The NCAA will launch its 99th season in less than two weeks’ time.
Recently, the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) bared its schedule for the upcoming Season 99 men’s basketball category. Without delving much into each specific game, here’s when the matches will take place. You may also opt to visit the complete timetable uploaded by GMA.
First of, on the first Sunday of season 99 (24th September), the opening ceremony will happen at 2:00 pm, with double-header games coming right after that at 3:00 pm and 5:30 pm.
Then on the succeeding days, the NCAA games will still be on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. However, there seems to be an issue with the schedule of the games — of weekday matches, in particular.
As per the timetable, the NCAA is due to begin every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday at 2:00 pm and will have two matches on those days.
Now, that poses a scheduling problem for GTV, which in recent months had its noontime slot occupied by Kapamilya variety program “It’s Showtime.”
In this edition of Schedule Suggestions, let’s take a look at the possible ways for GTV to sort this issue.
Weekdays
Option 1
- 5:30 am – Dobol B TV
- 9:00 am – Astig Authority
- 10:00 am – Regional TV News
- 10:30 am – NCAA Game On! (LIVE)
- 11:00 am – Balita Ko
- 12:00 nn – It’s Showtime
- 3:00 pm – NCAA (delayed telecast)
- 5:00pm – Dapat Alam Mo!
- 6:00 pm – NCAA (delayed telecast)
- 8:00 pm – G! Flicks
- 9:40 pm – Maging Sino Ka Man
In this first option, GTV could opt to retain status quo. All its programs will remain mostly in their current slots, except for “Dapat Alam Mo!,” which could be aired in between the NCAA games. The temporary removal of “24 Oras” simulcast every NCAA game day also seem to be a plausible option.
As for the sporting league itself, it will air on a delayed basis right after “Showtime” from 3:00 pm.
But this would not be a wise option, as sports fans might decry this scheduling decision, given that the thrill and excitement of live sports broadcast would be lost in this set-up. So, what do we have next?
Option 2
- 5:30 am – Dobol B TV
- 9:00 am – Astig Authority
- 10:00 am – Regional TV News
- 11:00 am – Balita Ko
- 12:00 nn – It’s Showtime
- 2:00 pm – NCAA (LIVE)
- 4:00 pm – NCAA (LIVE)
- 6:00 pm – Dapat Alam Mo!
- 6:30 pm – 24 Oras
- 8:00 pm – G! Flicks
- 9:40 pm – Maging Sino Ka Man
Option two, meanwhile, will mean that “It’s Showtime” will be the one affected by the adjustment. With the show airing through 3:00 pm, a 2:00 pm start of the NCAA could also mean that when GTV decides to carry all the games live, it might be in expense of the noontime show’s last hour every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Apart from that, newsmagazine show “Dapat Alam Mo!” will also have to shorten its runtime to 30 minutes on game days, so as to not overlap with the time slot of GMA’s flagship primetime newscast “24 Oras.”
Again, similar to situation 1, the likelihood of fans (this time of “Showtime”) disapproving the schedule is quite high, and there is a lot left to desired in the overall programming grid of GTV. Let’s head over to the next choice.
Option 3
- 5:30 am – Dobol B TV
- 9:00 am – Kiddie Authority
- 10:00 am – Regional TV News
- 10:30 am – Balita Ko
- 11:30 am – It’s Showtime
- 2:00 pm – NCAA (LIVE)
- 4:00 pm – NCAA (LIVE)
- 6:00 pm – NCAA Game On (LIVE)
- 6:30 pm – 24 Oras (join in progress if NCAA runs overtime)
- 8:00 pm – Dapat Alam Mo!
- 9:00 pm – G! Flicks
- 10:30 pm – State of the Nation
- 11:00 pm – Maging Sino Ka Man
- 11:35 pm – Love Before Sunrise
- 12:10 am – Unbreak My Heart
- KAPAMILYA CHANNEL / A2Z (possible effect)
- 9:00 am – Magandang Buhay
- 10:00 am – Kapamilya Blockbusters / Zinema sa Umaga
- 11:30 am – It’s Showtime
- 2:00 pm – Be Careful With My Heart
- 3:00 pm – Pira-Pirasong Paraiso
The third scenario expands the scope of the change outside of GTV. Before that, let’s discuss the Kapuso channel more.
In this situation, its late morning offerings, as well as “It’s Showtime” will have to move to an earlier slot to accommodate a 2:00 pm start of the games.
To make that possible, the Kiddie Authority block will have to be cut down to an hour from 9 to 10, with “Regional TV News” immediately followed by “Balita Ko” at 10:30 am. This, to allow “It’s Showtime” to begin at 11:30 am, and end at 2:00 pm.
As a result of that, Kapamilya Channel and A2Z will also have to have their own late morning schedule adjusted. The morning movie block will have to start at 10:00 am, while reruns of “Be Careful With My Heart” will need to be transferred to the slot after “Showtime” and before “Pira-Pirasong Paraiso” as a filler of that gap.
Good choice for GTV, but not so much for the Kapamilya platforms. Let’s look for more.
Option 4
- 5:30 am – Dobol B TV
- 9:00 am – Kiddie Authority
- 10:00 am – Regional TV News
- 10:30 am – Balita Ko
- 11:30 am – It’s Showtime
- 2:30 pm – NCAA (LIVE / delayed telecast)
- 4:30 pm – NCAA (LIVE / delayed telecast)
- 6:30 pm – 24 Oras
- 8:00 pm – Dapat Alam Mo!
