It’s still a neck-and-neck race for the top spot between the country’s two leading broadcast networks.
“The goal this year is to become No. 1, not just in Mega Manila and Luzon, but also in the Visayas and Mindanao,” Felipe Gozon, president and CEO of GMA 7, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a phone interview.
Gozon said all of GMA’s efforts are focused on equaling—better yet, overtaking—ABS-CBN in the last two regions.
“We’ve closed the gap. As of November 2008, the difference is only 0.3 percent,” Gozon claimed, citing a survey conducted by the AGB Nielsen Media Research.
Luzon comprises 76.3 percent of the total audience share, while Mega Manila represents 48 percent, Gozon explained. “We’ve stayed ahead in both areas by a substantial margin since early 2007. It’s safe to say we were No. 1 the whole of last year.”
ABS-CBN president Charo Santos-Concio foresees the persistence of “challenging business conditions” this year.
Concio told the Inquirer the Kapamilya network seeks to “enhance airtime revenues” in three ways: strengthening free TV and cable programming, extracting a higher contribution from direct sales businesses, and minimizing expenses.
“[This] should help us ride out the difficult times and position us well [for] when business conditions improve,” she said.
Concio added that she is proud of ABS-CBN’s performance in 2008, delivering “revenue and profit growth.” The numbers are still subject to audit, she said.
So are the numbers for GMA 7, though Gozon said 2008 revenues are mostly likely the same as in 2007— possibly “a little more flat.”
Gozon continued: “Everybody says that in 2009, industry growth and revenue will merely equal or even be less than 2008.”
He pointed out that GMA 7’s advertising rates are lower than ABS-CBN’s, meaning there’s room for increase. “We’re looking into how much... and when,” Gozon said.
Overall, Gozon is “pleased” with his network’s 2008 bottom line. “Considering the global financial crisis, it’s good that we kept our ratings high and our revenue on the same level as the previous year,” he said. “This means we were not [hit as bad] as the others were, though everybody is affected somehow.”
Meanwhile, Concio said ABS-CBN was “strongly encouraged” by the result of a nationwide ratings survey conducted by TNS Media Research in the first week of last month, which showed eight Kapamilya shows on the Top 10 highest-rating prime time programs, including the top five: “Dyosa,” “I (heart) Betty La Fea,” “TV Patrol,” “Maalaala Mo Kaya” and “The Singing Bee.”
Noted Concio, “This bodes well for our airtime business in 2009.”
Source: Inquirer.net
Read more!
Read more...
