ABS-CBN, GMA claim TV ratings leadership in April

MANILA, Philippines -  ABS-CBN Corp. continued to dominate television (TV) viewing in both urban and rural homes nationwide, while GMA Network Inc. kept its lead for urban Philippines in April.

Citing data from Kantar Media, ABS-CBN said in a statement yesterday, it topped nationwide ratings last month through an average audience share of 43 percent, higher than GMA’s 34 percent.

Kantar Media’s data is based on 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 remained the leader in the primetime block (6 p.m. to 12 midnight) or the most important of the day, with an average audience share of 49 percent, beating GMA’s 33 percent.

The primetime block is when most Filipinos watch TV and advertisers put the bulk of their investment to reach more consumers effectively.

ABS-CBN also won in the other time blocks such as the morning block (6 a.m. to 12 noon), as it had an audience share of 34 percent versus GMA’s 33 percent, as well as in the noontime block (12 noon to 3 p.m.) with 42 percent compared to GMA’s 36 percent, and in the afternoon block (3 p.m. to 6 p.m.) with 43 percent as opposed to GMA’s 35 percent.

It said it beat GMA in Total Balance Luzon as it had an average audience share of 44 percent compared to GMA’s 36 percent; as well as in total Luzon with 39 percent versus GMA’s 36 percent; in total Visayas with 51 percent versus GMA’s 28 percent; and in total Mindanao with 52 percent versus GMA’s 29 percent.

Like in March, ABS-CBN took nine spots out of the 10 most watched programs in the country in April.

ABS-CBN’s “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano” remained the most watched TV show last month with an average national TV rating of 37.7 percent.

For its part, GMA said it strengthened its lead last month in National Urban Television Audience Measurement as it had an average total day people audience share of 43.3 percent, ahead of ABS-CBN’s 35.1 percent, based on data from Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

Nielsen’s data is based on approximately 900 more homes surveyed than Kantar’s.

GMA said it also remained unbeatable in urban Luzon, which accounts for 77 percent of the total urban TV household population in the country in April through its average total day people audience share of 50.4 percent, well-above ABS-CBN’s 28.9 percent.