Early returns indicate the TV viewership for Manny Pacquiao?s fight against Marco Antonio Barrera last Sunday (Manila time) was sky-high with almost 90 percent of sets all over the country tuned in to the combined airing on the GMA, RPN and Solar networks.
That?s the good news from Solar vice president Jude Turcuato who said the figures affirmed Pacquiao?s immense popularity throughout the archipelago.
Turcuato, however, said there was concern on the flood of commercials shown during the telecast.
?The main reason, of course, was the high price of the rights,? he explained. ?But we must also point out that the Philippines was the only country where you could watch the fight for free. Anywhere else in the world, it was on a pay-per-view arrangement. Those who were not willing to wait had an avenue through the theaters and multiple pay-per-view venues.?
The objective was to provide the viewing public a wide range of alternatives. The fight was available on a commercial-free basis, without interruptions, in theaters and through pay-per-view stations. But the option of watching on free TV was also offered only it wouldn?t be commercial-free.
During the airing last Sunday, the overnight ratings for the fight on GMA were phenomenal.
* * *
GMA?s Rikki Escudero said the ?Will To Win? telecast rated a whopping 50 percent on the average during the entire six hours and one minute of air time with a commanding audience share of 72.9 percent. The show demolished competition, whatever show it was pitted against and, as Escudero noted, there were several programs ranged against it.
?Love Spell? rated eight percent and a 15.1 percent audience share. ?Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo,? a movie featuring Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo, got a 19.2 percent rating and a 28.8 percent audience share. ?Agent X-44,? another movie featuring Vhong Navarro, picked up an 11.7 percent rating and a 15.8 percent audience share. ?ASAP? had a 5.3 percent rating and a 7.4 percent audience share.
Escudero said the highest rating segment of the telecast was registered during the main event ? naturally. The ratings zoomed up to 63.8 percent with an audience share of 84.7 percent from 3 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. as the fireworks escalated. The same time frame saw ?ASAP? drop to a rating of five percent and an audience share of 6.6 percent.
Turcuato said the fight rights and licenses were so excessive that there was no way to air the entire card here on free TV without loading up on commercials.
Turcuato mentioned that ratings on the Solar network would be released only next week but expected the figures to average three to five percent with an audience share of six to eight percent. Replays on the RPN network and Solar Sports that same night generated additional viewership to put the estimated overall score to a hefty 90 percent in audience share.
* * *
Networks pay a premium and invest huge sums to acquire the telecast rights for major events like Pacquiao?s fights. Pay-per-view subscriptions and ticket sales in theaters are hardly enough to cover the costs. The main income component is from advertising on free TV.
As a wider consumer base is developed for pay-per-view and theater audiences, there will be less reliance on advertising income for free TV ? meaning less interruptions during the telecast. It will also mean cutting down on delay time. When that situation will emerge is something to look forward to. Let?s hope it happens sooner than later.
Perhaps, in the immediate future, networks might consider upping the rate cards for advertisers so there are less spots in between rounds but the income will still be enough to cover the costs of the rights, licenses and production. In this situation, less could even be more. The question is at what price will the advertisers begin to turn their backs?
In airing an expensive property on TV, the primary issue is covering costs ? greed is not a factor.
No network wants to incur the ire of the viewing public by overloading programs with commercials. But when economics is involved, there are considerations that go beyond what is ideal because nobody likes to lose his shirt. If the viewing public could only realize that the price to pay to watch a Pacquiao fight for free is to take in more commercials than usual, maybe there will be less of an uproar and more understanding of the pressures in delivering a high-rating show on TV.
