ABS-CBN, GMA claim ratings, advertising lead

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s leading broadcast giants are both claiming leadership in ratings and advertising revenues.

Financial data, however, showed GMA Network Inc. was more cost-efficient than ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.

Total operating expenses of ABS reached P16.04 billion in the first half of the year, higher than the P15.09 billion in the same period a year ago.

 GMA’s operating expenses, on the other hand, amounted to P5.05 billion, slightly higher than the P4.91 billion recorded in January to June last year.

ABS-CBN posted a net income of P1.2 billion, up by 20 percent from P995 million a year earlier while GMA ended the first semester with P1.1 billion in profit or 89 percent higher than the previous year.

In terms of profitability ratios, GMA’s gross profit margin was 59 percent while ABS was 39 percent.

 GMA, meanwhile, recorded a net income margin of 17 percent over ABS-CBN’s seven percent.

According to Kantar Media, more households in urban and rural areas nationwide tuned in to ABS-CBN in September, leading all TV networks in terms of viewership with an average national audience share of 44 percent or eight points higher than GMA’s 36 percent.

 Kantar Media used a nationwide panel size of 2,609 urban and rural homes that represent 100 percent of the total Philippine TV viewing population.