Are GTV’s movie blocks keeping the channel ‘good’ or not?

A movie at noon, another in the afternoon, and one more on primetime.

Upon its relaunch last February, GTV already had three movie blocks on weekdays. Those were Siesta Fiesta Movies, and a doubleheader Afternoon Movie Break. Meanwhile on weekends, Sine Date Weekends takes over the noontime slot, with AMB still in the afternoons. Saturday nights have Saturday Cinema Hits, with Sundays being home to The Big Picture.

By April, G Flicks was introduced on primetime to serve as the successor for The Lost Recipe that finished in late-March. Regal Treasures was also recently added and replaced the Friday edition of Afternoon Movie Break.

As of August 26, 2021 GTV’s grid has three (3) movie blocks on weekdays, two (2) on Saturdays, and four  (4) every Sunday. In terms of cumulative hours, weekday film showcases total to 5 hours and 55 minutes. On Saturdays, it totals to only 3 hours and 20 minutes. But it increases on Sundays with a summation of 7 hours and 15 minutes.

Given that GTV runs daily from 5:30 to around 12:30am the following day, movie blocks take up about 31% of its airtime on weekdays, 17% on Saturdays, and 38% on Sundays.

Now, is GTV making a bad call by placing movie blocks in lieu of other programming? Here are some reasons why (or maybe not) it’s the case.

Good ratings

Based on the National Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM) of AGB Nielsen, GMA’s ratings provider, GTV is having some of its best performance in the ratings game in recent weeks.

For one, the channel’s flagship primetime movie block G Flicks, which is pitted against FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano on ABS-CBN platforms and The World Between Us on GMA, is currently the best performing program of GTV.

On the evening of August 20, 2021, G Flicks registered 6.0%, enough to place the block in the ninth spot that day. On the other hand, FPJAP on the third spot had 11.8%, with the second-placer (and first on the 8:00pm slot) TWBU getting 12.9%.

Not only that, Siesta Fiesta Movies was also the second most-watched show on noontime that same day. SFM got 3.3% and finsihed 19th in the overall chart. It was behind Eat Bulaga that secured the 11th spot with 5.7%, but trailed TV5’s Lunch Out Loud which finished at the 25-27th triple tie position at 2.0%. A2Z/Kapamilya Channel’s It’s Showtime was not on the board, thus the show is the de facto fourth place in the noontime slot that day.

Moving onto Sunday, August 22, 2021, the channel’s flagship block The Big Picture entered the Top 10 programs list. An interesting feat, given a widely-viewed boxing match occurred that day. TBP got 5.4% and finished at number 9 in the overall chart. The block goes head-on with Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, which is the most-watched program that day with an 18.0% rating.

Good alternative(s)

Given the relatively strong performance of GTV’s movie blocks, that only indicates that they broadcast a good alternative on that specific timeslot.

First exhibit is Siesta Fiesta Movies which goes against established noontime shows. While those are already ingrained in the local TV culture, having a movie airing at the same time as those is the perfect solution for non-pay TV viewers who are switching over from the formulaic programs airing on other channels.

Speaking of which, the same reason is being seen at an increasing rate on primetime. G Flicks’ ratings are steadily hiking by the day, additionally encouraging is the fact that it is airing on what’s considered a secondary carrier. This switchover is clearly an indication that there is, perhaps, a need to improve programming on major channels.

Another definition for a ‘good alternative’ is the fact that airing archived or acquired films are less costly than creating original programs. With the broadcast of those falling under the low cost, high return nature for GTV, it’s no longer a question why the channel has a bunch of movie blocks.

But, there are also red flags

Despite the successes of their blocks, there’s also aplenty of reasons for GTV to be wary of those.

For one, oversaturating might become a cause for viewers to switch to other channels. Currently, GTV’s catalog consists of those that are also shown on sister networks GMA and I Heart Movies on DTT. Thus, the channel should consistently replenish its offerings.

Also, they could also begin exploring to replace some blocks with other acquired programs. The same thing was already done by shrinking Afternoon Movie Break to one film from Monday to Saturday. Thus, the channel’s Sunday block can also begin getting the same treatment, especially with GMA Blockbusters airing at the same time as Afternoon Movie Break’s first Sunday offering.

Moreover, placing too much movies on GTV might cannibalize I Heart Movies. Given GTV’s superior reach than its DTT counterpart, it’s fine to only showcase some. However, they should also do things with caution, especially now that IHM is still in its infancy and it would be a shame to have IHM fold only due to its irrelevance brought by the oversaturation of films in its sister channels.

In summary

Movie blocks on GTV are doing a good job in making the channel relevant despite its lack in original programming. They also hit the spot by placing several of those in the right places. However, these triumphs must not become a greenlight to further expand the lengths of these blocks.

Instead, they should continue, if not add more, programs in various formats to keep things balanced in their grid. Especially, at the end of the day, GTV wasn’t created just for movies and it’s I Heart Movies job to satisfy the audience’s movie cravings beyond GTV.

So, are the movie blocks keeping GTV good or not? Well, the answer is yes… for some timeslots. But even that, though, is still something to be kept an eye on in the long-term.

Disclaimer: The usage of the ratings chart from a certain Yera Calma on Twitter was based on the grounds that the said account had repeatedly published figures that were later verified and posted by TV networks themselves.