TV Patrol and 24 Oras challenge to Express Balita's supremacy

March 19, 2014

MANILA, Philippines. IBC News and Current Affairs news desk officer Nick Mendoza finds it "flattering" that the station's strategic approach to "the competition is said to be rivaled in the news programs." Since in 1998, launching the news program Express Balita revolutionized the TV newscast in the afternoon slot at 4:30 p.m. And now last October 1, 2012, Express Balita lorded over competing programs for the counter-programming rivals of the newscasts TV Patrol and 24 Oras in its time slot at which the newscast’s leadership position in the evening block. On an average day, it captured 25 percent of TV viewers, higher there was a big news story.

Express Balita faced the biggest threat to its supremacy as the following factors into play:

Predictability brought about by many sponsored segments. With high ratings, advertisers lined up to buy few commercial spots and public service announcements. Express Balita’s major segments were fully sponsored. These commitments, the producers were contract-bound to produce and air contents associated with a sponsored segments even as the situation called for news item.

IBC Research and Business Analysis providing top management with a regular monitoring and analysis of the shifts in audience preferences and of the week on week viewership of various programs. In various memos and personal briefings we pointed out the threat faced by our early evening slot. We also discussed extensively the development in various management and programming meetings. As head of research had very long discussions and strategy sessions with the chairman Eric Canoy.

'''Counter programming of TV Patrol and 24 Oras gained traction. '''

IBC-13 says they want to change feel-good viewing habits. Express Balita ranked the #1 as the most-watched newscast on its early evening timeslot by putting 6:30 p.m. and pit it against the rival evening news programs TV Patrol and 24 Oras in terms of toppled ratings supremacy, says IBC public affairs director Mayet Camacho. Primetime dramas include the child adventure drama Carita de Angel, fantasy series Janella in Wonderland has been consistently ranked the #1 fantaserye on its timeslot and has become such a huge hit that it set a trend in fantaseryes on rival networks, the romantic comedy series Crazy Little Thing Called Love and the heart-warming drama series Your Heart, My Love caught the Philippine TV industry in those of the entertainment programs after the newscast. IBC-13 cashed in on the program overloaded the program with commercial spots. The total running time of commercial spots within the innovative program content.

Fortunately for the Kapinoy Network, the counter programming strategy worked. We had the soap operas in our inventory of the two giant networks can offer viewers. Express Balita retained its leadership behind TV Patrol and 24 Oras, with certainty that it anchored IBC’s primetime block Kapinoy Primetime.

Sequestered TV station IBC-13 also "known as the Kapinoy network" home to the PBA and NBA basketball, it has the station's early evening newscast Express Balita, which airs Monday to Friday from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. on weeknights. It became the high-rating news program on primetime when it competes head-on with the same news programs TV Patrol and 24 Oras of ABS-CBN and GMA 7, respectively.

IBC's first-ever fantaserye Janella in Wonderland aired at 7:45 p.m., which it goes head-to-head against the rival mermaid-based fantaseryes Dyesebel of ABS-CBN and Kambal Sirena of GMA-7.

Meanwhile, last March 2, IBC's feel-good teen musical variety show Hey it's Fans Day! aired at 12:15 p.m. time slot in direct competition song-and-dance format with ABS-CBN's ASAP 19 and GMA-7's Sunday All Stars.

The business unit head Ginny Monteagudo-Ocampo added that IBC-13 has continued to dominate the weekend ratings strengthening to counter-programming with the top-rated game shows Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (Saturday at 6 p.m.) lead the weekend shows in TV ratings in March, the network said. The top-rating game show managed to secure the first spot, behind the two rival game shows Bet on Your Baby and Picture Picture!. Another game show The Million Second Quiz (Sunday at 7:30 p.m.), the top-rating dance music show DMZ-TV (Saturday at 8:30 p.m. simulcast over the FM radio iDMZ 891) and the reality search show for the singing contest Born to be a Superstar (Sunday 8:30 p.m.) also gains their viewership.

Filipino sports fans who watching the basketball like the flagship program PBA which airs only each one game on Saturdays from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Sundays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The popular kiddie show KapinoyLand which is becoming IBC's popular children show, will air on its new timeslot last March 15 every Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

In the network's primetime block Kapinoy Primetime became horizontal last March 10, the children's adventure drama series Carita de Angel aired at 5:45 to 6:30 p.m. as the pre-programming to Express Balita, the light romantic drama series Crazy Little Thing Called Love which will air at 8:30 p.m. last March 10 will be pitted against the teleseryes Ikaw Lamang and Carmela, and the heart-warming drama Your Heart, My Love was moved to its new timeslot at 9:15 p.m. going head-to-head against The Legal Wife and Rhadora X.

Showing love movies Sunday Sinemaks airs Sundays from 10:45 p.m. to 12:45 a.m. with such Pinoy action movies, a co-production of Viva Television.