In 100 Words: Mixed Results for Wowowin’s New 90-Minute Format

Not even an additional 30 minutes helped ‘Wowowin’ in the national ratings. (Photo credit: GMA Network)

An extended running time for ‘Wowowin’ did not result in improved ratings.

Kantar’s national ratings for February 15 showed that ‘Wowowin’ earned a 14.6% rating. The show managed to beat ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’ (11.1%), but still fell short to its regular rival ‘Pasion de Amor’ (18.1%).

The pattern continued over the next two days, as ‘Wowowin’ (16% & 15.3% respectively) won over ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’ (12% & 10.9%), but lost to ‘Pasion de Amor’ (18.2% & 17.4%). While AGB Nielsen’s Mega Manila ratings indicate a decisive victory for ‘Wowowin’, the national ratings speak otherwise.

With ‘Pasion de Amor’ down to its final week (more on that in next week’s article), there is still hope for ‘Wowowin’ to catch up. But as ABS-CBN prepares for its replacement, things don’t seem to look so good for Willie Revillame on primetime.

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Heart of Asia, Astig Authority Reduced As Part of GMA’s New Programming Lineup

‘Wowowin”s new timeslot and extended running is part of another revamp of GMA’s lineup. (Logo courtesy of Wil Productions Inc., GMA Network)

Yesterday marked yet another change in GMA’s programming.

Once again, the Kapuso network brought back ‘Kapuso Movie Festival’ (airing weekdays at 9:00 a.m.) in hopes of competing with ABS-CBN’s ‘Kapamilya Blockbusters’. To accommodate the said movie block, the duration of the Astig Authority and Heart of Asia Mornings blocks were reduced to 90 and 60 minutes respectively.

The impressive ratings of ‘Wowowin’, though still not enough to beat ‘Pasion de Amor’ nationally, also led to a timeslot change. As a result, ‘Wowowin”s start time was pushed to 5:00 p.m., and its running time was extended for another 30 minutes; this enabled the show to compete against ‘Kapamilya Deal or No Deal’ as well.

Consequentially, the extension of ‘Wowowin’ likewise led to a timeslot change for the programs that once occupied the 5:00 p.m. slot. In what has become a ‘you lead and I follow’ scenario, GMA moved its News and Public Affairs block back to late nights, two months after ABS-CBN’s own News and Current Affairs block returned to the said timeslot.

Unlike ABS-CBN’s current affairs block, however, GMA’s so-called ‘Pampamulat sa Gabi’ block only airs from Mondays to Thursdays (thank you ‘Bubble Gang’), and will comprise of these programs. They are ‘Front Row’ (Mondays), ‘Alisto’ (Tuesdays), ‘Tunay na Buhay’ (Wednesdays), and ‘Reporters’ Notebook’ (Thursdays).

Speaking of Mondays to Thursdays, the Heart of Asia Mornings block (‘You’re the Best’, ‘Carmina’) was also reduced to make way for a pair of refugees from the 5:00 p.m. slot. Both ‘Dream Home’ (formerly ‘Power House’) and ‘Love Hotline’ were moved to Friday mornings, and will take over the timeslot of the former block on that day.

By all indications, this is another desperate attempt by GMA to keep up with rival ABS-CBN. Considering that the latter network continues to dominate virtually every timeslot in the ratings, GMA’s answers don’t seem to matter at this point.

Now they need to be patient with this new approach. Otherwise another revamp is in store for the Kapuso network.