MANILA, Philippines – After a landmark ABS-CBN and GMA Network partnership for noon show It’s Showtime, TV host Willie Revillame signed with billionaire Manny V. Pangilinan’s (MVP) MediaQuest Group on Friday, April 26.
Revillame is returning to the Kapatid Channel, TV5, which was his home from 2010 to 2013. He later moved to GMA Network in 2015 until 2021. In September 2022, he signed with former senator Manny Villar’s media firm ALLTV but left months later in early 2023 after his show Wowowin failed to take off.
On behalf of his production firm WilProductions Incorporated, Revillame signed a joint venture with MediaQuest Holdings and its subsidiary, MQuest Ventures, where he will serve as “creative director.”
The signing happened more than a month after former fierce competitors ABS-CBN and GMA signed a co-production deal on the airing of the Kapamilya noon show, It’s Showtime, on GMA’s flagship Channel 7, in addition to its sister channel, GTV. This boosted It’s Showtime’s ratings and allowed it to overtake the Philippines’ longest-running noon show, Eat Bulaga!, on TV5.
In the signing ceremony, Revillame said that his new show will complement TV5’s entertainment offerings and will be shown at night, apparently before TV5’s flagship news program, Frontline Pilipinas, which airs from 6:30 pm to 8 pm.
“’Yung icons, walang tatalo na Eat Bulaga!, tanghalian ‘yun, at ngayon, may panghapunan na kayo, abangan ‘nyo ho. Kumpleto na ang buhay ng bawat Pilipino: may [pang] umaga, tanghali, at gabi, sama-sama tayo sa ligaya, saya, at may pag-asa kayo,” he said.
(The icons, the unbeatable Eat Bulaga!, that’s lunchtime, and now, you have something for dinner, watch out. The Filipino’s life is now complete: morning, noon, night. We’re together in happiness, fun, and you have hope.)
Revillame said they are still brainstorming over his new show, including its new name, and looking for new co-hosts.
He also teased that TV5 will have a talent search for artists who want to be on Kapatid shows.
“’Yung nangangarap na maging hosts ng mga programa dito sa TV5, at ‘yung nangangarap na maging artista – pang teleserye, pang sitcom, sa lahat, abangan ‘nyo, may magandang regalo sa inyo ang MediaQuest,” he said.
(Those who are dreaming to become hosts of programs on TV5, and those dreaming to act on teleseryes and sitcoms, all of them, just wait, MediaQuest has a nice gift for you.)
MediaQuest is MVP’s company for his media assets ranging from broadcasting, cable TV, radio, film, and print. Aside from TV5, it includes Radyo5 on the FM band; digital and cable channels One News, One Sports, One PH, Buko Channel; broadsheets Philippine Star, BusinessWorld; and MQuest Ventures, among others.
MQuest Ventures, a subsidiary of MediaQuest Holdings, is described as the “content creation hub” of the group for film, TV production, talent management and live events.
In 2023, MQuest Ventures signed a joint venture with showbiz veterans Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon’s TVJ Productions to produce Eat Bulaga! on TV5. It also co-produced the award-winning film, GomBurZa, with the Jesuits’ Jescom Films.
MediaQuest Holdings acquired TV5 in 2010, but the network has had difficulty turning in a profit due to the dominance of the country’s leading broadcasting companies, ABS-CBN and GMA Network.
However, after the Duterte administration stripped the Lopez family-led ABS-CBN of its lucrative broadcast business in 2020, TV5 has seen an uptick in its ratings and it now hopes to be able to make money. Aside from taking in Revillame, it has also signed former Kapamilya funny man Marc Logan, who now has a weekly magazine show.
ABS-CBN has since pivoted into being a content provider to its former competitors, including TV5 and GMA.
TV5, A2Z improve reach
According to GMA Network’s latest annual report, while GMA Channel 7 is still the Philippines’ dominant free tv channel with a 47.5% audience share in January to December 2023, TV5 has overtaken GMA’s sister channel GTV (formerly Good TV) as the Philippines’ number two channel.
In 2023, TV5 had an audience share of 11.8% overtaking GTV’s audience share of 11.2%, based on Nielsen TV Audience Measurement (TAM).
TV5’s audience share improved by 4.5 percentage points, from 7.1% in 2022 to 11.8% 2023.
GTV’s audience share fell slightly by 1.4 percentage points, from 12.6% in 2022 to 11.2% in 2023.
TV5 has pivoted into becoming a purely entertainment and news channel after dropping the airing of PBA Games, which it passed on to RPN via RPTV.
Televangelist Eddie Villanueva’s Zoe Network’s A2Z Channel’s audience share went up marginally from 9.7% in 2022 to 10.2% in 2023. Most of its entertainment shows are produced by ABS-CBN, including the popular FPJ’s Batang Quiapo teleserye.
A2Z, a partnership with ABS-CBN, was launched in October 2020, five months after ABS-CBN lost its broadcasting business. It has since expanded its reach in the Visayas via House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s Philippine Collective Media Corporation. Some A2Z programs are now aired via Romualdez’s PRTV Channel in Tacloban, Leyte, his home province.
On Tuesday, April 23, ABS-CBN signed a partnership with Villar’s ALLTV on the airing of some of its Kapamilya entertainment shows and its flagship news program, TV Patrol, on its former free tv Channel 2. Villar took over ABS-CBN’s Channel 2 frequency in 2022. Like then-House majority leader Martin Romualdez, Villar’s daughter, Camille, was one of 70 members of a House panel who voted against a new franchise for ABS-CBN.
ABS-CBN signed a joint venture with Romualdez’s Prime Media in 2023 that revived its radio platform TeleRadyo on its former radio frequency 630 on the AM band. ABS-CBN provides the content for the station DWPM. – Rappler.com