The Kapuso network is set to refresh their late-night block anew.
In recent days, GMA Network began teasing a new Korean series that would soon air on channel 7, Scripting Your Destiny. SYD is a 2021 fantasy-romance drama starring Ki Do Hun, Jeon Seo Nee, and Kim Woo Suk. It is set to begin broadcasting on Monday, October 25, 2021, at 11:30pm, after Saksi. Due to Bubble Gang, the series will only run from Monday through Thursday, similar to the set-up another Korean drama airing at the 10:20pm slot, which is currently Mr. Queen.
This move can be translated as a response to Kapamilya Channel, TV5, and even GMA’s own GTV. At present, all three channels air their respective foreign dramas right after their late-night newscasts. On KapCha, the pay TV channel airs Live Up To Your Name after The World Tonight. Over at TV5, Frontline Tonight is followed by Reina de Corazones. For GTV, it replays La Doña every weeknight after Saksi. Interestingly, GMA channel 7 is no stranger to such practice.
In 2011, amidst the clamor for a longer primetime block for televiewers, GMA extended Telebabad to four hours or from 8pm to 12mn. To make that possible, the network slotted Korean dramas between 10:30 or 11 until the end of the block.
Based on records, Korean dramas that aired during that time include Baker King, Big Thing, and a rerun of Temptation of Wife, among several others.
In 2012, GMA elected to move Saksi forward to an earlier timeslot at around 11:00pm. Because of that, the Heart of Asia offerings also had to either move earlier or after the newscast. 2009 Korean drama Iris was the first to grace the screens as part of the experimental post-midnight HOA belt. That was followed by Chuno, and later, Lee San.
The practice ended in 2013. After which, GMA reverted to its usual late-night scheme of having either a talk show or religious block after the NAPA block (Saksi plus public affairs shows).
Meanwhile, due to the reinstatement of the late-night Korean drama belt, GMA had to move their entire slate of ‘Power Block’ programs to GTV. Casulaties are Stories of Hope, On Record, Tunay na Buhay, and Reporters Notebook. All four shows, along with GTV original show Good News, will now form the new GTV Reality block. The said block will air beginning October 25 as well, at 10:30am.
Scripting Your Destiny airs Monday, at 11:30pm, after Saksi on GMA.