The top rating Kapuso series fell behind fellow Kapuso series, Lilet Matias: Attorney-at-Law, and Makiling, in the ratings game.
Has GMA Network committed a mistake in moving Abot Kamay Na Pangarap to an earlier timeslot. The move notably came in the wake of the sudden cancellation of the TAPE Inc noontime show, Tahanang Pinakamasaya. The show aired its final episode on Thursday, March 7. New Kapuso movie block, Lunchtime Movie Hits, debut in its place, on Friday, March 8.
However, with this new program shakeup, an extra 30 minutes of airtime became available. To fill this vacated space in its daytime programming, GMA Network moved its number one (well, at least before the shift) daytime show, Abot Kamay Na Pangarap, from its original 2:30 pm slot to 2:00 pm. LunchTime Movie Hits, which airs local blockbuster films, airs from 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm, Mondays to Fridays. On Saturdays, it airs from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, in a back-to-back arrangement with other Kapuso movie block, Kapuso Movie Festival (which airs from 11:30 am to 1:00pm).
It is worth-noting that Abot Kamay Ng Pangarap already declined in viewership, prior to moving to its new timeslot. The series’ ratings dipped from double-digits to single digit. That said, the series kept its place, as the number one TV show on daytime.
However, after the move, the Jillian Ward-starrer slid from the top to number three, behind fellow Kapuso daytime shows, Lilet Matias: Attorney-at-Law and Makiling. Based on Nielsen Philippines’ data, Abot Kamay Na Pangarap dipped from 10.7 people ratings on Thursday, March 7 (original timeslot), to 8.0 people rating on Friday, March 8, the day it moved to its current 2:00 pm slot. The series lagged behind new daytime leader, Lilet Matias, and tied with Makiling. The series further dipped on Monday, with 7.8 people ratings, behind Lilet Matias‘ 9.2 and Makiling‘s 8.0.
Has GMA Network committed a mistake with this move? The slide in viewership and ranking among top rating shows, will tell you such is the case, but one should not forget, Lunchtime Movie Hits, is an interim program set to be replaced by a permanent noontime show. Since noontime shows traditionally air for two and a half hours (EAT Bulaga, It’s Showtime, and the now defunct, Tahanang Pinakamasaya), the new Kapuso noontime show is more likely to also run with the same airtime, hence pushing Abot Kamay Na Pangarap to its original slot.
If assumptions that suggest the dip in viewership is largely caused by the audience not getting used to the new timeslot, is correct, it seems just right to expect that the show ratings will once again go up, or at least rise above what the two other Kapuso daytime shows, are getting.
GMA Network needs to think more than twice about its future programming shakeup, if it wishes to suffer the same problem.
