GMA Network's audience share rises, beating closest rival

The Philippines’ leading broadcast network said audience share rose in Mega Manila, an area with the most number of television sets in the country, after its shows dominated the top 30 programs during the first three months of the year. Audience share reached 37.2 percent, 1.3 percent higher than its closest competitor ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. (ABS-CBN) which has 35.9 percent, GMA Network Inc. said in a statement. GMA Network Inc. also led by 2.6 percent in the Urban North-Central Luzon area against ABS-CBN during the same period, the company said in a statement, citing data from AGB Nielsen Philippines. The area makes up 21 percent of all television households nationwide, while Mega Manila makes up 55 percent. During the same period, its programs made up half of the overall top-30 television shows, led by its primetime show Darna with an audience share of 32.2 percent. Six of the top 10 shows were also from GMA Network Inc., whose digital arm — GMA New Media Inc. — is the parent of Media Merge Corp., the company that runs and operates GMANews.TV. Its new situational comedy (sitcom), Pepito Manaloto, got 27.5 percent rating in March, higher by 11.3 percentage points compared to its ABS-CBN counterpart Goin Bulilit with 16.2 percent. GMA specials, topped by the Manny Pacquaio-Joshua Clottey fight last March 12, beat ABS-CBN’s and all programs in its airing day with 37.9 rating points, with main event hitting a household rating of 49.7 percent and an audience share of 81.3 percent in Mega Manila. GMA also surpassed ABS-CBN ratings by 2.3 percent in its election coverage, starting May 10 until noontime the next day. Citing AGB Nielsen's overnight ratings for the two-day period, GMA posted an average of 12.3 percent in Mega Manila against ABS-CBN's 10 percent. The network's primetime new program, 24 Oras Eleksyon 2010 Special, got a 33.7-percent audience share against the competitor’s TV Patrol World, with 22 percent. "All of us have witnessed how we in GMA and its distinguished partners delivered the most comprehensive coverage round the clock and using the latest and most modern information and communications technology that rivals the best of CNN and the like," GMA Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Felipe Gozon told the company's stockholders during the annual meeting held Wednesday. "On TV, radio, and even in cyberspace, many Filipinos here and abroad were glued to GMA for the latest updates on the elections and related news." GMA is set to launch at least four new programs this year, led by Endless Love with Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera; Pilyang Kerubin with Barbie Forteza as lead star; Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Edition, with host Richard Gutierrez; and Langit sa Piling Mo with lead actors Heart Evangelista and Mark Herras. Shares of GMA Network Inc. remained unchanged at P6.80 apiece during Wednesday’s trading at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). - LBG, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV