On Monday, January 16, 2023, GMA’s new digital TV subchannel ‘Pinoy Hits’ went on air for the first time.
In late December 2022, GMA Network teased a new channel, said to be featuring “Kapuso classics and timeless hits.” In the same teaser, clips from old shows like ‘Dading’ and ‘Because of You’, were twined with that of current shows like ‘Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho’ and ‘Maria Clara at Ibarra’. From the get-go, the network packaged the channel as a destination for local archived shows, as well as recent blockbuster series. However, that soon went downhill.
Days before the channel’s first day of broadcast, promo loops began appearing on its space. Rather than showing as much local original and classics, it went the other direction and decided to fully mirror GMA and GTV’s programming on most slots. For context, here is Pinoy Hits’ grid, at least on weekdays and select weekend blocks.
See how much of it draws upon the mothership and the secondary network’s programming, save for few reruns.
To describe this whole phenomenon on GMA, a new word shall be introduced. ‘Simulmania‘ or a portmanteau between simulcast and mania, a scenario (or practice, rather) that is not just observed on Pinoy Hits.
Back in October 2022, GTV’s noontime newscast ‘Balitanghali’ fell victim to the practice. Despite not fitting properly in the formats of its sister channels, the newscast was added to Heart of Asia (predominantly foreign dramas) and I Heart Movies (a supposed full-on movie channel).
That same month, while the NCAA season is on-break, the simulcast of Kapuso Sunday noontime variety show ‘All-Out Sundays’ returned to GTV. But along with it, a mirror feed on Heart of Asia and I Heart Movies also came. And now, a surprise, with Pinoy Hits’ launch, AOS will also be added to the channel.
Prior to all of that, in 2021, GMA also attempted to simulcast primetime shows like ‘First Yaya’ on three channels, namely GMA, GTV, and Heart of Asia. However, that practice was stopped in the latter half of that year, with GTV shifting to a delayed telecast of the first and second slot Telebabad dramas, while HOA completely ended airing fresh episodes of GMA dramas.
And just in, today, Hallypop has also announced a change in programming with the addition of Korean dramas, a format that is also seen on sister HOA channel, as well as GMA and GTV. But in the spirit of fairness, the shows that will be aired on the channel are yet to be named. So, it is still probable at the moment that Hallypop will screen first-run series.
Going back to the launch of Pinoy Hits, it surely had become another outlet of GMA to showcase programs that can be easily seen on the main channel — again, a manifestation of ‘simulmania’. That, coupled with the fact that each of the channels having programming issues on their own, leads to a general problem here. Identity crisis, or should we say, ‘idenDTT crisis‘ for the subchannels. Too bad for a network that is aiming to convince the masses to shift to DTT.
But hey, there is a workaround to this.
A complete progamming review (and eventually, overhaul) must be done across the channels and identify what format works for each and capitalize on those.
For Pinoy Hits, it should take over the whole catalog of classic GMA original shows airing across the network. Yes, no more reruns on the main channel and GTV. Apart from that, the delayed telecast currently seen on GTV, should also be moved to PiH, to let the former have more space for original programming, while letting the latter grow as a destination for all local content, both from the past and present, from GMA. All of those while successfully moving away from ‘simulmania’ and overall ‘idenDTT crisis’ that are being experienced network-wide.
Meanwhile, Heart of Asia should then focus on dubbed foreign content, with the possibility of even adding animes (well, Japan is in Asia, so why not, right?). I Heart Movies, it should stay true to its name and no more news and AOS. Hallypop, meanwhile, should retain its predominantly music and foreign variety shows format, while also adding first-run K-series (to up the ante, in original Korean audio with English subtitles) into the mix.
Despite not being exclusive to DTT, the secondary channel GTV, should focus on news, public affairs, and sports, with sprinkles of entertainment programming drawing upon the DTT channels line-up (and not the other way around).
Speaking of DTT, a previously suggested news channel under the Dobol B TV brand still stands and should be the priority for the last channel slot, so as to let GTV air sports on certain slots, while not affecting the overall news output.
Next, and the most important part, limit the number of programs originating from the main GMA channel, as well as GTV, being simulcast to the smaller DTT subchannels. Or better yet, just stop the practice altogether. After all, these shows are readily available on free-to-air television already. What difference does it make to simultaneously show it on another free-to-air channel that has even smaller reach than the main network?
If there is a difference that that makes, it would only lead to decreased choices, and risk of losing viewers to other channels who prefer to watch something else.
The launch of Pinoy Hits is a miss and will remain as such until the channel is given a concrete identity that will transcend the image as one that simulcasts just about 70% of its entire programming output from sister networks. And that ‘miss’ rating also applies to the other subchannels, as they are all missed opportunities to provide diverse set of programs and address the needs of the viewing public.
In an era where viewers yearn for more choices and content that they want to watch, the onus is on the networks like GMA to provide it for them, especially on television, which is the Kapuso network’s strong suit at the moment. It is also too bad that the country is yet to fully shift to digital TV, but once that move fully materializes, the importance of programming diversity would only be emphasized further. Hence, doing necessary tweaks on the channels here and there would help the cause to make DTT an attractive proposition and ready once everyone has been accustomed to it.
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