'Anna Luna' remake, 'Only Me and You' to boost IBC-13 shows

March 5, 2014

Sequestered TV station IBC-13 wants to solidify its position as the Philippines' 3rd most watched network.

MANILA, Philippines – In its bid to gradually overtake its 2 competitors, IBC-13 launched a new shows on Wednesday, March 5, beefed up by the musical variety show Dingdong n' Lani featuring the original prince of pop Dingdong Avanzado and the Asia's nightingale Lani Misalucha and the remake of the classic series Anna Luna featuring the Kapinoy child actress Abby Bautista.

In March 2, IBC-13 will also unveil a musical show Dingdong n' Lani, featuring Avanzado and Misalucha, according to a statement. The musical variety show airs every Sundays at 9 p.m.

Also in March 3, a series that ran for around 6 years in the 1990s, Anna Luna has made a comeback and airs Mondays to Fridays after the noontime show APO Tanghali Na!.

The business unit head Ginny Monteagudo-Ocampo, said the remake’s storyline is basically the same as the original, but the production team tweaked some elements to fit the political and technological settings.

'ANNA LUNA STARS: IBC child star Abby Bautista top-bill the remake of the classic series. Photo courtesy of IBC.'

Ginny added, "We are blessed that the child actress Abby Bautista will played the lead role as Anna Luna and the ensemble cast led by Matt Evans, the female actress Maricar Reyes, action star Jeric Raval, the hottest teen stars Tricia Santos and Albie Casiño.

In the 1st quarter, the Kapinoy network also airs 12 other new shows, including the youth-oriented musical variety show Hey it's Fans Day! (Sunday, 12:15 p.m.), featuring James Reid, Nadine Lustre, Young JV and Yassi Pressman; the teen drama series Friends 4Ever (Sunday 3 p.m.), featuring today's hottest teen stars Janella Salvador, Marlo Mortel, Sue Ramirez, Khalil Ramos, Francis Magundayao, Superstar Circle alumni Liza Soberano and Diego Loyzaga; the showbiz talk show CelebrityDATCom (Sunday 4 to 5 p.m. before the PBA games), hosted by Dolly Anne Carvajal, Anthony Suntay and Tessie Tomas; and the romantic light drama Only Me and You, starring Thai Superstar Mario Maurer and The Jewel of Drama Cristine Reyes.

Target audience share

The launch of the new shows is part of IBC-13’s efforts to solidify its position as the country's 3rd leading broadcast network in terms of audience share.

IBC-13’s executive vice president Lito Ocampo Cruz told Rappler that the network targets an audience share of over 30% in 2014 from their current 23%.

This will allow IBC-13 to gradually catch up with ABS-CBN and GMA-7, each of which has an audience share of around 30%, Lito said.

“It’s really challenging,” said IBC-13 president and CEO Boots Anson-Roa in describing how it feels to be #3.

“The entire company, the entire staff are all challenged by having to work very hard to achieve our objectives. We’re all gung-ho about it,” Boots said.

Meanwhile, Boots said he remains open to a “synergy” between IBC-13 and Viva. “(If) the synergies between the #1 and the #3 are really very good, production costs and other costs would go down, and quality would improve tremendously for IBC-13. Networks can become more reaching,” she said.