It is the continuation of his long-running streak on television that has seen him do programs under different titles in the past two decades.
On Monday, April 27, veteran TV host-producer Willie Revillame made an on-air announcement regarding his program Wilyonaryo, which airs on Cignal’s Wil TV channel and online.
The 65-year-old confirmed that the game show, which centers around online gambling, will be ending its run on May 15.
According to him, the project has not been a sustainable venture, citing the TV show component running without advertisements.
“Ganun talaga. E’ diba, lahat ng business, ‘di naman paubos nang paubos ng pera. Kailangan meron kang ano (income),” he told, as he announced the finale of the show.
He continued, “Huwag kayong malulungkot. Bakit? Katapusan na ba ng buhay natin? Alam n’yo, kung may sinasara, s’yempre meron ding bubuksan.”
Revillame then proceeded to showcase a video containing audiences that flocked to his previous show before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the same clip, the lines read: “Miss niyo na bang mapa-WOW?”, “Pagmamahal n’yo ay nakaka-wow,” and “Talagang win kayo sa aming puso!” Then, the video ended with “Nakaka-miss makasama kayo,” with a large, red heart.
The host-producer then sang the official theme song of his game show Wowowin, which ran on GMA and ALLTV from 2015 to 2023.
Revillame then made further announcements regarding it, disclosing that he has “acquired” a new studio and his partnership with the grocery chain Puregold.
Although, he asked for understanding from his audience as he will be taking a break after the end of Wilyonaryo to focus on bringing back Wowowin.
FROM BLOCKTIMER TO PRIMETIME
Wowowin was born as a blocktimer show in May 2015 and was originally scheduled as part of GMA’s Sunday afternoon block. Eventually, after Revillame reached a co-production deal with the Kapuso network, it placed on the late afternoon slot before flagship newscast 24 Oras by February 2016.
In February 2022, however, Revillame departed GMA after almost seven years to join fledgling station ALLTV owned by his close friend Manny Villar, who had just secured the Channel 2 frequency in Mega Manila the month prior.
Willie then became a key personality in the station, where he was placed prominently in the channel’s primetime slot at 7:00 pm.
Although, due to weak signal reach, low advertising load and viewership ratings, ALLTV decided to end the production of its original programs in March 2023, which included Wowowin, with the show officially bowing out the following month.
The following year, Revillame signed up with TV5 and Mediaquest, with initial reports pointing to a supposed relaunch of Wowowin after a year.
However, it did not push through, with the show eventually getting the title Wil To Win—which included most segments of Wowowin—and aired on the Kapatid network from July 2024 to May 2025.
Aside from his eponymous Wil TV channel on pay TV, there is no information available yet as to whether Wowowin will also be ported to free TV.