The win marks a shocking but not surprising turn in FPJ’s Batang Quiapo and Black Rider‘s bout to dominate the most prized timeslot on Philippine television.
Black Rider has finally won the 8 PM slot, ending rival show, Batang Quiapo‘s reign that has began and remained uninterrupted, since the pilot episode of Maging Sino Ka Man (a show that has been off the air since November, last year).
The Ruru Madrid-led series has notably scored wins in the ratings game, but in terms of aggregated ratings, which take into account the Kapuso show’s delayed telecast on GTV, and not just its linear telecast that goes head-to-head with FPJ’s Batang Quiapo. In determining which show is more preferred by viewers, the total ratings (excluding delayed telecast) seems to be the more sensible gauge. In this measure, FPJ’s Batang Quiapo trumped its Kapuso counterparts, for five straight months (since September 11), Nielsen Philippines data reveal.
However, as it has been projected many times before, Black Rider officially overtaken the Coco Martin-starrer, in the total ratings game, although by mere 0.1 lead and not without the PBA finals attracting a considerable chunk of Batang Quiapo’s largely masculine viewers. We have observed the fluctuating trend in the Kapamilya action-drama’s nightly viewership, its fall on Wednesdays and Fridays, the days it does not air on A2Z, and on big basketball games, such as game 3 of the PBA Finals. Such a set up among ABS-CBN, TV5, and A2Z, seemingly unleashed its biggest toll on Kapamilya programs last night, February 7, a Wednesday, when FPJ’s Batang Quiapo, sunk below the 12 for the first time in months, losing the same timeslot battle to Black Rider, 11.8 to 11.9.
PBA Finals game 3, which featured a match between San Miguel Beermen and Magnolia Hotshots, logged a very impressive 3.0, its highest of the season (weekday airing).
FPJ’s Batang Quiapo is expected to bounce back on Thursday, but with Black Rider increasingly becoming a challenge to its primetime leadership, the quest to dominate the post-primetime newscast slot seems bound to get tougher than ever.
