GMA Network’s chairman and CEO Felipe Gozon, on Thursday, December 9, concluded that the competition between his station and ABS-CBN was over even before the latter’s shutdown.
During the company’s special stockholders meeting, Gozon was asked if the imminent return of ABS-CBN on free TV worried him. However, he was certain that GMA Network already took the number one spot as the most-watched TV station in the country even before the downfall of the Kapamilya Network back in 2020.
“I have to say that even before the ABS-CBN shutdown, GMA was already the No. 1 free TV station in the Philippines,” he said.
The Kapuso Network, in 2019 jumped from a net income of P2.62 billion while ABS-CBN had P2.37 billion.
But in 2020, after ABS-CBN closed due to “violations,” GMA Network’s net income rose to P5.98 billion.
In terms of TV ratings, however, there was no certainty whether who reigned as the most-watched TV network in the Philippines back in 2019.
This was because data from different audience measurement providers such as Kantar Media and AGB Nielsen NUTAM People Rating have different results for which TV station sits at the top.
Kantar Media declared ABS-CBN as the winner, but NUTAM, on the other hand, had GMA Network as the most dominant TV station.
During the pandemic, and with ABS-CBN switching to digital platforms, GMA Network rose as the most-viewed network in the free-to-air frequency as they only have TV5 to worry about.
Gozon also noted that GMA Network has nothing to fear in case its main competition returns to free TV.
“After ABS-CBN was shut down, we continued to improve our reach and content in all aspects like creative, production quality, technical, etc. We feel that we remain ready for the competition as before,” he assured.
He also promised that GMA Network will be “looking to more exciting and compelling original content in the coming year and to the continued developments in technology that will bring us closer to our consumers.”
Nevertheless, unless Kantar Media and NUTAM offer the same result, ABS-CBN and GMA Network would continue their tussle as the best TV station in the Philippines, especially with the former expecting to return to free TV soon.
