Felipe Gozon is reportedly not giving up the noontime TV wars to fellow bilyonaryo Manny V. Pangilinan after GMA 7 lost Tito, Vic, and Joey’s “Eat Bulaga” to TV5.
According to a top official of an online website, 50 percent owned by GMA, the scuttlebutt is that ABS-CBN is contemplating shifting its popular noontime program, “It’s Showtime”, to GTV (Good Television), a free-to-air television network owned by GMA.
“There are so many rumors floating now whether ‘It’s Showtime’ might go to another channel associated with GMA,” said PEP editor-in-chief Jo-Ann Maglipon in an interview with CNN Philippines.
In a report by Abante entertainment editor Jun Lalin, a GMA top executive said, “Honestly, I don’t know. They haven’t informed us yet. Maybe the higher-ups at ABS-CBN are in talks. They might still be discussing things among themselves before informing us if it’s a go.”
Bilyonaryo.com previously reported that TVJ’s Eat Bulaga would take over the lunchtime slot of TV5 next month, with It’s Showtime supposedly moving up to the primetime slot.
Maglipon said TVJ’s ugly break from their long-time producer TAPE, led by by Romy Jalosjos, “has messed things up just a wee bit more.”
Maglipon described Jalosjos’ children, TAPE president Jon and CFO Bullet, as capitalists who took over the management of Eat Bulaga early this year as part of the family business transition considering their father’s health problems due to old age.
“I will not be very popular for saying this, but I think the Jalosjos brothers Jon and Bullet were very decent, very articulate, very reasonable… They explained themselves as far as they could,” said Maglipon. “They reined in their temper. If there was something inside, generally, they were proper financiers, in my mind,” she added.
TAPE continues to broadcast “Eat Bulaga” with replacement hosts despite receiving negative reviews, as its block time contract with GMA extends until the end of 2024.
Observers are waiting for Gozon’s next move, particularly considering the potential ratings boost that TV5 may experience if Pangilinan successfully persuades ABS-CBN to stay (albeit at a different time slot) along with Eat Bulaga which has been one of GMA’s pillar programs since 1995.
