ABS-CBN Corp. maintained its majority hold of the national television audience for the month of August, while rival GMA Network, Inc. claimed the lead in Urban Luzon, citing different ratings providers.
The Lopez-led media firm said in a statement yesterday it tallied a 45% audience share in national television ratings last month, besting GMA which had 31%, based on data from Kantar Media which evaluated 2,610 urban and rural households.
ABS-CBN also claimed dominance in Metro Manila, saying it recorded a television audience rating of 41% against GMA’s 25%, and in Mega Manila where it had a rating of 36% versus GMA’s 31%.
In terms of island group, ABS-CBN said it topped all regions, with a 41% audience share in Total Luzon against GMA’s 34%; a share of 55% in Total Visayas versus GMA’s 24%; and 52% in Total Mindanao beating GMA’s 28%.
But GMA challenged the ratings in a separate statement, saying it kept a 31.8% total day people audience share in Urban Luzon for August, besting its rival ABS-CBN which had a 31.7% share.
GMA based its report from findings of Nielsen TV Audience Measurement last month, where the ratings from Aug. 25 to 31 were based on overnight data.
On ratings based on time slot, ABS-CBN again claimed the lead across-the-board. It reported a 48% rating during primetime against GMA’s 31%; 39% in the morning slot versus GMA’s 29%; 46% in noontime versus GMA’s 32%; and 47% in the afternoon to beat GMA’s 33%.
GMA, citing Nielsen, however said it was the dominant network in the afternoon block with a 33.3% rating against ABS-CBN’s 32.2%, and in the evening block with a 33.9% rating versus ABS-CBN’s 33.4%.
Both companies posted an increase in earnings in the first semester, with ABS-CBN reporting an 83% jump in attributable net income to P1.55 billion, and GMA saying its attributable earnings rose 10% to P1.34 billion. — Denise A. Valdez
