GMA Files NTC Complaint vs. SkyCable for Signal Loss during Eat Bulaga

Source: www.gmanetwork.com

GMA Network filed a complaint with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) against SkyCable after televiewers took to social media to express disappointment over the loss of GMA7’s signal before Eat Bulaga and/or during the airing of the program’s top-rating “AlDub” Kalye-serye segment.

In a letter dated August 25, 2015, GMA, thru its Senior Vice President for Engineering Engr. Elvis B. Ancheta and Vice President for Legal Affairs Lynn P. Delfin, appealed for the immediate action of the NTC for the sake of paying SkyCable subscribers, “who are being short-changed through the irresponsible acts of their service provider.”

GMA said this is a violation of Section 6 of the NTC MC No. 4-08-88 or the Revised Rules and Regulations Governing Cable Television Systems in the Philippines.

In line with the complaint, the Network cited a series of tweets posted from July 19 to August 21, 2015 by televiewers from Metro Manila, Cavite, Bacolod, and Iloilo, “who mostly decried the apparent ‘sabotage’ perpetrated by SkyCable” and expressed “disgust” for missing their favorite portion of the country’s longest running noon-time show.

Twitter user @wyne_me posted on August 13, 2015 “OMG! Walang signal ang GMA sa sky cable dito sa Bacolod pero ang iba meron. Nakakabadtrip! Eat Bulaga na mamaya #AlDubHihintayinKita.” Meanwhile, another viewer with the username @floresjenny1214 tweeted on August 20, 2015 “Sky cable naman eh kapag eat bulaga na lagi malabo o mawawala wag ganun #ALDUBKeepTheFaith.”

The Kalye-serye segment of Eat Bulaga features the “accidental love team” of Maine Mendoza also known as Yaya Dub and Kapuso actor Alden Richards, alongside the comedic tandem of Jose Manalo and Wally Bayola, and continues to drive the program’s ratings to unprecedented success.

Last Saturday (August 22), Eat Bulaga registered a household rating of 31.3 percent in NUTAM (National Urban Television Audience Measurement) beating its counterpart program’s 13.7 percent, according to Nielsen TV Audience Measurement. The episode, which showed the wedding of Yaya Dub to Frankie Arenoli (Jose Manalo), garnered more than 2 million tweets and was praised by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines for promoting Catholic values.