By JAMES A. LOYOLA
The ratings competition heats up in January with ABS-CBN retaining the nationwide lead but rival GMA Network has reclaimed the top spot for urban areas in the country.
ABS-CBN said it opened 2020 with a TV audience share of 38 percent compared to GMA’s 32 percent in January, according to data from Kantar Media.
The network kept its firm grip of all time blocks, remaining the leader during primetime with 41 percent as GMA earned 33 percent; in the morning with 34 percent versus GMA’s 27 percent; at noontime with 37 percent versus GMA’s 33 percent; and in the afternoon with 39 percent versus GMA’s 37 percent.
On the other hand, GMA begins on a high note as latest data from Nielsen TV Audience Measurement show that for January 2020, it got an average total day people audience share of 34.7 percent in the National Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM), outscoring ABS-CBN’s 31.7 percent.
GMA’s said its NUTAM victory was a result of its impressive performance across all day parts. Providing a head start in the morning block, GMA recorded 28.8 percent people audience share versus competition’s 27.4 percent.
Its afternoon block brought in the biggest lead with 37.7 percent as against ABS-CBN’s 31.4 percent. In the evening block, which includes the hotly contested primetime slot, the GMA posted 34.8 percent while its rival network got 33.6 percent.
GMA said it also ruled in all time blocks with wider margins in both Urban Luzon and Mega Manila, which respectively account for 72 and 57 percent of all urban viewers in the country.
GMA registered an average of 36.7 percent total day people audience share in Urban Luzon; beating ABS-CBN’s 29.1 percent.
With official data from January 1 to 25, GMA kept its winning streak in Mega Manila with 37.1 percent, which was way ahead of ABS’ 27 percent.
Meanwhile, aside from radio and television, ABS-CBN said it has also become the leader in the local music, film, cable TV, and publishing industries and is also the pioneer of digital television in the country.