- 9:00 pm – G! Flicks
- 10:30 pm – State of the Nation
- 11:00 pm – Maging Sino Ka Man
- 11:35 pm – Love Before Sunrise
- 12:10 am – Unbreak My Heart
- KAPAMILYA CHANNEL / A2Z (possible effect)
- 9:00 am – Magandang Buhay
- 10:00 am – Kapamilya Blockbusters
- 11:30 am – It’s Showtime
- 2:30 pm – Pira-Pirasong Paraiso
- 3:15 pm – Nag-aapoy na Damdamin
- 4:00 pm – Be Careful With My Heart
- 4:40 pm – Kapamilya Gold Hits / Afternoon Zinema
- 5:55 pm – Minute To Win It
- TV5 (possible effect)
- 12:00 nn – E.A.T.
- 2:30 pm – Pira-Pirasong Paraiso
- 3:15 pm – Nag-aapoy na Damdamin
- 4:00 pm – Minsan Pa Nating Hagkan Ang Nakaraan
- 4:45 pm – Niña Niño: Ang Pagbabalik sa Sta. Ynez
- 5:30 pm – SpinGo
Furthering the scope of the adjustments, the change in GTV could also make a ripple effect across 3 other channels.
Like in option 3, the late morning block on GTV will be adjusted. But for “It’s Showtime,” scenario 4 will present to them the choice of still keeping their 180-minute-long runtime by airing from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm.
As for the NCAA, they will have to begin at a slightly later time of 2:30 pm, with the next game starting at 4:30 pm instead. Here, NC might either consider airing on a slightly delayed basis on TV or adjust the tip off.
As for “Dapat Alam Mo!,” it will also have to make the move to 8:00 pm in order to make room for the afternoon sports block.
Meanwhile, on Kapamilya platforms and TV5, an earlier end for “Showtime” at 2:30 pm will mean that their afternoon co-produced dramas starting with “Pira-Pirasong Paraiso” can now move to the prime 2:30 slot and face head-on “Abot Kamay na Pangarap.”
This could also spell some good news for both Kapamilya and Kapatid networks as viewers of both “It’s Showtime” (on KapCha and A2Z) and “E.A.T.” can now watch PPP straight after the both noontime shows. Currently, TV5 airs the rerun of “Niña Niño” to fill the 30 minute gap it has between the Kapamilya platforms.
Option 5
- 5:30 am – Dobol B TV
- 9:00 am – Kiddie Authority
- 10:00 am – Regional TV News
- 10:30 am – NCAA Game On (LIVE)
- 11:00 am – Balita Ko
- 12:00 nn – It’s Showtime
- 2:30 pm – NCAA (LIVE / delayed telecast)
- 4:30 pm – NCAA (LIVE / delayed telecast)
- KAPAMILYA CHANNEL / A2Z (possible effect)
- 9:00 am – Magandang Buhay
- 10:00 am – Be Careful With My Heart
- 10:45 am – Kapamilya Blockbusters
- 12:00 nn – It’s Showtime
- 2:30 pm – Pira-Pirasong Paraiso
- 3:15 pm – Nag-aapoy na Damdamin
- 4:00 pm – Kapamilya Gold Hits / Afternoon Zinema
- 5:45 pm – Minute To Win It
Finally, the last choice for the weekday programming block, at least for this article, is similar to Option 4.
But this time, it will be a mix of status quo and adjustments. From the get-go, GTV’s morning block looks pretty much the same, with the exception of the 10:30 am slot, which can be assigned to “NCAA Game On!” instead of having the discussion program aired in between both NCAA matches.
As for “Showtime,” they will be able to retain their 12 noon start, but will have their runtime on all their platforms shortened by 30 minutes for uniformity. Hence, after the noontime variety show, the scheduling pattern for GTV (and to a degree, on KapCha/A2Z, and TV5), will follow that of what was presented in Option 4.
Weekends
Good thing for the weekends, there won’t be much in the way of the NCAA. As it was announced, every Saturday, there will be one game in the morning at 9:30 am, and another right after “It’s Showtime” or “Jumong” at 3:00 pm.
- SATURDAY
- 5:30 am – Dobol B TV
- 9:00 am – NCAA Game On! (LIVE)
- 9:30 am – NCAA (LIVE)
- 11:30 am – It’s Showtime
- 2:30 pm – NCAA Game On! (LIVE) / Jumong
- 3:00 pm – NCAA (LIVE)
- 5:30pm – 24 Oras Weekend
- 6:15 pm – G! Flicks
- 8:15 pm – Pinas Sarap
- 9:00 pm – Good News
- 9:45 pm – Brigada
- 10:30 pm – CIA with BA
Sundays, there will be tripleheader matches from morning to afternoon. Thus, spelling the end (possibly only temporarily) to the dreadful seven-hour-long simulcast of GMA on GTV from 12:00 noon to 7:00 pm.
- SUNDAY
- 5:30 am – Home Base Plus
- 6:00 am – Kiddie Authority
- 9:00 am – NCAA Game On! (LIVE)
- 9:30 am – NCAA (LIVE)
- 12:00 nn – NCAA (LIVE)
- 2:30 pm – NCAA (LIVE)
- 5:00 pm – NCAA Game On! (LIVE) / Resibo
- 5:30pm – 24 Oras Weekend
- 6:00 pm – Bubble Gang
- 7:00 pm – Farm To Table
- 7:40 pm – iJuander
- 8:20 pm – Biyahe ni Drew
- 9:00 pm – Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho
- 10:45 pm – The Voice Generations
With the imminent return of college hoops (and sporting action from the NCAA, in general) on the Kapuso secondary channel, short-term changes to its programming schedule is also imperative.
It is now up to the management to play with their cards well and deliver viewers a better experience in both watching the NCAA and other programs airing on GTV.
As watchers, we can only hope that the channel will be able to “keep it good,” as they have repeatedly promised us since 2021.