New News TV: GMA must decide on its future now amidst more programming changes

This 2021, GMA News TV is going further astray from its name.

In 2020, GNTV had three facets. On one side, it was the “status quo” where a blend of entertainment and news ruled the station. On another, it became a complete news channel when it simulcasted DZBB, 24 Oras, and Regional TV shows for most of its broadcast day. Finally, the most dismaying side: the truncation of news and public affairs shows to give way for more entertainment programming. The lattermost of which is what viewers might see in 2021.

In the weeks leading up to this year, GMA Network announced the network’s slate of new shows for the flagship station, DTT-exclusive channels Heart of Asia and Hallypop, and their “news” channel GMA News TV.

Rather than giving in to the clamor of the public and filling in the gap left by ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo on digital terrestrial TV, GNTV instead announced more dubbed foreign shows and local teledramas as part of channel 27’s offerings.

The list of new GNTV shows include Public Affairs-produced drama The Lost Recipe – which is slated to air Monday, January 18, 2021 –, youth-oriented comedy-variety show Flex, gameshow Game of the Gens, serials Love You Stranger, Heartful Cafe, My Fantastic Pag-ibig, and the new season of the National Collegiate Atheltic Association, among others.

To be fair, it’s a good idea to have these shows created and aired as more jobs are created amidst the ongoing health and economic crisis. However, there’s one concern that needs to be addressed immediately (which has also been raised countless times): when will GMA News TV even consider changing its name or moving the brand elsewhere?

If the Kapuso excecutives need an answer, it would definitely be now.

While a little far-fetched, this is still somehow related. Recently, when Senate President Tito Sotto filed a bill to revive ABS-CBN’s franchise bid, he took a swipe at a channel that replaced news programs in exchange of anime shows. Despite not naming any station, the best guess here is that he was pertatining to the transfer of Astig Authority to GMA News TV’s morning block two weeks ago. This change resulted to the truncation of Dobol B sa News TV to three-and-a-half hours between 5:30 and 9 a. m. every weekday.

It is a dilemma for GMA, to say the least. Their alleged solution to balance the advertisement load between channel 7 and 27 by relegating more youth-slanted entertainment shows on the latter is putting them in a tricky spot. It is happening in a time when there is a lack for a reliable and widely available news channels in the free TV space.

News TV’s brand recognition is also a double-edged sword. Yes, it could be widely known to the public, thus making it easier for any shows airing on the channel to be marketed. But having a series of blunders and questionable programming decisions in recent months, a huge shake-up for GNTV is long overdue.

Previously, on a Futurecast feature on the Trendrod Box site, it was already discussed upon the possibility of moving GNTV to DTT and let a new brand assume channel 27. On the other hand, GMA could also consider only renaming the channel while keeping the blend of news, entertainment, and sports lineup of News TV. A more welcoming response could be with the former as News TV would continue to live, while letting entertainment takeover the lucrative spot on channel 27.

GMA News TV can’t afford to stay this way for long. The primary reason being the usage of a “news” brand for a channel that airs otherwise at any given moment – especially when people clamor for news coverage – is a disappointment. The biggest damage could also occur to the news and public affairs department, whose prestigious image might be tarnished in the long run. And as more non-news programs enter the lineup, the last straw will only be in a matter of few weeks or months from now.

To change or not? Then if it’s the former, what kind of change must be done to GMA News TV? Those are questions that are required to be answered immediately.