"Anna Luna: Ang Pagbabalik" debuts stornly last January 19

January 21, 2015

The pilot episode of the 2013 remake of the soap classic "Anna Liza" drew strong viewership on Monday, when it joined the "Primetime Bida" line-up of ABS-CBN.

According to multi-national market research group Kantar Media, "Annaliza" registered a nationwide rating of 16.7 %, compared to its competing program's 8.8%.

According to Thedore Boborol, director of the series, "Annaliza" scored a national TV rating of 19.3%, widening its lead over it rival show, which only garnered 10.2%.

Kantar Media uses a nationwide panel size of 2,609 urban and rural homes, representing 100% of the total Philippine TV viewing population.

In the first episode of the series aired on May 27, Annaliza's complicated past is revealed.

Portrayed by 10-year-old actress Andrea Brillantes, Annaliza grows up in the care of Guido (Zanjoe Marudo), after she was separated from her biological parents Isabel (Denise Laurel) and Lorenzo (Patrick Garcia).

The young girl was given to Guido by Makoy (Carlo Aquino), an accomplice of Stella (Kaye Abad) in her vengeful plot against Lorenzo, who denied fathering her child.

Guido will later be seen in a relationship with Stella, who is bent on exacting revenge on the lost daughter of Lorenzo, the man she was once loved.

The original "Anna Liza" first aired in 1979 and ended with an incomplete story after Vega's untimely death in 1985 due to cardiac arrest and bronchopneumonia.

"Annaliza" airs weeknights on ABS-CBN before "TV Patrol."