ABS-CBN may dispute sa rating anomaly!!!

[Isuzoom]

Boooooooooooooo!!!!

[claRkEnt]

ito ang magandang labanan... mainitan na talaga ang network war...

GMA-7 plans to sue DZMM and ABS-CBN for libel
Dinno Erece
Thursday, December 20, 2007
01:35 PM


ABS-CBN should expect a Christmas stocking full of suits from GMA-7.

Isang emergency presscon ang ipinatawag ng GMA-7 kaninang umaga, December 20, regarding the official statement na ipinalabas ng Kapuso network kagabi, December 19, patungkol sa DZMM report na ginawa ni Junrie Hidalgo—kung saan tahasang itinuturo raw ng AGB Nielsen Media Research Philippines ang GMA-7 na nasa likod ng dayaan ng ratings sa Bacolod.;,,

Sina Ms. Rikki Escudero, GMA Head of Regional TV and AVP for Expansion and Production Services; Atty. Dick Perez; VP for Legal Affairs; and Ms. Ruth Lejarde, VP for Research, ang humarap sa entertainment press after an early lunch.

Binasa ni Ms. Escudero ang official statement na lumabas na rin dito sa PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) kagabi, emphatically punctuating every point the statement raises.

Pagkatapos nito, ‘tsaka nagkaroon ng general question-and-answer portion.

Ang unang itinanong, kung bakit magkaiba ang naging action ng GMA-7 at ABS-CBN regarding their AGB Nielsen complaint. Matatandaan kasing four years ago pa ay nagku-complain na ang GMA-7 sa AGB Nielsen dahil hindi sa maipaliwanag na dahilan tungkol sa disparity ng cable at non-cable ratings ng GMA programs. Samantala, kasabay ng reklamo ng ABS-CBN na may anomalya diumano sa resulta ng ratings sa Bacolod ay ang pagsasampa nila ng P63-million civil case against AGB Nielsen.

"We did the responsible thing. We don't want to do trial by publicity," sagot ni Ms. Escudero.

Isang important point ang ni-raise ni Ms. Escudero: there is no local GMA-7 TV station in Bacolod.

"We don't even have a [TV] station in Bacolod. All we have there is a radio station. For several years, we have not been very active in the production areas. Ngayon lang kami muli nagpapapakilala, introducing ourselves," paliwanag niya.

Matatandaang sa Bacolod ang source ng complaint ng ABS-CBN sa AGB Nielsen, kung saan isang informant daw na may connection sa GMA-7 ang naging source.

"You should never be premature in your actions. Anyone can introduce themselves as a GMA employee but we need evidence," sabi ni Ms. Escudero.

Ang pinakahihintay ng mga press na dumalo ay kung ano ang immediate action ng GMA-7 tungkol dito.

"We have already referred this to our legal department," sagot ni Atty. Perez.

Pressed for a more specific answer, Atty. Perez said that they will file libel cases. Kung kailan, "soon" ang sagot niya.

"It should not be long. It might even be before Christmas, so Merry Christmas to one and all," pahayag ni Atty. Perez.

Pagkatapos ng general Q&A, tinanong ng PEP si Atty. Perez kung puwede pa siyang maging specific kung sino ang mga binabalak nilang idemanda.

"Junrie [Hidalgo], of course, and whoever is connected," sagot ni Atty. Perez.

We asked kung kasama rin ang DZMM at ABS-CBN and he said "yes."

[meledson]

This is part of the network wars. Smoke and mirrors.

[Bogeyman]

Is there any laws being broken by GMA7 in influencing the outcome of the Ratings Game?

Article 186 of the Revised Penal Code prohibits any person or entity from conspiring to restrain free trade or prevent free market choice. By manipulating the TV ratings, the perpetrators create the impression of poor performance. Such an impression will defraud the target network from receiving much-needed funds from commercial sponsors, not to mention deceiving the public-at-large.

At saan naman madala ng ABS-CBN kung may kaso nga, since AGB Nielsen is a private enterprise at di connected sa goverment, kumbaga parang Pulse Asia at SWS lang siya?

Even private enterprises can be taken to court. Case in point: ABS-CBN's pending case in relation to the Ultra stampede.

[Monseratto]

Interesting argument from GMA7. Yet the courts granted ABS-CBN TRO. And the funny thing is ABS-CBN still wants to do business with AGB Nielsens...

Isang important point ang ni-raise ni Ms. Escudero: there is no local GMA-7 TV station in Bacolod.

[vhenok]

Kahit walang local TV stations it doesn't mean na hindi na napapanood ang GMA, dito na papasok yung mga tinatawag na repeaters, wherein kung saan ung pinakamalapit na base station yun lang ang i-amplify to have reception in that area. AFAIK, sa Iloilo kumukuha ng feed ang Bacolod.

Just a little info:

Dati ang AGB Phils. at Nielsen Media Research are totally different company, actually magkalaban pa nga sa paglabas ng mga ratings. Since year 2000, AGB Phils. was the official provider of TV Ratings by TVRC (TV Research Council). But it didn't stop NMR to release mga data. Until such time around 2004 na etong dalawang magkalaban became a merger, hence AGB Nielsen.

It was AGB who introduced sa Pinas the "hitech" method of measuring of TV Audience.

Paano kumikita ang AGB?

