GMA7 loses 16 BILLION pesos in market capitalization

With the parting of ways between Tito, Vic and Joey and the Jalosjos production company TAPE, the TV networks are shaking to the bones. TVJ have just found a new home in TV5 (with the Dabarkads show slated to start next month) while TAPE has continued Eat Bulaga in GMA7 with new hosts and talents.

This early, there are already winners and losers although this could be a long, protracted and bitter war so the final winners may only be known months or years from now. Be that as it may, at the moment, the viewing public and advertisers are siding with TVJ. The 44 year old brand has developed a loyal viewer following and corporations prepared to transfer where Dabarkads may finally settle down.

In this Round 1 of the Eat Bulaga War, by virtue of the tremendous public support garnered by the Originals, they come out the winners by a wide margin. Badly beaten is the TAPE corporation that just lost a CASH COW, aside from all the negative publicity that it has to deal with. Even the new hosts have been subjected to bashing and hate comments. The new Eat Bulaga talents are under severe pressure to make a name for themselves in an effort to attract an audience. As ratings fall and advertisers say goodbye, it will be a long hard climb to profitability for TAPE.

Caught in between the Dabarkads and TAPE was GMA7 that has a block time arrangement with TAPE. GMA7 claims that were not in a position to intervene in the heated discussions prior to the TVJ withdrawal from TAPE because GMA7 considered the TVJ TAPE feud as an internal matter to be settled by the two warring parties. Former Senator Tito Sotto, the T in the TVJ and the most vocal among the three, however stated that, in their perception and opinion, GMA7 sided with TAPE. The GMA7 stock price has been going down for the past few weeks. From a high of PHP 13.16 per share in March 2023 to a low of PHP 8.02 last June 6, 2023, GMA7 lost PHP 16 BILLION in market capitalization. The share price has slightly improved in the last three trading days.

It’s Showtime, the noon time show of ABS CBN broadcasting from TV5 is also a loser since it will be bumped off its slot to give way to the Dabarkads. Vice Ganda and company will still be viewed live in other platforms (YouTube) but will be on a delayed telecast basis on free TV Channel 5.

#TVJ #EatBulaga #TitoVicJoey #ItsShowtime #GMA7 #TV5 #ABSCBN #TAPE #Dabarkads

GMA7, the current Philippine media giant (since its main rival ABS CBN lost its franchise), is in the ropes if we base the conclusion on market capitalization. From a high of 13.08 pesos per share just a few weeks ago, the Kapamilya current market value is 27.4 BILLION pesos on a stock price of 8.02 pesos each. This means GMA7 lost 16 BILLION pesos due to a 39% drop from its recent peak.

How can the Channel 7 company of Uncle Bob RIP lose so much in such a short period of time? The economy is almost back to normal from the three years of pandemic, lockdowns, quarantines, vaccines and social distancing.

Well, one has to look at the highly public bickering among iconic talents Tito, Vic and Joey and the production company of Eat Bulaga named TAPE that has a block time agreement with GMA7. It seems that the 44 year old noontime show has had a long and successful run to the point where the TAPE owners now want to exercise greater control over the TV program. However, during the negotiations, things turned ugly as TVJ were supposed to assume reduced roles with the corresponding decrease in compensation. Aside from that most of the staff were supposed to file their resignations only to be (selectively?) rehired, again, at lower salaries and benefits. All of these were thought of to phase out the aging veterans, to introduce new (younger) talent and improve/remove/tweak segments for a better watching experience.

TVJ were generally unhappy with the private (meetings) and public statements of the second generation TAPE executives (their dad is the majority owner and chairperson of TAPE), such that Tito Sen, as in the former Senate President, took the TAPE TVJ discussions public (interviews, social media). Details of unpaid salaries to Vic and Joey were ventilated and even if these were subsequently paid, the fact that there were long overdue plus the need to shout out about the matter, did not help the cause of the TAPE management.

The viewing public overwhelmingly support the Dabarkads and are eagerly waiting for the TVJ show to start on TV5 at the same time that TAPE has continued with Eat Bulaga with new talents. As the Dabarkads pull away audience viewership and advertising revenues from the GMA7 TAPE universe, would the new Eat Bulaga break even? Or would it continue to bleed heavily? Indirectly, would GMA7 lose out too since a number of GMA7 productions are bundled with the highly rated Eat Bulaga block timer in terms of advertising packages?

Obviously, it is too early to tell if TAPE would succeed in the long run. However, the market has already spoken with the massive drop of the GMA7 stock price and it would take a long, hard struggle to achieve the financial successes of the old TVJ Eat Bulaga.

#GMA7 #Dabarkads #TVJ #TitoVicJoey #EatBulaga

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