FOR A LONG TIME now, the parameters of morning and noontime TV programming have been fixed and seemingly inflexible: Early-morning shows like ?Unang Hirit? and ?Umagang Kay Ganda,? followed by cartoons for young, stay-at-home kids, then programs for women, then by late-morning entertainment treats, talent tilts, etc., and finally capped by the big noontime game shows with huge prizes at stake.

Increased competition

Well, increased competition has resulted in major changes to that template in recent weeks. The early-morning shows and cartoons still hold sway over their time slot, but now shows for women like ?Simply KC? and ?Love ni Mister, Love ni Misis? have been launched to perk up the mid-morning TV picture.

In addition, ?Love ni Mister? no longer focuses exclusively on female viewers but tries to entertain stay-at-home guys viewers as well?a sign of the ?househusband? times?

Even bigger is the change that has happened before or around the noontime slot, which is now dominated by hit feature films. This innovation is noteworthy, because it flies in the face of conventional TV ?wisdom? that old or not-so-old movies should be reserved for mid-afternoon or late-night viewing.

Well, the TV times are definitely a-changing (and much more often these days, at that), so we should learn to expect the unexpected. What?s the logic for daytime TV?s new ?hit movies? gambit? It?s betting that, even on TV, old hits with big star value can distract viewers from the usual TV fare, enough to swing the ratings in favor of one major network over the other.
Is it working? The fact that both ABS-CBN and GMA 7 are making the shift affirms its potency. However, while we acknowledge its crowd-pulling ability, we rue the fact that the ?old hits? gambit is being resorted to, because it acts as a dampener to daytime TV programming?s upward ascendancy. Our hope is that, in time, viewers will get bored with the innovation and start demanding more original programs again.

Noteworthy change

Another noteworthy change that merits special attention is the fact that ABS-CBN has decided to place its relatively new group talent tilt, ?Showtime,? in ?fulcrum? position in its noontime slot after its weekday ?hit movie? offering, with its new, now post-noontime ?Wowowee? replacement ?Pilipinas Win na Win,? coming in only at 2 p.m.

The increased importance now given to ?Showtime? is a feather in the program?s cap because it has minimal star value, but has become popular with viewers, who root for the ?unknowns? who compete on the show.

Debit side

On the debit side, the group contenders? performance have generally become predictable, and therefore eventually boring. So, it doesn?t hold up well enough as a noontime programming peg, and we should continue to ?expect the unexpected? in terms of more changes to come, before the ongoing daytime TV frenzy simmers down.