GMA-7 claims ‘most watched’ station title

MANILA, Philippines—Publicly listed GMA Network Inc. (GMA) said on Thursday that it remained the “most watched” television station nationwide in the first three weeks of October, according to data of ratings service provider Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

Based on data from October 1 to 19, GMA said it scored 35.7 points in total day household audience share in National Urban Television Audience Measurement (Nutam), ahead of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.’s 28.9 points by 6.8 points.

The lead translates to 1.2 million more viewers from all over the country tuning in to GMA over ABS-CBN during the period, on the assumption that there are five viewers per household, the network said.

The strong lead was driven by GMA’s nationwide ratings in the daytime block, alongside ABS-CBN’s “weakening” primetime performance during the period, it added in a statement.

“GMA is still the uncontested primetime winner in ‘Urban Luzon,’ which makes up 77 percent of nationwide TV households,” it said. “In partial October, GMA led ABS-CBN in the said area on primetime by 3.5 household share points with 33.7 points versus ABS-CBN’s 30.2 points.”

“In other words, GMA had 673,000 more primetime viewers than ABS in Urban Luzon in the said period,” the network explained.

Of the overall top 10 programs in Urban Luzon, seven were GMA primetime programs.

In “Mega Manila”—which makes up 58 percent of nationwide TV households—GMA’s primetime lead over ABS-CBN stood at 5.9 points. GMA scored 34.4 share points against ABS-CBN’s 28.5 points for the period.

“The lead would translate to GMA having 883,000 more viewers than ABS in Mega Manila during primetime,” the network said.

The Nielsen TV Audience Measurement used by GMA is also used by 21 companies including two other local networks, namely, TV5 and Solar Entertainment; Faulkner Media; CBN Asia; 13 advertising agencies and three regional clients.