The Issue:

The regular daytime programming of two of the country’s largest networks, ABS-CBN and GMA-7, had to be scrapped last Sunday, October 7, to give way to the much-awaited rematch of Philippines’ pride, Manny Pacquiao, against Mexico’s Marco Antonio Barrera. Dubbed as Will To Win II: Pacquiao vs. Barrera, the boxing event was aired on the Kapuso Network.

The Pacquiao-Barrera fight, which was won by our Pambansang Kamao by unanimous decision, registered a whopping 50 percent rating based on the overnight ratings conducted by AGB Nielsen Philippines among Mega Manila households.

As expected, the boxing match that lasted six hours on television—including the undercard fights—was the highest-rating program.

ABS-CBN opted to show two Star Cinema movies, which had its Philippine TV premiere on Sunday, in lieu of their regular programming (ASAP ‘07 and Your Song).

The Judy Ann Santos-Ryan Agoncillo starrer Kasal, Kasali Kasalo posted a 19.2 percent rating while Vhong Navarro’s Agent X-44 got 11.7 percent.

The high rating of the Pacquiao-Barrera match rubbed on to GMA’s Sunday showbiz talk show, Showbiz Central, as it beat ABS-CBN’s The Buzz again.

Showbiz Central, which had an exclusive interview with Pacquiao, posted a 21.7 percent rating against the 12.5 percent of The Buzz, which had an exclusive interview with Martin Nievera and Nora Aunor, among others.

Sunday’s primetime viewing was pretty much the same, except for Tok! Tok! Tok! regaining the lead from last week’s No. 1, Kap’s Amazing Stories.

Meanwhile, Marimar finally reached the 40-percent mark last Friday, October 5. Before Friday, the Marian Rivera-starrer had never reached 40 percent, although it consistently topped primetime viewing except on a few occasions.

The last episode of Mga Mata ni Anghelita was also well received as it got 36.4 percent, good for No. 2 spot.

Three other Kapuso shows (Zaido, 24 Oras, and Jumong) occupied the rest of Top 5 slots while five shows from the Kapamilya network occupied the sixth to tenth slots, with Lastikman (27.9 percent) leading the pack.

Likewise, the final episode of Meteor Garden topped all daytime programs with its 23.5 percent rating. Two GMA-7 Sine Novelas, Pasan Ko ang Daigdig and Kung Mahawi Man ang Ulap, placed second and third, respectively.

Eat Bulaga! (19.5 percent) grabbed the fourth spot while Wowowee (17.2 percent) took the sixth spot.

For second day in a row, ABS-CBN’s daytime talk show Boy & Kris rated higher than GMA-7’s SiS. The Boy Abunda-Kris Aquino talk show got 12 percent compared to SiS‘ 9.7 percent.

Saturday (October 6) viewing had a surprise twist when public-service program Wish Ko Lang, which celebrated its anniversary, topped all daytime programs with 22.7 percent rating. Eat Bulaga! placed only second while Mark Herras’s Fantastic Man was third. Wowowee was the highest-rating program for ABS-CBN with 16.7 percent, good for No. 4.

Finally, Bitoy’s Funniest Videos was once again the top primetime program last Saturday.

10/08/2007 | 07:37 PM  GMA NEWS

The Opinion: 

ABSCBN certainly got pained. The result of the latest AGB Nielsen Ratings would likely hit the hall of fame, giving GMA7 all the credits for having a wonderful audience viewership in the Philippines. ABSCBN’s loss on the bid on what station Pacquiao’s fight would be played is an obvious presentation of how weak this station is at now. This also includes the recent contract signing of Manny Pacquiao as one of GMA’s stars. And i commend GMA for being good in this field of winning a one time game of Philippines’ network war.

I would like to point out that ABSCBN’s market strategy on that day was worthless. they should have foreseen the consequences of that strategy. losing a lot of advertisers means losing a cinch on the financial stability of the network. They should have placed a more competent show.