With the 2022 national polls already just a few months away, attention is now on the unprecedented level for presidential aspirants.
From January 24 to January 28, presidential aspirants Vice President Leni Robredo, Senator Ping Lacson, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, Senator Manny Pacquiao, and former Senator Bongbong Marcos took much of the spotlight online and on national television. They braved the hot seat in the Boy Abunda-hosted The 2022 Presidential One-On-One Interviews.
Hundreds of thousands of live viewers tuned in to the special’s live stream on YouTube, proving how voters are massively interested in these personalities’ takes on national issues, including the West Philippine sea dispute, environmental impacts of mining, the war on drugs, cyber pornography, presidential qualifications, and rape-related abortion.
While they don’t necessarily reflect the votes each candidate will get in the forthcoming election, the varying concurrent live viewerships and total views posted by the aspirants’ interviews–somewhat suggest the level of attention each of them is currently getting.
In terms of viewership, Bongbong Marcos led the pack with over 300,000 concurrent live viewers during its live streaming on The Boy Abunda Talk Channel on January 25; Vice President Leni Robredo closely followed with a peak live viewers of 260,000 on January 26.
Presidential contenders Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and sports-celebrity-turned-politician Senator Manny Pacquiao are also strong at 200,000 and 180,000 live attendants for their interviews (streamed on January 27 and January 28). Lacson, who took the hot seat first, was only able to manage to attract around 60,000 live viewers.
As of this writing, Marcos also leads in terms of total views. So far, His interview has been seen by 11 million times, while his runner-up VP Leni Robredo currently has 6 million views.
Senator Lacson’s interview is third in the ranking, with nearly 5 million views. Moreno and Pacquiao, on the other hand, each ranked fourth and fifth, with 3.4 million views and 3.2 million views, respectively. Take note that these interviews streamed on different days.
