GMA 7 leads August ratings race with 35% market share

Broadcast firm GMA Network Inc. recorded another month leading the nationwide ratings race, results of the most recent AGB Nielsen survey showed.

In a statement, GMA said full August data (August 28-31 based on overnight readings) showed the company with a 35-percent average audience share for the month, 4.1 percentage points higher than its rival ABS-CBN Corp.’s 30.9 percent.

“This means that GMA had almost 155,000 more TV households from all over the country tuned in to its programming. Using an assumption of five viewers per household, the lead would translate to GMA having about 774,000 more viewers over ABS-CBN,” the company said in a statement.

ABS-CBN was quick to dispute GMA’s ratings, saying that in the more important primetime slot, more households were tuned in to the “Kapamilya” network.

Data from Kantar Media showed ABS-CBN with an average nationwide audience share of 43 percent in August, 13 points higher than GMA’s 30 percent in primetime.

“Advertisers, which invest majority of their TV ad spending on primetime, look at the TV ratings and audience shares of programs and TV networks to place their commercials in order to reach more households as frequently and efficiently as possible,” ABS-CBN said in a statement.

Compared with TV5, despite the station’s aggressive ads and promo, GMA had about 709,000 more TV households, or an estimated advantage of roughly 3.5 million more viewers.

GMA said it maintained its lead in total Urban Luzon and the Mega Manila areas, which comprise the bulk of total television households nationwide at 77 percent and 58 percent, respectively.