GMA, ABS-CBN claim lead

Media giants GMA Network Inc. and ABS-CBN Corp. released television ratings for August, each saying they have kept their leads in their respective areas.

GMA Network said in a statement that it had cornered an audience share of 42 percent against ABS-CBN’s 37.4 percent last month in the National Urban Television Audience Measurement. GMA uses data prepared by Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

GMA said it was ahead of competition in Urban Luzon, where it got an audience share of 48.7 percent against ABS-CBN’s 31.4 percent.

It claimed a big margin in Mega Manila (Aug. 1 to 26 data) with a 51.9 percent audience share across “all time blocks” versus ABS-CBN’s 27.1 percent.

Urban Luzon and Mega Manila respectively account for 76 and 59 percent of all urban viewers in the country, it said.

ABS-CBN, which uses data from Kantar Media, said in a separate statement that it got an average nationwide audience share of 46 percent against GMA’s 33 percent for August.

ABS-CBN cited its lead in the primetime block, where it scored an average audience share of 50 percent, against GMA’s 31 percent.

ABS-CBN said the primetime block was coveted because this was when most viewers watch television, prompting advertisers to park the bulk of their spending during these hours.

ABS-CBN said it was also ahead in the morning and afternoon blocks, where it registered average audience shares of 40 percent and 43 percent, respectively, compared to GMA’s 30 percent and 38 percent.

In the noontime block, ABS-CBN’s audience share rose to 46 percent from the previous month’s 44 percent. It said GMA’s ratings had declined to 35 percent.

ABS-CBN also kept its total day lead in other areas such as Luzon as it hit 42 percent versus GMA’s 35 percent, in Visayas with 55 percent versus GMA’s 26 percent and in Mindanao with 54 percent versus GMA’s 29 percent.