes is not a good idea.

Yan ang Morning Demoted Due to Low Ratings

It’s been a rough first month for ‘Yan ang Morning’.

Through four weeks and 19 episodes, the GMA talk show’s national ratings average was a paltry 6%. Making matters worse for Marian Rivera and company is that ‘Yan ang Morning’ is outperformed at times by ‘Magandang Buhay’, another recently unveiled morning talk show produced by rival ABS-CBN.

The poor ratings of ‘Yan ang Morning’ forced GMA to make an adjustment starting today. From its original timeslot of 10:45 a.m., ‘Yan ang Morning’ will be demoted to an earlier timeslot of 9:30 a.m.

In turn, GMA’s Asianovelas (collectively known as Heart of Asia Mornings) will be moved much later. Starting at 10:30 a.m., this will be the lineup for Heart of Asia Mornings.

• 10:30 a.m. – Mako Mermaids
• 11:00 a.m. – High School Love On

The two series will air their final episodes tomorrow morning. Then on Wednesday, June 1, a pair of Koreanovelas will premiere on Heart of Asia Mornings, with ‘Secret Hotel’ taking over ‘Mako Mermaids” timeslot followed by ‘I Heart U Doc’ in ‘High School Love On”s place.

Despite the timeslot change, ‘Yan ang Morning’ will still be up against ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’, not to mention the upcoming 2016 NBA Finals that will be aired on a delayed basis on ABS-CBN. That said, it’s still going to be a tough challenge for ‘Yan ang Morning’ to keep up since they’re facing the same programs they’re up against before.

Perhaps GMA should consider this proposal. In order for ‘Yan ang Morning’ to perform well, they need to sacrifice the final 30 minutes of ‘Unang Hirit’, then move the former to 7:00 a.m., so as to have a chance at winning.

Not only does ‘Yan ang Morning’ air much earlier, it also gives them a head-start over ‘Magandang Buhay’, and in the process, enables GMA to keep their high-rating animes in the same timeslot. Seems easy enough given GMA’s penchant for cost-cutting in recent months.

It remains to be seen if the new timeslot will pay off for ‘Yan ang Morning’. For now, though, give them a chance to thrive.

1995 Flashback: Saksi at 20

‘Saksi’ is now on its 20th year, which is by far the second longest among active free TV newscasts in the country. (Logo courtesy of GMA Network)

1995 was a memorable year in Philippine television. As part of a year-long special, From the Tube will look back at a year full of historical debuts, unforgettable moments, and celebrated feats in the history of television in the country.

It has been over 20 years since ‘Saksi’ premiered on GMA.

These days, the second longest-running active free TV newscast on Philippine television (behind ‘TV Patrol’) is taking its act on late-nights. But it hasn’t always been that way.

At the time ‘Saksi’ (then known as ‘Saksi: GMA Headline Balita’) premiered on October 2, 1995, it was only a 15-minute early evening newscast, which pales in comparison to rival ‘TV Patrol”s running time of nearly an hour. Soon after, it expanded to 30, then to 45 minutes, and it remained that way until it was moved to late nights in mid-2002.

The early years of ‘Saksi’ centered on one man: Mike Enriquez. The former DJ-turned-newscaster became an instrumental figure in the rise of ‘Saksi’, even as he was paired with different co-anchors; namely, Karen Davila, Mel Tiangco and Vicky Morales.

Mike became so attached with ‘Saksi’ that he was given his own radio program: ‘Saksi sa Dobol B’. The now 15-year-old show carried over some of ‘Saksi”s mannerisms, including the iconic catchphrase ‘pasok’ whenever Mr. Saksi himself introduces a reporter on location.

In 2002, ‘Saksi’ moved to its current position as a late-night newscast. Mike Enriquez and then co-anchor Vicky Morales also moved along, but in 2004, Mike rejoined Mel Tiangco (then-anchor of ‘Frontpage’) in the early evening slot, and instead of ‘Saksi’ returning to early evenings as everyone thought, GMA created a new newscast: ’24 Oras’.

As a result, GMA decided to pick a new male anchor, and in came ‘Unang Hirit’ co-host Arnold Clavio (popularly known as ‘Igan’). ‘Saksi”s new moniker became ‘Liga ng Katotohanan’, and for over a decade, the newscast centered around Igan and Vicky, along with GMA’s lineup of veteran journalists.

In late 2014, Vicky Morales joined ’24 Oras’ as its third co-anchor (reuniting with Mike Enriquez and Mel Tiangco), and she was replaced by ’24 Oras Weekend’ anchor Pia Arcangel. Currently, ‘Saksi’ is in its 13th year as a late-night newscast, which is longer than any other late-night newscasts today.

After 20 years, ‘Saksi’ continues to deliver hard-hitting and fast-paced news every night. The newscast may be airing on late nights now, but they are still as good as it gets.

