ABS-CBN, the Philippines’ leading entertainment and media company, opened 2019 on a high note as viewers nationwide tuned in to its news and entertainment shows, making the network achieve an average audience share of 45% in January, or 15 points higher than GMA’s 30%, based on Kantar Media’s data.
It led in the capital region, Metro Manila, where it registered an average audience share of 44% against GMA’s 23%. Multinational audience measurement provider Kantar Media uses a nationwide panel size of 2,610 urban and rural homes that represent 100% of the total Philippine TV viewing population.
ABS-CBN programs ruled the top 10 list of most watched programs in January with 9 shows, led by consistent top-rater FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano (39.1%).
Also part of the top 10 are ABS-CBN’s newest shows, Angel Locsin’s “The General’s Daughter” (32.8%) and the new reality talent show, World of Dance Philippines (30.8%). Now and Forever (Ngayon at Kailanman) (28.7%) ended its run strongly, while the comeback of Minute to Win It: Last Man Standing (22.6%) earned its place on the top 10. Other regular top 10 shows are nightly news program “TV Patrol” (30.2%), Memories (Maalaala Mo Kaya) (24.3%), Betrayal (Halik) (23.2), and Once Upon A Time (Wansapanataym) (22.4%).
Meanwhile, ABS-CBN won across all time blocks, particulary in primetime where it earned an average audience share of 50%, or 21 points higher than GMA’s 29%. The primetime block is the most important time of the day when most Filipinos watch TV and advertisers put a larger chunk of their investments to reach more consumers effectively.
Aside from radio and television, ABS-CBN has also become the leader in the local music, film, cable TV, and publishing industries and is also the pioneer of digital terrestrial television (DTT) in the country. As of October 2018, ABS-CBN TVplus, a DTT device, already sold 6.1 million boxes since its launch in 2015. It continues to give Filipinos a premium TV watching experience.
ABS-CBN also leads all media networks in bringing its content online to address the change in the Filipinos’ viewing habits. It launched its new streaming service, iWant, which immediately became the most in-demand app for Filipino iOS and Android users as it reached more than one million mobile app downloads on the first day of its official drop in November 2018, as users scrambled to experience the platform’s original films and series, and its diverse library of content.