The Philippines’ most-watched TV network continues to slide in viewership amid the increasing popularity of streaming services and the rise of ABS-CBN’s free TV partners.
Local television and the viewing habits of Filipinos continue to evolve, and now at even quicker pacing this pandemic. This trend also reflects on GMA Network’s inability to keep its viewership stable, let alone rising, amid its sustained reign.
The was network inadvertently catapulted to undisputed leadership in 2020 since its former rival network, ABS-CBN had to shut down.
The Kapamilya franchise expired in May 2020, and four months later, its new franchise application got denied by Duterte’s allies in Congress.
In January 2020, four months before the ABS-CBN shutdown, AGB Nielsen reported GMA network’s NUTAM viewership at 34.7%, while ABS-CBN’s was at 31.7%.
After ABS-CBN went off the air, GMA network inevitably had the biggest gains, with a big chunk of its rival viewers shifting to the Kapuso channels, in the next few months. Kantar Media reported a spike in GMA Network market share from 32% in May to 55% in June of 2020.
In its year-end report, AGB Nielsen reported the Kapuso Network’s audience share at 48.3%. The agency also reported that the network has already reached 98.5% or 84.1 million viewers in the country. In 2021, GMA Network’s viewership experienced a decline, with its audience share dropping to 46%, posting a 2.3% decrease. 2021 marked the year when ABS-CBN entered into a block timing deal with TV5, whose viewership almost doubled since ABS-CBN shutdown.
GMA Network’s viewership further shrunk based on the latest data from AGB Nielsen. For November and December in 2021, GMA Network’s audience share slid to 42.2%, although its sister channel GTV, noticeably adjusted up to 12.8%. GMA News TV, GTV’s predecessor, posted a 4% share before it underwent rebranding.
ABS-CBN programs also continue to amass strength in the rating board, with two of its produced shows, already listed as among the Top 5 most-watched TV shows, in the country. According to the January 27, 2022 data from AGB Nielsen, FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano rated 11.5%, while The Broken Marriage Vow rated 7.4%, placing them third and fifth on the chart, respectively.
Eclipsing this downward trend in television viewership is the rise of streaming services, where original Filipino content has been increasingly available. That and ABS-CBN’s aggressive move to dominate cyber platforms seem poised to attract more traditional viewers to make the digital shift.
