Inday Will Always Love You to Conclude Friday

Longer than expected.

For ‘Inday Will Always Love You’, airing 100 episodes is a surprising accomplishment considering it was produced by GMA Public Affairs, an outfit notorious for short-term but quality-laden dramas. But viewers embraced this series particularly well, even if the results say otherwise.

First aired on May 21, 2018, ‘Inday Will Always Love You’ starred Barbie Forteza and Derrick Monasterio and is set in Cebu. While the series is generally a romantic comedy, it did not shy away from showcasing some elements of seriousness seen in more mature teleseryes.

‘Inday Will Always Love You’ first aired opposite ‘Since I Found You’, ABS-CBN’s own romantic comedy. While it gave the latter a hard time in the ratings (at one point the margin was close to 1%), in the end ‘Inday Will Always Love You’ still fell short.

Next came ‘Halik’, a more seriously toned adversary. This time, it was a more lopsided affair, as ‘Inday Will Always Love You’ could not close the gap to 4% against ‘Halik’.

Despite these shortcomings, ‘Inday Will Always Love You’ was still good enough that it was extended on a few occasions. By the time it airs its finale Friday, it will have 100 episodes, a new high for a GMA Public Affairs-produced series.

With all things considered, ‘Inday Will Always Love You’ will go down as GMA Public Affairs’ most successful non-news series, both in terms of popularity and duration. Still, being produced by GMA’s news division had its fair share of doubters, and ‘Inday Will Always Love You’ did not quite receive its well-earned respect.

But as far as Cebuanos are concerned, ‘Inday Will Always Love You”s focus on the Visayan island’s culture is more than enough to make them proud. In many ways, the series was a showcase of sorts to witness the uniqueness and beauty of Cebu, an island that only rivals Manila in terms of population and cultural impact.

The focus of ‘Inday Will Always Love You”s final week centers on Happylou’s (Barbie) escalating feud with Amanda (Gladys Reyes) and Ericka (Kim Rodriguez). One can only hope that the climax will end just like Happylou’s name: a happy one.

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.

Too Much for TV: Why MPBL’s Sudden Expansion Will Be Burdensome to the League

From the ‘Original 10’ to the ‘New 16’.

A total of 16 new teams will join 10 holdovers for the upcoming MPBL Datu Cup that will start this June. The ‘New 16’ will include seven teams from Metro Manila, four teams from Luzon, one team from Visayas, and four teams from Mindanao.

MPBL: Bacoor Strikers, Basilan Shooters pasok; bilang ng mga koponan, nasa 26 https://t.co/QHfvRQwOvh

— DZMM TeleRadyo (@DZMMTeleRadyo) May 22, 2018

The new teams are:

• Bacoor Strikers
• Basilan Shooters
• Cebu City Sharks
• Davao Occidental Tigers
• GenSan Warriors
• Laguna Heroes
• Makati Skyscrapers
• Mandaluyong El Tigre
• Manila Stars
• Marikina Shoemasters
• Pampanga Lanterns
• Pasay Voyagers
• Pasig Pirates
• Rizal Ankle Breakers
• San Juan Knights
• Zamboanga Valientes

They will join the ‘Original 10’ teams that first competed in the MPBL Anta Rajah Cup, all of which are based within Luzon. The tournament, which ran from January to April of this year, was won by the Tanduay Batangas City Athletics.

But with the sudden addition of 16 new teams comes a new dilemma for Arnold Vegafria’s ALV Productions. The producer of the MPBL games on ABS-CBN S+A will now have to deal with increased scheduling, travel and production expenses, although for now the non-Luzon teams will not have any home games due to logistical concerns.

In the upcoming Datu Cup, 25 games will be played among the 26 teams. Since the Philippines does not have regional sports networks similar to those in the U.S., the MPBL will be forced to add more game days and stretch the duration of the tournament so that it will run for almost the entire year (barring holidays and weather disturbances).

This means that S+A, the network partner of the league, may have to deal with near-daily doubleheaders all year round. But with so many new teams and games to air, S+A might not be able to fully commit with the MPBL given its coverage of other events such as the ONE Championship and the ASEAN Basketball League.

Such a long tournament may also take its toll on the fans. While the MPBL managed to sell out games regularly during the Anta Rajah Cup, the Datu Cup could see some semblance of unpredictability attendance-wise, and if the MPBL is not careful in dealing with the lengthy schedule, it could lose some of its audience.

This will be a huge test for S+A, ALV and the MPBL to see if expansion will reap some benefits. It will not be easy for either one of them to deal, so each must play a key role in managing this tournament well.

Thoughts on the MPBL on ABS-CBN S+A

A new Filipino basketball league is about to take off.

The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, founded by Senator Manny Pacquiao and his business manager Arnold Vegafria, will officially launch later tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The league’s maiden event will begin with an elaborate opening ceremony and a game between the Parañaque Patriots and Caloocan Supremos.

