RIVAL broadcasters GMA Network Inc. and ABS-CBN Corp. claimed on Thursday they cornered dominance on nationwide-audience share last month.
In a statement, the television network led by the Gozon, Jimenez and Duavit families said it regained its the title as the No. 1 television network in the National Urban Television Audience Measurement (Nutam) in May with a 30.5-percent household-audience share, beating ABS-CBN’s 27.1 percent.
Citing a Nielsen Television Survey, GMA said it once again overtook its closest competitor ABS-CBN in Urban Luzon with 38.9 percent, 8.6 points ahead of the latter’s 30.3 percent.
The Gozon-led broadcasting network also kept leadership in Mega Manila, where it scored 40.9 percent, higher than the competitor’s 27.1-percent share.
Urban Luzon accounts for 77 percent of all urban TV households in the country, while Mega Manila represents 60 percent.
The Lopez-led company claimed to have ended last month on a higher note after the network ruled nationwide ratings in March with an average national audience share of 44 percent versus GMA’s 32 percent.
Citing a Kantar Media survey, the largest media conglomerate in the Philippines said it kept a stronghold of the prime-time block last month, as it scored an average national-audience share of 49 percent compared to its rival’s 31 percent.
The prime-time block is the most important part of the day, when most Filipinos watch TV and advertisers put a larger chunk of their investment in to reach more consumers effectively. ABS-CBN also fared better than its competition in other territories, such as Balance Luzon—areas in Luzon outside Mega Manila—where it scored a national-average audience share of 47 percent, versus GMA’s 33 percent; in the Visayas with 54 percent over GMA’s 24 percent; and in Mindanao with 54 percent versus GMA’s 24 percent.
Nielsen has a nationwide urban sample size of 2,000 homes; while in Mega Manila, it increased its sample size to 1,200 homes effective this year.
Kantar Media uses a nationwide panel size of 2,610 urban and rural homes that represent 100 percent of the total Philippine TV viewing population.