Since sila ang official ratings provider, all clients (TV Stations - both major, minor plus cables, Advertisers and Manufacturers) pays AGB hefty amount to provide such data by the use of in-house softwares that these clients will use. And I tell you these worth Millions.

How data are used by clients?

TV Stations - they can see which programs are performing well (be it in their own backyard or outside), thus level of competency between stations are put in a higher level here.

Advertisers/Manufacturers - certainly, if I want to place my commercial spot, dun na ako kung saan alam ko madami nanonood, so dun tignan sa ratings, say what program/timeslots/channel maganda magplace ng commercial.

[Honda97]

mahina yata ang kaso kung libel ang demanda. paano nila mapapatunayan na may malicious intent ang abs-cbn. agb neilsen pa ang unang nagbanggit sa gma-7.

[Bogeyman]

Kahit walang local TV stations it doesn't mean na hindi na napapanood ang GMA, dito na papasok yung mga tinatawag na repeaters, wherein kung saan ung pinakamalapit na base station yun lang ang i-amplify to have reception in that area. AFAIK, sa Iloilo kumukuha ng feed ang Bacolod.

Just a little info:

Dati ang AGB Phils. at Nielsen Media Research are totally different company, actually magkalaban pa nga sa paglabas ng mga ratings. Since year 2000, AGB Phils. was the official provider of TV Ratings by TVRC (TV Research Council). But it didn't stop NMR to release mga data. Until such time around 2004 na etong dalawang magkalaban became a merger, hence AGB Nielsen.

It was AGB who introduced sa Pinas the "hitech" method of measuring of TV Audience.

Paano kumikita ang AGB?

Since sila ang official ratings provider, all clients (TV Stations - both major, minor plus cables, Advertisers and Manufacturers) pays AGB hefty amount to provide such data by the use of in-house softwares that these clients will use. And I tell you these worth Millions.

How data are used by clients?

TV Stations - they can see which programs are performing well (be it in their own backyard or outside), thus level of competency between stations are put in a higher level here.

Advertisers/Manufacturers - certainly, if I want to place my commercial spot, dun na ako kung saan alam ko madami nanonood, so dun tignan sa ratings, say what program/timeslots/channel maganda magplace ng commercial.

Nice one, vhenok.

GMA-7's executives presented an extremely lousy defense at their press conference. The lack of a GMA-7 TV station in Bacolod DOES NOT NECESSARILY PRECLUDE THE POSSIBILITY OF RATINGS FRAUD IN THEIR FAVOR. Remember that households in Bacolod are still capable of both ABS-CBN and GMA signal reception, and that RGMA Bacolod is still, by and large, affiliated with GMA-7 Manila, representing its interests in the area concerned. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together, even if ABS-CBN management politely refuses to say so.

For the record, the Bacolod ratings fiasco is not the first of its kind. Up until two years ago, AGB Nielsen used a more selective ratings system covering Mega Manila, Dagupan, Cebu and Davao only. Sometime in 2005, ABS-CBN called AGB Nielsen's attention to reports that certain panel households in Cebu and Davao had been infiltrated by unscrupulous parties aiming to undermine ABS-CBN's audience share. The claims were investigated and eventually confirmed, leading to the shutdown of AGB Nielsen's Cebu and Davao operations. These were eventually reopened when AGB Nielsen switched to a new ratings system that covered the entire archipelago.

Come to think of it, for the past two years, which Philippine network had been arrogantly and aggressively trumpeting their ratings supremacy across the board up to this very day, when ABS-CBN had already long refrained from doing so?

mahina yata ang kaso kung libel ang demanda. paano nila mapapatunayan na may malicious intent ang abs-cbn. agb neilsen pa ang unang nagbanggit sa gma-7.

GMA-7's beef really should be with AGB Nielsen, not ABS-CBN, since it was the latter who had consistently refused to name the other network supposedly involved in the ratings fraud. Plus, I suggest that DZMM's Junry Hidalgo release the transcript of his interview with AGB Nielsen's Maya Reforma. If the transcript confirms AGB Nielsen's reported admission that GMA-7 was directly involved in compromising the ratings, Reforma could be held liable for lying in her affidavit.

And yes, libel could probably be one of the most laughable cases that can be filed against a person or entity; even FG Mike Arroyo himself lacked the balls to follow through on his libel suits against the media. I'll wager that nothing will come out of GMA-7's libel threat except hot air, the way that Sam and Piolo's libel case against Lolit Solis will be an exercise in futility.

[Asus700]

libel is very hard to prove, it goes beyond what was said but the intent most importantly.

i think gma's move is more on the psychological side and for a show rather than actually believing that they will win in court. they also use the basis of the supposed interview aired in abs cbn with a person pinpointing gma as behind a "promo" targeting households where the meters were connected.

if they dont file a libel case, after the statement made by abs, what will the advertisers and the public as a whole think? going beyond merely denying that they are manipulating the survey through the said promos, a libel case is the strongest form of denial.

[mayana]

ang real issue dito talaga eh yung abs-cbn vs AGB Nielsen. Napangalanan lang yung undisclosed entity. So lumawak na yung issue. Now, the court issues a TRO against AGB Nielsen. And, you know, AGB Nielsen para ma-involve sa ganitong scandal is really a high-profile case. The company is recognized internationally and it really has a credibility.

just my 2 cents.