The league’s premise is simple: it consists of 10 teams located around Metro Manila and Luzon (with expansion to Visayas and Mindanao to follow soon) and it also aims to give grassroots athletes and aspiring basketball players a chance to showcase their skills and continue their basketball careers. These 10 teams are as follows:

1. Parañaque Patriots
2. Caloocan Supremos
3. Batangas City Athletics
4. Valenzuela Classic
5. Navotas Clutch
6. Muntinlupa Cagers
7. Bataan Defenders
8. Bulacan Kuyas
9. Imus MPBL team
10. Quezon City MPBL team

A home-and-away format will be followed so that teams can have a chance to play on their home court in front of their fans. In essence, the MPBL is a developmental league that is more similar to the NBA G League and is inspired from the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA).

Let’s face it, the Philippines deserves another basketball league and something had to be done about the surplus of talent. Every basketball player dreams of making it to the PBA but what if there is little to no chance of earning a slot?

Also, what if basketball fans does not have the courage or the resources to watch a basketball game in faraway or big venues? This is exactly what the MPBL does: propagate the game of basketball closer to the fan while giving some undeserved talents a chance to prove their worth.

Not only that, the MPBL will get some much-needed exposure on national television via S+A, the sports channel of ABS-CBN. The said channel’s strong reach should benefit the MPBL a lot as it tries to gain the respect of Filipino basketball diehards.

It will be interesting to see how far this upstart league go. But for those who are worried that the MPBL could pose a threat to the PBA, don’t fret because they are only concerned about giving players opportunities while extending the careers of others.

Games of the MPBL will take place every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. It will be aired on ABS-CBN’s S+A channel.

News TV Continues Fall From Grace with Amaya Rerun

‘Amaya’ returned to the airwaves, this time on GMA News TV last Monday. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

It doesn’t get any worse for GMA News TV.

After defying the logic of a news channel with classic movies and reruns from their previous incarnation QTV, News TV took it one step further by re-airing an old teleserye from their parent channel. And it was led by no less than the network’s so-called ‘Queen of Primetime’.

‘Amaya’, the 2011 ‘epicserye’, started re-airing on Channel 11 last Monday. The said series, which took place in 16th century Visayas, starred Marian Rivera, with supporting roles from Rochelle Pangilinan, Glaiza de Castro, Sid Lucero, Mikael Daez, Aljur Abrenica, Diana Zubiri, Gardo Versoza, Raymond Bagatsing, Lani Mercado, Gina Alajar and Ayen Munji-Laurel.

The series originally aired on GMA from May 30, 2011 to January 13, 2012. ‘Amaya”s run coincided with the gradual decline in the network’s performance during the current decade, as ABS-CBN’s counterparts began to dominate the ratings.

Nevertheless, ‘Amaya’ received citations from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and the Department of Education for its culturally significant story.

But that is not the real story behind News TV’s decision to re-air ‘Amaya’. Having exhausted all of their programming material to air, and having lacked the drive and the resources to produce more news programs, News TV resorted to another desperate manuever: re-airing older teleseryes from the parent Channel 7.

News TV is no stranger to airing historical and socially-significant dramas. After all, they aired GMA News-produced mini-series such as ‘Titser’, ‘Katipunan’ and ‘Bayan Ko’ to critical success, and they even re-aired the equally costly but less popular drama ‘Ilustrado’ at one point.

But ‘Amaya’ is a different animal. After all, it was a ‘true’ teleserye that GMA produced, and not a mere mini-series like the aforementioned ‘Ilustrado’.

And while ‘Amaya’ shares a similar historical significance as the other dramas, the fact that it had over 150 episodes to boot makes it an exhausting series to watch and remember. That said, re-airing ‘Amaya’ is a waste of time and space for GMA News TV.

So what’s next for the suddenly teleserye-friendly News TV? Will they re-air a Koreanovela remake like ‘Endless Love’, a fantaserye like ‘Encantadia’, or a more mature drama like ‘My Husband’s Lover’? We’ll never know, but one thing’s for sure: the worst is yet to come for GMA’s troubled little sister.

ABS-CBN, GMA Cancel Each Other’s No. 1 Claims

Once again, ABS-CBN and GMA one-up each other when it comes to television ratings.

For the month of January, both stations staked their own claims as the No. 1 television network in the country. Based on Kantar’s figures, ABS-CBN earned a 42% share over GMA’s 36%, while Nielsen’s figures say that GMA attained a 35% over ABS-CBN’s 33%.

While ABS-CBN claimed to have won the ratings battle in Balance Luzon (45% over GMA’s 36%), Visayas (56% over GMA’s 26%) and Mindanao (48% over GMA’s 31%), GMA’s regional figures showed that the station only won in Urban Luzon (39% over ABS-CBN’s 29%) and Mega Manila (41% over ABS-CBN’s 26%). GMA failed to report on the figures for Visayas and Mindanao because both areas remain a weak point for the network.

On the other hand, ABS-CBN did not report on the figures for the morning and afternoon blocks because of the network’s low ratings in both categories. ABS-CBN claimed victory in the primetime block, while in a separate statement, GMA won in the morning, afternoon and primetime blocks.

As it has been the case for the past several years, the one-upmanship between the two stations continue to be a subject of debate among television fans. But the truth is, even with their claims as the No. 1 station, that doesn’t mean they are better than the other, especially when facilities, revenue, talent and programming quality are considered.

That said, expect the game of wits between ABS-CBN and GMA to continue. At the end of the day, only one can lay claim to being the undisputed No. 1 station in the country.