So Long, ‘Basta Every Day Happy’

‘Basta Every Day Happy’ officially bowed out yesterday morning. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

For the first time since December 30, 2011, Chef Boy Logro has no weekday program on the GMA Network.

‘Basta Every Day Happy’, the talk show hosted by Alessandra de Rossi, Gladys Reyes, Donita Rose and the aforementioned Chef Boy Logro, officially bowed out of the airwaves yesterday morning. As a result,  GMA replaced ‘Basta Every Day Happy’ with yet another rerun of ‘Slam Dunk’.

This left GMA without a local program in between ‘Unang Hirit’ and ‘The Ryzza Mae Show’. Considering their so-called ‘success’ with the ‘Astig Authority’ block, they may have made a wise decision, but rival ABS-CBN’s late morning programs like ‘The Singing Bee’ prove otherwise.

Debuting on May 12, 2014, ‘Basta Every Day Happy’ was GMA’s latest attempt at producing their own talk show (‘The Ryzza Mae Show’ doesn’t count since it is produced by blocktimer TAPE, Inc.).  However, it had consistently low ratings, leading to yet another short run for a post-‘SIS’ GMA talk show.

Worse, GMA placed ‘Basta Every Day Happy’ to an unfavorable timeslot (opposite Kapamilya shows like ‘The Singing Bee’), further accelerating its demise. Had it been placed opposite ABS-CBN’s equally low-rated morning show ‘Kris TV’, ‘Basta Every Day Happy’ would have fared much better.

Instead, GMA’s most recent morning talk show became an expected thumbs down, as previously predicted on From the Tube.

So what’s next for GMA after ‘Basta Every Day Happy’?

For now, they’ll live and die with the ‘Astig Authority’ block and their high propensity to re-air classic animes for ‘loyal’ audiences. But without the support of local programming, GMA will have a harder time competing against ABS-CBN’s programs, unless drastic things happen within the next few weeks.

As for Chef Boy Logro, he will still be a regular on the Kapuso network, as his other show, GMA News TV’s ‘Idol sa Kusina’, continues to air today. The future of his co-hosts, however, remain uncertain.

‘Basta Every Day Happy’ was a good show, had GMA made the right choices. But every misstep comes with a price, and in the end, it was GMA’s questionable decisions which cost another of their shows.

This is definitely not a good way to start 2015 for the embattled folks inside Timog Avenue, especially when it started with another programming casualty.

A Homecoming for Jolina and Maxene That Further Hurts GMA

Jolina Magdangal returned to ABS-CBN after 12 years with GMA. Magdangal blossomed as a Kapamilya artist during her teen years. (Photo credit: ABS-CBN Official Facebook)

It only gets worse for GMA and its roster of artists.

Yesterday, ABS-CBN confirmed that homegrown star and former Kapuso talent Jolina Magdangal has rejoined the network for a reunion project with fellow ‘laking Kapamilya’ Marvin Agustin. Their project, ‘Flordeliza’, is expected to premiere on the first week of December as a late-morning romantic series.

This was after Magdangal teased a return to her original network back in July, when she visited the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center in Quezon City.

Magdangal blossomed under the watch of Star Magic’s Johnny Manahan, appearing in shows such as ‘Ang TV’, ‘Gimik’, ‘Labs Ko si Babe’ and ‘Arriba Arriba’, and in movies like ‘Hey Babe’, ‘Labs Kita, Okey Ka Lang?’ and ‘Gimik: The Reunion’. Her initial team-up with Marvin Agustin became highly popular among adoring fans.

But after departing ABS-CBN for GMA in 2002, Magdangal was gradually reduced to a mere bit player. While she was given major roles in shows like ‘I LUV NY’, ‘Unang Hirit’ and ‘Iglot’, she was increasingly upstaged by GMA’s own homegrown artists, particularly those who blossomed after ‘StarStruck’.

This was in contrast to another returning Kapamilya artist, who will be seen in an upcoming project late this year.

For Maxene Magalona, a return to ABS-CBN opened a new opportunity. After all, while she began her career as an ‘Ang TV’ kid, it was on GMA where her career truly blossomed, beginning with the long-running sitcom ‘Daddy Di Do Du’.

Maxene later proved her worth as a villain in various Kapuso teleseryes, particularly in the afternoon block. Her last project with GMA was ‘Mga Basang Sisiw’, which aired for much of last year.

Her recent guestings on shows like ‘It’s Showtime’ and ‘The Singing Bee’ were simply a hint of things to come, though she has yet to specify which project she will work on.

The departures of both Magdangal and Magalona proved to be another blow on the part of GMA’s artist roster. For a network who’s becoming increasingly overdependent on its older but still serviceable stars, this is a bitter pill to swallow, considering the lack of development among its younger artists.

That said, expect more of GMA’s disgruntled stars to leave and find opportunities in other networks. And for the leadership group in both the entertainment and talent divisions, it is time for a change, all in hopes of regaining lost credibility among loyal viewers.