Schedule Suggestions: GTV (October 2021)

For the first time on Schedule Suggestions, we’ll talk about GMA’s secondary channel: GTV.

Launched in February 2021, GTV replaced the 10-year old GMA News TV. Initially, it was positioned by GMA to become the home of programs with ‘youthful’ vibe. Apart from original programming, GTV also began simulcasting GMA shows, most notably on primetime. But since the channel is in the midst of restructuring its programming limeup, it is high time for this Schedule Suggestions piece to be released.

At present, GTV is restructuring its early primetime and weekend schedules to accommodate the launch of a public affairs show, Dapat Alam Mo!, on October 18. Casualties are programs from the Sarap O’Clock block, which have all moved to different timeslots or even GMA.

In this entry, we’ll discuss and fix some issues with regards to GTV’s program grid. Let’s hop on to the weekday schedule.

Weekdays

• 5:30am – Dobol B TV block
• 9:00am – Regional TV News
• 9:30am – Astig Authority block on GTV
• 11:00am – Balitanghali
• 12:00pm – Siesta Fiesta Movies
• 2:00pm – Playful Kiss
• 3:00pm – La Doña
• 4:00pm – Afternoon Movie Break
• 5:30pm – Dapat Alam Mo!
• 6:30pm – 24 Oras (simulcast)
• 8:00pm – G! Flicks
• 9:30pm – State of the Nation
• 10:15pm – Legal Wives
• 11:00pm – Saksi (Mon-Thu) / La Doña (Fri)
• 11:30pm – La Doña (Mon-Thu) / Saksi (Fri)

Pretty much, the schedule above would be GTV’s new lineup beginning October 18. Dapat Alam Mo has been promoted to air at 5:30pm, with not much change expected on the rest of the weekday schedule.

But, instead of putting Legal Wives to 9:40pm, it is suggested to transfer LW to 10:15pm. That way, State of the Nation could be moved to 9:30pm. As for the reason, it is due to SONA’s shift to more soft-stories (aka trending news and features), a far cry to its initial format. While ratings can be a strong reason, but its position next to Saksi can also be blamed. As Saksi airs right after the program, it can become repititive to report the same item from the preceeding program. Thus, it might have resulted to that change in SONA. So, a transfer to an earlier slot for SONA can be a possible solution to that.

Now, let’s head over to the weekend slate, starting with the Saturday block.

Saturdays

• 5:30am – Dobol B TV
• 10:00am – Astig Authority on GTV
• 12:00nn – Regional TV News
• 12:30pm – Reel Time (replay)
• 1:00pm – Dobol B TV: Oh My Job!
• 2:00pm – When Duty Calls
• 3:00pm – La Doña
• 4:00pm – Afternoon Movie Break
• 5:30pm – 24 Oras Weekend (simulcast)
• 6:15pm – IRL
• 7:00pm – My Fantastic Pag-ibig
• 8:00pm – Farm To Table
• 8:45pm – Biyahe ni Drew
• 9:30pm – Taste Buddies
• 10:00pm – Saturday Cinema Hits
• 11:30pm – In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley

In the Saturday afternoon block, a few tweaks could be made. One, the Regional TV News Saturday edition could move to the 12:00nn slot, effectively becoming the replacement to Balitanghali Weekend which did not return since its broadcast suspension in March 2020. Also, foreign dramas airing from 3:30 to 5:30 could be moved to the 2 to 4pm block, making it parallel to the weekday lineup.

In the evenings, IRL with Gabbi Garcia can be transferred to the 6:15pm slot, currently occupied by Pinas Sarap. At 8, Farm To Table, which currently airs on Sunday nights, can be moved to Saturdays as well. Although already announced to be moving to Sundays, Biyahe ni Drew can be considered for a Saturday slot, as well. Meanwhile, Taste Buddies — which moved to Saturday noontime a few months back — can be returned to primetime. With all these programs grouped together, a strong lifestyle block can be created on primetime.

Now, let’s move forward and discuss the Sunday lineup.

Sundays

• 5:30am – Dobol B TV
• 9:00am – Astig Authority on GTV
• 12:00nn – Sine Date Weekends
• 2:00pm – The Shannara Chronicles
• 2:30pm – Heirs of the Night
• 3:00pm – Hay Bahay!
• 4:00pm – Afternoon Movie Break
• 6:00pm – 24 Oras Weekend (simulcast)
• 7:00pm – Good News
• 8:00pm – iJuander
• 8:45pm – Pinas Sarap
• 9:30pm – Stories of Hope or On Record
• 10:00pm – The Big Picture
• 11:30pm – Legend of Paranormal Stories

Remember when GTV’s movie blocks were discussed not so long ago? It was raised there that GTV must consider shrinking the length of its Sunday movie block. To solve the issue, ‘transferees’ (at least for this article) from the Saturday morning block can move to Sunday afternoons instead. Joining them will be the rerun of Hay Bahay, which currently airs Sunday late-night on the channel. Putting those shows together from 2 to 4pm would mean less-cannibalizing, especially with GMA Blockbusters presently airing at the same time as Afternoon Movie Break on Sundays. It would also help the cause to prevent GTV’s overdependence on films.

Meanwhile, on evenings, you can see that Good News with Vicky Morales is moved to the timeslot currently occupied by Farm To Table. Along with GN, Pinas Sarap is also suggested to join the slate. There’s one clear reason for those: prevention of overexposure. Presently, Vicky Morales hosts Wish Ko Lang every Saturday on GMA. Thus, Good News should be moved elsewhere to prevent overexposing her. Therefore, moving Good News back to its original place on Sunday nights should be considered.

Meanwhile, Kara David’s Pinas Sarap airs twice every Saturday on GTV’s current schedule. Apart from that, she also presents Brigada at 9:50pm also on GTV. Additionally, when she does an I Witness documentary, it broadcasts also on a Saturday at 10:15pm, over at GMA. Now, in order for her (and viewers) to have a breather, Pinas Sarap must exchange positions with Biyahe ni Drew and move to Sunday nights instead.

As for Brigada, it is suggested that the program be moved to either Monday or Tuesday nights on GMA 7. In its place, either Stories of Hope or On Record can be transferred to GTV, considering the nature of both programs fitting in nicely to the channel’s target demographics.

With GTV’s restructuring works now underway, let’s just hope that the works being done will be for the betterment of the station that promises to keep things good.

Disclaimer: Several hypothetical scenarios presented must not be taken as facts on their own. Despite that, Trendrod Box wishes to remind readers that it still took into account real-world facts to come up with the analyses it had presented.