ABS-CBN and GMA Network Wars

It has been almost a month now that we see these TV broadcasts about GMA (Global Media Arts Network, Incorporated) [site] having some involvement in the manipulation of the AGB Nielsen (AGB Nielsen Media Research) [site] TV ratings. This all started when ABS-CBN (Alto Broadcasting System-Chronicle Broadcasting Network) Broadcasting Corporation [site] got some information regarding a problem with their TV ratings and accused “a certain television network” of funding bribing operations at Bacolod to discredit them.

Before we continue, I have always noticed that when ABS-CBN says that they are KBP’s (Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas) or Golden Dove Awards’ Station of the Year and other awards, GMA also shows an ad saying they are number 1 on Nielsen ratings. I really don’t know what Nielsen was, what I only knew was it is some survey company, but not as big as the Social Weather Station. It is only recently that I learned that AGB Nielsen is a pretty big company where investors and advertisers depend from their surveys on their decision making process which TV station to air their advertisements.

Now that there is a on ongoing Network War between ABS-CBN and GMA. When ABS-CBN filed a case against AGB Nielsen sometime on December 2007 regarding a suspected manipulation of their ratings [read here], ABS-CBN found out from AGB Nielsen that GMA has some involvement [read here], and not soon after that GMA reacted to this accusation and filed a multi-million Peso civil action libel suit against ABS-CBN [read here]. Then starts the network war between these two giants, spending several minutes of their precious income-generating airtime everyday justifying their sides of the story.

These two stations are only trying to protect their reputation. If GMA is found guilty of manipulating the ratings on one area, people could assume that this can happen anywhere in the Philippines! The only problem we have now is why are these things said out loud in public? If ABS-CBN did not announce this in public, and mention in their reports that GMA is involved, GMA would not say anything in response. Well, it is their right and their responsibility to tell the news and all we can do is listen and wait. Whatever the outcome is, you cannot convince Kapuso loyalist to watch ABS-CBN, and you cannot make the Kapamilya loyalists switch to GMA. Some of us are really not that concerned, we just love to watch their shows.

I don’t know what will happen next, but I think this could have been just a small problem. There will always be another TV survey next time, and a cleaner and a more transparent one I might add.

Off topic: What happened to RPN? I see that it is now merged with Solar Entertainment Corporation’s Crime and Suspense. I remember they where very popular in the mid 1990s because of Latin Telenovelas like Mari-Mar. Is RPN still alive?

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