GMA, ABS-CBN both claim lead in 2015

RIVALS GMA Network Inc. and ABS-CBN Corp. each claimed a lead in television ratings for 2015, citing data from separate third-party research companies.

Based on data from Neilsen TV Audience Measurement, GMA Network said Friday that it cornered a share of 35.4 percent based on National Urban Television Audience Measurement household shares. That compares to 34.9 percent for ABS-CBN and 9.2 percent for TV5.

GMA said it overtook ABS-CBN in Sept. 2015 and has since sustained its leadership.

ABS-CBN, which gets its data from Kantar Media, separately claimed that its annual audience share last year was at 43 percent against GMA’s 36 percent.

ABS-CBN also claimed leadership in the so-called primetime block in 2015 as it scored an average national audience share of 50 percent compared to GMA’s 31 percent.

“This means half of the Filipino viewing population in combined urban and rural homes tuned in to the top-caliber programs offered by ABS-CBN on primetime,” the media company said.

The primetime block is when most Filipinos watch TV and advertisers put a larger chunk of their spending.

GMA, for its part, said it continued to protect its leading share in viewer-rich Urban Luzon and Mega Manila. Here it claimed a ratings lead across all dayparts, including primetime.

Urban Luzon accounts for 77 percent of all urban TV households in the country, while Mega Manila represents 59 percent.

Urban Luzon continued to be a strong area for GMA as it registered an audience share of 39.7 percent, surpassing ABS-CBN’s 30.6 percent by 9.1 percentage points and TV5’s 8.2 percent by 31.5 percentage points.

GMA also further secured its dominant position in its bailiwick Mega Manila with 41.7 percent, up 14.7 percentage points from ABS-CBN’s 27 percent and up 33.2 percentage points from TV5’s 8.5 percent, its statement showed.

In others parts of the Philippines, ABS-CBN said it cornered a bigger market share.

For Balance Luzon (areas in Luzon outside Mega Manila), it scored a national average audience share of 45 percent against GMA’s 36 percent; in Visayas it had 55 percent versus GMA’s 27 percent; and in Mindanao with 54 percent versus GMA’s 28 percent.