ABS-CBN, GMA Network both claim ratings lead

ABS-CBN Corp., the media holding company of the Lopez Group, said it started the year ahead of rival GMA Network Inc. while citing gains made by its noontime segment battered last year by the AlDub phenomenon.

GMA, however, contested this claim.

ABS-CBN, citing data from Kantar Media, said it had an average audience share of 43 percent in January 2016 from combined rural and urban homes across the country, against 36 percent for GMA, which uses data from Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

For the month, ABS-CBN also claimed lead in the noontime segment with its “It’s Showtime” which, ABS-CBN said, had regained the top slot from “Eat Bulaga,” which airs on GMA.

Eat Bulaga, a long-running show, saw its ratings in 2015 bolstered to new records due to the popular AlDub tandem composed of young celebrities Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza aka Yaya Dub.

ABS-CBN said It’s Showtime had an audience share of 16.1 percent against Eat Bulaga’s 15.2 percent.

In a separate statement, GMA said it was the leading television network for the first month of the year. It said Nielsen data showed that it got 37.5 percent in NUTAM (National Urban Television Audience Measurement) in January. This compares with 35.4 percent for ABS-CBN and 8.2 percent for TV5.

GMA is historically ahead of its main rival in Urban Luzon and Mega Manila, and this trend continued last month, GMA said citing Nielsen data.

In Urban Luzon, GMA posted a total day audience share of 42.5 percent, higher than ABS-CBN’s 30.1 percent by 12.4 points and TV5’s 7.4 percent by 35.1 points. It was also ahead in Mega Manila with 44 percent, leading ABS-CBN’s 27.4 percent and TV5’s 7.8 percent.

“Urban Luzon accounts for 77 percent, while Mega Manila increased its urban population share to 60 percent effective January 2016,” GMA said.

ABS-CBN, for its part, said it had kept its stronghold in the coveted primetime block, which lured a significant amount of adverting. It claimed a rating here of 48 percent against GMA’s 33 percent.

“The primetime block is the most important part of the day when most Filipinos watch TV and advertisers put a larger chunk of their investment in to reach more consumers effectively,” ABS-CBN said.

It added that its afternoon block also garnered a 42 percent nationwide rating versus GMA’s 37 percent.

As in previous months, ABS-CBN said it fared better than its rivals in areas outside Metro Manila.

In Balance Luzon (areas in Luzon outside Mega Manila) ABS-CBN scored a national average audience share of 45 percent against GMA’s 36 percent.

Meanwhile, in Visayas, ABS-CBN got a share of 54 percent against GMA’s 26 percent and in Mindanao, it got 55 percent against GMA’s 27 percent.

Nielsen has a nationwide urban sample size of 2,000 homes; while in Mega Manila, it increased its sample size to 1,200 homes effective this year.

Kantar Media uses a nationwide panel size of 2,609 urban and rural homes that represent 100 percent of the total Philippine TV viewing population.