We continue this special anniversary series with the Kapuso secondary channel.
GTV, which was formerly known as GMA News TV, was the second top-rating channel on free television from its launch in 2021 up until last year.
The Kapuso secondary channel, according to Nielsen’s National Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM) slid one place down to the third spot for the year 2023 — as reported during the GMA Network Annual Stockholders Meeting last May.
While it is still a good spot for the TV station, there are certainly ways for GMA to optimize the channel, and perhaps, help it become competitive with current second placer TV5 or even surpass it.
After all, competition keeps everyone on their toes to deliver the best product which, at the end of it, will help TV viewers have more quality viewing options.
In this edition of Schedule Suggestions, we dissect and recreate the programming grid of GTV.
- Non-NCAA Weekdays
- 5:30 am – Dobol B TV
- 9:00 am – Kiddie Authority
- 11:00 am – Balitanghali
- 12:00 nn – It’s Showtime (simulcast)
- 2:30 pm – The Heirs
- 3:30 pm – Afternoon Movie Break
- 5:30 pm – Dapat Alam Mo!
- 6:30 pm – The Big Picture (revival, only during NCAA season) or 24 Oras (during off-season)
- 8:00 pm – Heart of Asia primetime drama
- 9:00 pm – G! Flicks
- 10:30 pm – Eclipse of the Heart (replay)
- 11:00 pm – State of the Nation
- 11:30 pm – GTV Power Block (weekday replay of public affairs shows)
- Monday: Pera Paraan
- Tuesday: I Witness
- Wednesday: Reporter’s Notebook
- Thursday: Born To Be Wild
- Friday: AHA!
There will be a general theme throughout this article and that is the removal of simulcasts and delayed telecasts of programs, wherever possible. Although, some will be kept as they are, especially blocktimers due to contractual reasons, among other things.
In GTV’s current weekday morning slot, it should finally axe the unnecessary simulcast of pre-noontime show ‘TikToClock’ to allow the newscast ‘Balitanghali’ to move back to its 11:00 am slot, rather than the current 10:00 am — which makes the ‘tanghali’ part of title obsolete.
Such a move will also help create more options for televiewers who would want to either watch entertainment (‘TikToClock’ on GMA-7) or news (‘Balitanghali’ on GTV).
Meanwhile, on primetime, there are visible huge changes.
For a start, the ’24 Oras’ simulcast must be relegated to air only during the off-season of the NCAA. This is for GTV to accommodate primetime games — which will be further discussed later on.
During the season, GTV should be keen to put a placeholder movie block at 6:30 pm, which could also prove to be a good counter-programming during what’s otherwise considered a news-heavy hour.
At 8:00 pm, GTV could add an Heart of Asia hour, which will feature other new foreign dramas in the network’s catalog.
Following that, the still competitive ‘G! Flicks’ movie block at 9:00 pm and a repeat of Asian dramas at 10:30 pm for national viewers. This is in particular the program that aired on GMA’s 5:10 pm slot — which is constantly preempted in the regions for their respective ‘Regional TV’ newscasts.
Now that ‘Saksi’ has transferred to an earlier time slot, ‘State of the Nation’ should now be transformed back into the national headline-driven program that it once was — one that offers insights and in-depth reports on various topics and news stories of the day — and air for a full 30 minutes, at least, from 11:00 to 11:30 pm.
Following that, GTV should revive the ‘Power Block’ strip and air weekday replays of public affairs documentaries that air on the main channel every weekend. This is to boost the exposure of these shows, which would otherwise be viewed on TV during what is rather considered off-peak times on weekends.
- NCAA Weekdays
- 5:30 am – Dobol B TV
- 9:00 am – Kiddie Authority
- 11:00 am – Balitanghali
- 12:00 nn – It’s Showtime (simulcast)
- 2:30 pm – The Heirs
- 3:00 pm – NCAA (LIVE)
- 5:30 pm – Dapat Alam Mo!
- 6:30 pm – NCAA (LIVE)
- 9:00 pm – G! Flicks
- 10:30 pm – Eclipse of the Heart (replay)
- 11:00 pm – State of the Nation
- 11:30 pm – GTV Power Block (weekday replay of public affairs shows)
- Monday: Pera Paraan
- Tuesday: I Witness
- Wednesday: Reporter’s Notebook
- Thursday: Born To Be Wild
- Friday: AHA!
As stated earlier, during the NCAA season, GTV could free up its mid-afternoon and early primetime slots for the league’s broadcast.
This could help shore up interest in the league, especially with its upcoming 100th season, and also expose it to more viewers who would either be at work or doing other chores in the afternoons.
A primetime broadcast would also reduce the need to air one game on a delayed basis the following day, a move seen during season 99 due to the simulcast of ‘It’s Showtime’ from 12:00 nn to 2:30 pm.
- Non-NCAA Saturdays
- 5:30 am – Dobol B TV
- 9:00 am – Konsyumer Atbp.
- 10:00 am – Kiddie Authority
- 11:30 am – It’s Showtime (simulcast)
- 2:30 pm – The Heirs
- 3:30 pm – Afternoon Movie Break
- 5:30 pm – 24 Oras Weekend (simulcast)
- 6:15 pm – G! Flicks: Weekend Hollywood Blockbusters
- 8:00 pm – Heart of Asia primetime drama
- 8:45 pm – Biyahe ni Drew
- 9:30 pm – Farm To Table
- 10:30 pm – CIA with BA
- 11:30 pm – In Touch
Every Saturday, the change begins with the morning block, especially the ‘Dobol B TV’ block that should begin from 5:30 am and end at 9:00 am for uniformity.
