“Good news, madlang people!”
That is what ABS-CBN shared in a new teaser that it released on Tuesday, March 19, regarding its noontime variety show ‘It’s Showtime.’
In the 10-second clip, the letters I, T, and S, which serve as the official mascots of the show, was joined by a yellow heart while the program’s theme song was playing.
Above them, a sentence that reads “Good news, madlang people,” along with a letter G similar to the typeface seen on GMA Network’s logo.
In the next slide, the word “abangan” was displayed, with the ‘G’ having a prominent position once again.
Currently, ABS-CBN and GMA have not yet directly confirmed the transfer of ‘It’s Showtime’ to the main channel, although the move has been widely publicized since last week.
As per veritable sources and news reports, both the Kapamilya and Kapuso camps have already agreed to move ‘Showtime’ from secondary network GTV to the main GMA channel last week.
Although, they have had to iron out certain details regarding the show, which is the reason why the “confirmation” took time.
Anyhow, this latest development comes at the heels of TAPE, Inc.’s decision to axe their noontime show ‘Tahanang Pinakamasaya,’ which aired on GMA on a blocktime basis since January this year.
The cancelation of the said program also effectively ended TAPE’s 29-year-long run on GMA’s prime noon slot, which began when ‘Eat Bulaga’ moved to the network in 1995.
As a result, GMA also lost a program that would compete in the said time slot against TVJ’s ‘Eat Bulaga’ on TV5 and even ‘It’s Showtime,’ which has been carried by sister channel GTV since July 2023.
Aside from GTV, ‘Showtime’ also airs via a simulcast basis on pay television channel Kapamilya Channel and free-to-air station A2Z, on top of its digital platforms.
With the upcoming transfer to GMA, it remains to be seem whether ‘It’s Showtime’ will retain the simulcast on its other channels.
‘IT’S SHOWTIME!’
‘Showtime’ began airing as a late-morning talent show of ABS-CBN in October 2009, and originally hosted by Vhong Navarro, Anne Curtis, Jugs Jugueta, Teddy Corpuz, Kuya Kim Atienza, and Vice Ganda as a ‘resident hurado.’
After a more than two-year-run on its original slot and format, it was relaunched as the Kapamilya network’s flagship noontime variety show in February 2012, following the cancelation of ‘Happy, Yipee, Yehey.’
‘Showtime,’ with the influence of teleserye ‘Be Careful With My Heart,’ eventually became the formidable noontime programming ABS-CBN had hoped for in the years after the end of ‘Wowowee’ in 2010, as well as the departure of ‘Eat Bulaga’ for GMA in 1995.
Not counting the AlDub phenomenon in 2015, ‘Showtime’ had been generally stable, and at times, even closing the gap or leading against the institution that is ‘Eat Bulaga’ in the ratings game.
Following the ABS-CBN network’s shutdown in 2020, the show had its reach severely limited and was only seen via Kapamilya Channel and A2Z.
In July 2022, it became part of the line-up of ABS-CBN shows on TV5.
However, when networks ended their blocktime agreement following the move of ‘Eat Bulaga’ to TV5, ABS-CBN sought a partnership with GMA to air the show on the network’s secondary channel GTV.
Since the start of this year, ‘Showtime’ was able to overtake ‘Bulaga’ in the TV ratings game, thanks to the strong performance of its segment ‘EXpecially For You.’