ABS-CBN, GMA contest TV ratings leadership

MANILA, Philippines - ABS-CBN Corp. said it topped nationwide television (TV) ratings for both urban and rural homes, while GMA Network Inc. claimed it was the leader in national urban Philippines in January.

Citing data from Kantar Media, ABS-CBN said more viewers from both urban and rural homes nationwide tuned in to the network in January, as it had an average audience share of 44 percent, than GMA’s 36 percent and TV5’s five percent.

Kantar Media used a nationwide panel size of 2,610 urban and rural homes to represent 100 percent of the country’s total TV viewing population.

ABS-CBN said it was also the preferred network across all time blocks.

For prime time (6 p.m to 12 midnight), it scored 47 percent, beating GMA’s 36 percent and TV5’s six percent.

The prime time block is considered the most important part of the day as advertisers put the bulk of their investments during that time to reach more consumers.

Apart from prime time, ABS-CBN led the morning block (6 a.m. to 12 noon) with 40 percent versus GMA’s 35 percent and TV5’s six percent; as well as the noontime block (12 noon to 3 p.m.) with 44 percent versus GMA’s 36 percent and TV5’s four percent; and afternoon block (3 p.m. to 6 p.m.) with 45 percent compared to GMA’s 37 percent and TV5’s six percent.

Of the top 20 most watched programs in the country last month, 15 were produced by ABS-CBN with FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano ranking first through its average national TV rating of 37.2 percent.

Meanwhile, GMA said it continued to be  the country’s leading free TV channel in January through its 41.9 percent audience share compared to ABS-CBN’s 34.9 percent in National Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM), based on data from Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

GMA said the Kapuso Network was the winner from morning to primetime in NUTAM, as well as in Urban Luzon which accounts for 77 percent of all viewers in urban TV homes in the country.

In Urban Luzon, GMA had an audience share of 48.2 percent, ahead of ABS-CBN’s 29.2 percent.