Playing the TV game

The overall morale at GMA Network Inc. is upbeat.

"We are not yet number one but we can already smell it," said Jessica Abaya, a 16-year veteran of Procter & Gamble Phils. "In the last two years, our main competitor has lost 35% of the business while we have gained 35% of the business."

The business involves both ratings and revenues.

Based on the second and third quarters 2002 study made by AGB Phils., a research company that measures and describes the behavior and preferences of television viewers, the ratings of GMA programs from 6 a.m. to noon went up to 37%; from noon to 2 p.m., up to 28%; and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., up to 34%. Ratings grew by 1% during the primetime hours of 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. while there was a 1% drop during the late night slot of 10 p.m. to midnight.

Despite more selective advertising by many industries, GMA’s net income in January to November 2002 grew by 21% to P407 million from the P337 million generated during the same period in 2001. During the first 11 months of 2002, November generated the highest income of P80 million, 475% higher than the P13.9 million a year ago.

"We are confident that we will remain the preferred network for advertisers," said Abaya.

Despite the higher ratings, GMA is keeping its rates unchanged, averaging at P63,850 compared to the P76,312 charged by its major competitor.

Changes

The mindset shift in GMA started in 2000 when Felipe Gozon, who holds a 30% stake in the company, took over as chief executive officer. "We were no longer happy to be no. 2. We knew competition was formidable but it was not unbeatable," he said.

Gozon put together a new management team that would focus the efforts of the 564-strong company to face and beat a competition twice as large in manpower and better equipped.

As senior vice-president for television and president and chief operations officer of subsidiary, GMA Marketing, Manuel Quioge has made the network more viable, introducing shows that increased advertising minutes by 267% last year. As a result , total advertising revenue reached P4 billion at the end of 2002, up by 18% from the previous year’s P3.2 billion.

To keep its staff hungry and passionate about their work, Gozon hired former ABS-CBN executive Dexter Mendoza to head the human resources department. "We are three times smaller in number than our major competitor but we have compensated for it by building up the capability and organizational skills of the staff to make them more productive. GMA has ensured the staff are happy and well compensated," said Mendoza.

Crucial to the reworked corporate vision of becoming number one is its new image and tag line. From the rainbow and "where you belong", GMA now has "kapuso ng mamamayang Pilipino anumang kulay ng buhay."

"We’re not pretending to be the family of Filipinos but we are one with them in heart because we share the same values," said Abaya. "We’d like to convey the message that the purpose of the network goes beyond making money. We want to enrich the lives of Filipinos through superior entertainment and through the responsible delivery of news and information."

Big plans

This year, the network has allocated capital expenditures of P200 million, of which P8 million to P10 million will be spent on viewer research. A UHF channel that is better than shut-down Channel 27 will be opened. It is also looking at the Filipino markets in the United States and the Middle East.

GMA is targeting a 15% growth in revenues this year, preparatory to the much talked about initial public offering next year.

"I want us to develop what Tourism Secretary Richard Grdon calls a culture of tourism – pride in ourselves and pride in what we have, leveraging on our strength rather than complaining," said Abaya.

Abaya and the rest of the GMA management team must know what they’re talking about.

At the start of 2000, when GMA decided to reach for the brass ring, the ratings gap between GMA and its major competitor was 8%. Today, it is only 1% and closing.