GMA claims urban lead; ABS-CBN rules countryside

MANILA, Philippines—ABS-CBN Corp. maintained its nationwide ratings lead last month in a measure closely followed by advertisers, while chief rival GMA Network Inc. continued to dominate the urban areas in Luzon, including Metro Manila, data from their respective research providers showed.

Citing the findings of Kantar Media, ABS-CBN said that its nationwide ratings in March hit 44 percent against GMA’s 34 percent.

ABS-CBN enjoyed big gains in the so-called Balance Luzon—or areas outside Mega Manila—with an average audience share of 52 percent versus GMA’s 33 percent. In the Visayas, ABS-CBN cornered 62 percent against GMA’s 23 percent, while in Mindanao, it had 63 percent versus GMA’s 22 percent, according to a statement from ABS-CBN.

GMA, which uses data from Nielsen TV Audience Measurement, said it widened its lead in viewer-rich Urban Luzon and Mega Manila, which includes Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

GMA said its total daytime ratings in Urban Luzon last month hit 35.7 percent against ABS-CBN’s 31.6 percent. TV5’s ratings during the period hit 11 percent, GMA said.

In Mega Manila, GMA’s total day average stood at 37 percent against ABS-CBN’s 29.1 percent. TV5 had 11.8 percent.

Urban Luzon and Mega Manila account for 77 and 60 percent, respectively, of the total urban TV household population in the country, GMA noted in its statement.

Also, ABS-CBN and GMA both claimed leads in the 6 p.m. to midnight slots, otherwise known as “primetime” because these are the hours when most people watch television, drawing more revenue from advertising.

According to Kantar, ABS-CBN had an average national audience share of 48 percent against GMA’s 33 percent.

In Mega Manila, Nielsen TV Audience Measurement gathers data based on a sample size of 1,190 homes, and has a nationwide urban sample size of 2,000 homes.

Kantar Media uses a nationwide panel size of 2,609 urban and rural homes, representing 100 percent of the Philippine TV viewing population, ABS-CBN said.

Meanwhile, GMA’s board of directors last April 2 approved the release of cash dividends amounting to P1.312 billion, at 27 centavos a share.

The record date for the cash dividend is on April 24, while the payment date is on May 19. Since its maiden offering in July 2007, GMA has released a total of P14.239 billion in cash dividends.—Miguel R. Camus