Like in the first part covering GMA, ‘It’s Showtime’ should be given a three-hour runtime on Saturdays to compete head-on with rival program ‘Eat Bulaga!’ on TV5 from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm.
On Saturday primetime, the proposed new Heart of Asia drama slot at 8:00 pm on weeknights could be extended until Saturday evenings.
After which, ‘Biyahe ni Drew’ and ‘Farm To Table’ could trade spaces with ‘Pinas Sarap’ and ‘Good News,’ as hosts of the latter two have other programs airing on Saturdays.
Kara David has ‘I Witness,’ while Vicky Morales has ‘Wish Ko Lang,’ which both air on the main GMA channel.
- NCAA Saturdays
- 5:30 am – Dobol B TV
- 9:00 – Konsyumer Atbp.
- 10:00 am – Kiddie Authority
- 11:30 am – It’s Showtime (simulcast)
- 2:30 pm – The Heirs
- 3:00 pm – NCAA (LIVE)
- 5:30 pm – 24 Oras Weekend (simulcast)
- 6:15 pm – NCAA (LIVE)
- 8:45 pm – Biyahe ni Drew
- 9:30 pm – Farm To Table
- 10:30 pm – CIA with BA
- 11:30 pm – In Touch
During the NCAA season, similar to the suggested weekday grid, GTV could instead air doubleheaders from afternoon to early evening, in contrast to its current move of airing one game in the morning and another after the ‘Showtime’ simulcast.
Again, a primetime broadcast could help in further exposing the league to more viewers, and perhaps, also provide an alternative to other tournaments that also hold games every Saturday, and on early evenings even.
- Non-NCAA Sundays
- 5:30 am – Dobol B TV
- 9:00 am – Kiddie Authority
- 2:00 pm – Sine Date Weekend
- 3:45 pm – Afternoon M
- 5:30 pm – 24 Oras Weekend (simulcast)
- 6:15 pm – Daig Kayo Ng Lola Ko
- 7:00 pm – iBilib
- 7:30 pm – Good News
- 8:15 pm – Pinas Sarap
- 9:00 pm – iJuander
- 9:45 pm – Doors
- 10:30 pm – Pinoy MD (replay)
- 11:15 pm – Karelasyon (rerun)
Perhaps, the biggest change of them all would occur, at least in this article, to GTV’s Sunday grid.
Off the bat, as it was and will continue to be suggested, a ‘Dobol B TV’ block could be aired anew every Sunday morning. While it would not rate as high during other days, the mere fact of having that service on Sundays would be of great value, especially during times of weather disturbances or other breaking news developments.
After that, the ‘Kiddie Authority’ block could be transferred to a slightly later time of 9:00 am, so as to not clash with the earlier ‘Astig Authority’ block that runs from 6:00 am to 8:00 am on GMA-7.
This would also reduce the need for another movie block, which already stands at three every Sunday.
After ’24 Oras Weekend,’ the biggest change will come.
‘Daig Kayo Ng Lola Ko,’ which at this point acts as filler for weekend primetime slots on the main channel, should have a new permanent home at GTV every Sunday.
To form another part of the Sunday children’s oriented block must be the science experiment show ‘iBilib,’ which could be given a better exposure by having it aired anew on primetime, albeit on GTV.
After those, public affairs’ lifestyle and infotainment shows ‘Good News,’ ‘Pinas Sarap,’ and ‘iJuander’ could be utilized as the alternative line-up to the long-running ‘Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho’ that airs on GMA-7.
‘Doors,’ which airs every Friday night, should be moved to Sundays due to the suggested programming changes seen above.
Health-oriented program ‘Pinoy MD,’ which airs every early Saturday morning on channel 7, could also get a second-run at night, through a replay every Sunday at 10:30 pm.
The addition of the rerun of the drama anthology ‘Karelasyon’ is a snippet of the next part of this series. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, here’s how the Sunday block will look like during the NCAA season, which has enough space even for tripleheader game days.
- NCAA Sundays
- 5:30 am – Dobol B TV
- 9:00 am – Kiddie Authority
- 10:00 am – NCAA (LIVE)
- 12:30 pm – NCAA (LIVE)
- 3:00 pm – NCAA (LIVE)
- 5:30 pm – 24 Oras Weekend (simulcast)
- 6:15 pm – Daig Kayo Ng Lola Ko
- 7:00 pm – iBilib
- 7:30 pm – Good News
- 8:15 pm – Pinas Sarap
- 9:00 pm – iJuander
- 9:45 pm – Doors
- 10:30 pm – Pinoy MD (replay)
- 11:15 pm – Karelasyon (rerun)
Providing a great complementary line-up to the main channel’s portfolio was the core mission of GTV when it was launched back in 2021, which proved to be a huge risk, but a rewarding one for the Kapuso network as the station became the number 2 player for a good amount of time.
Now, in the face of a tougher competition, GTV should be utilized in the same manner it was originally set up to be, in hopes of alluring viewers back to the channel.
Finally, having a revamped line-up with stronger emphasis on alternative viewing is what is needed now more than ever, as this could both help slow down the further fragmentation of the TV market and give televiewers the much-needed and beefed-up alternative shows.