Thursday, September 1, 2016

Audience Share, Philippine TV: A Few Curiosities

The table below was done by Kantar. We can see here that ABS-CBN dominates overwhelmingly nationwide though GMA still hasn't lost its foothold in the national capital region. This reflects on the TV ratings churned out by both Kantar & Agb Nielsen, both multinational rating agencies,  on a regular basis where some nationally-popular programs supposedly turned out to be less popular in Manila, the nation's capital. A curiosity which at many times made me incredulous because some of those alleged popular programs in Manila, where I live, I practically didn't know anyone watching them, nor did I even get a drift they existed at all. Does this mean the inertia of habit, or allergy to remote control, is the dominant factor in loyalty to television channels in Manila?

Is this state of things too convenient? Exclusive channel loyalty, really?

 I consider myself a "post-TV" person- I multitask & surf more the internet than watch TV but if ever I'm seated before the tube, I would more often than not be juggling through many channels, not to mention I still would be holding my smartphone or a tablet & many times, I have the laptop opened on my lap. An open channel may not even mean anything- like a doctor friend has a TV in his clinic waiting room & the channel was never changed since it was installed. I asked him what's the channel & he didn't know. But the thousands of patients & their companions who have waited in that room through the years must have thought that was his favorite channel. But the truth is, he never watches TV, he was too busy making money.

 But it's true, many people are a creation of their habits. The remote control is one of the de rigueur gadgets but a lot of people would rather brave a dodgy program than change the channel. I wrote before of my mother who never changed her channel through the decades & it took my recent intervention to pull her out of the inertia of her habits & discover a new world. Now she's stuck in her new channel because she still won't bother with the remote control. But is the Manila viewing public mostly seniors who never got comfortable with the remote control?

Personally, I consider the table below as just a guide. Statistics is not an exact science, how could an arbitrary sample ever be worthy to represent the truth of the whole market. Moreover, it doesn't capture the true whole market considering the millions of hits generated by the 10 million Filipino diaspora on the online viewing outlets (they have a big buying power because of the big remittance money that drives up the national consumption power). Ratings serve more the advertisers, just so they have an idea where they are sinking their money into.

But real popularity?

I have mentioned before of the inconsistencies of the ratings to reality. For example, a loveteam which was supposed to have rated higher on TV in Manila was practically unknown in Manila while the one who was supposed to have rated lower filled the Araneta Coliseum in Manila with their concert. Or another had a box-office hit films afterwards, in Manila and beyond while the supposedly high-rater has faded into oblivion.


10 comments:

  1. Kalokohan yang ratings na yan. Ang liit ng sample size mahigit 2500 lang

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  2. Oo nga... TOO convenient, parang nag-agree lang yong dalawang rating agencie para may negosyo sila pareho. Sa akin akin ang Tondo, sa yo Quiapo. Sa akin ang national sa yo ang Maynila...

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  3. Mas believable ang Kantar, pinararaya lang ang Agb Nielsen para may pinagkakakitaan rin

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    1. Biruin mo, lahat ng primetime sa GMA ay mas malakas pa raw ang nga teleserye nya sa Maynila kesa yong mga kalabang teleserye na naging superstar ang bida nya pagkatapos gaya ng Forevermore, Otwol at PSY. Mas malakas daw ang Biguel at yong isa pang loveteam na nabaon na sa limot.Palagi yan ha kaya nagtataka ako kung ganoon sila kalakas wala naman nakakaalala. Dapat meron kasi mga iskor nila sa Maynila mga 20-25 % pero bakit parang bula lang sila?

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    2. Kalokohan yan.Di ba ang dami nang balita tungkol sa corruption sa mga sample noon... Kokonti lang naman sila, sobra 2000 lang. Sabi nga... Lahat may presyo

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  4. Lol As was written bahala na kung magpapabola ang advertisers. Everybody happy

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  5. I really like your blog. Binubusisi mo ang topic kahit iniiwasan ng lahat. Pero in a way na parang it's just one of those things, not pa-intellectual charot but really curious. Good luck

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  6. Mas credible ang Kantar kasi nationwide ang sampling, ibig sabihin they went out of their way to have a complete market picture of the country. That makes you curious why Nielsen is only focused on a smaller portion which would readily picture its results as suspect
    Kaya hayan kakarampot ang sikat na Gma stars. Pero kung sikat sila sa Manila as the Nielsen rating would suggest, di ba it goes without saying mas sikat sana sila kasi nasa Manila ang lahat ng publicity machine. Kaso hindi sila sikat so it only means one thing... Di credible ang rating nila...

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  7. Yung mga stars at shows ng ABS,pinaguusapan hanggang sa Kazakhstn at Russia,pero bakit dito sa Pilipinas talo daw sila sa rating,gaya ng mga pinagdudukdukan ng GMA at mga loyalist nila,di ba nila to napapansinsin o sadyang nagbubulag-bulagan lang sila.

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    1. Crab mentality nga ang GMA. Lalong pinalalakas ang inferiority complex ng Pinoy. Alam na naman natin na talagang namamayagpag ang Pinoy as far as its films & teleseryes are concerned pero mga Pinoy din ang simisira. Totoo, marami pang Pinoy na mababa ang tingin sa sarili dahil siguro mga domestic helper ang nanay o ano pa ... Pero maraming Pinoy na ang umangat, nauungusan nila ang ibang Asian at ang gaya ng GMA na mababa ang tingin sa sarili ang sumisira sa self-image ng Pilipino, hinihila pababa

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