From May 31 until June 4, 2023, the show suspended production after its original hosts — Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto and Joey de Leon — announced that they would part ways with TAPE Inc. [6] [7] Fellow hosts of the show — Paolo Ballesteros, Jose Manalo, Maine Mendoza, Ryzza Mae Dizon, Wally Bayola, Ryan Agoncillo and Allan K. — and production members filed their resignation on the same day. [8] Host Carren Eistrup, also confirmed her resignation on June 8. [9]
Competition
Two-way competitions between noontime shows started in 1979 when Eat Bulaga! (first aired in RPN 9) fought against Student Canteen (aired on GMA 7). Since then, Eat Bulaga! has faced several rivalries with other noontime shows through the years.
Student Canteen (1979–1986)
Eat Bulaga! (EB) struggled with its ratings due to a lack of advertisers in its first year of airing due to Student Canteen's stronghold on television. EB was in danger of cancellation until "Mr. Macho" was launched in 1980, which allowed EB to surpass Student Canteen's ratings. EB started airing nationwide in 1982 with the launch of RPN's domestic satellite, which also coincided with Coney Reyes' transfer to EB and Chiqui Hollman to Student Canteen. Other people were introduced in Student Canteen but the show was eventually canceled by the GMA management in March 1986, after the People Power Revolution (also known as the EDSA Revolution) that toppled the Marcos regime one month earlier in February 1986. Student Canteen was revived in 1989 on RPN-9 but was canceled in 1990 after a misunderstanding occurred between the show's producers and the RPN management.
Lunch Date became Student Canteen's successor in 1986 and was GMA's first station-produced noontime variety show. Its original hosts were Orly Mercado, Rico J. Puno, Toni Rose Gayda and Hollmann. When the show was reformatted after a year, it only retained Gayda and Hollman and brought in a mix of new and established artists to host the show, including Randy Santiago, Keno, Lito Pimentel, Tina Revilla, Pilita Corrales, Louie Heredia, Sheryl Cruz, Jon Santos, Dennis Padilla, Fe Delos Reyes, Manilyn Reynes, Willie Revillame and Ai Ai de las Alas. The show introduced new segments that challenged EB's reign in the noontime slot.
In 1987, EB's ratings improved when Aiza Seguerra, a Little Miss Philippines winner, joined the show and became highly approved to viewers. In 1989, changes were made to both noontime shows: former RPN-9 executive Wilma Galvante and former EB writer Vincent Dy Buncio joined Lunch Date as the executive producer and director of the show respectively. Meanwhile, EB moved to ABS-CBN due to RPN's sequestration under the Cory Aquino administration. EB (together with its sister shows produced by TAPE, Inc.) helped ABS-CBN increased its ranking to No. 1 TV network from No. 4. It also started the rivalry of GMA and ABS-CBN in the noontime slot that existed until May 5, 2020, when the broadcasting franchise of ABS-CBN lapsed and the eventual departure of TVJ from TAPE, Inc. on May 31, 2023. In 1993, GMA's management decided to reformat their own noontime show and replaced it by SST: Salo-Salo Together . According to de Leon, Lunch Date was their toughest opponent ever because it was pitted against EB for more than 7 years, the longest compared to other noontime shows until It's Showtime surpassed it in 2019.
SST first aired on March 20, 1993, as a replacement for Lunch Date , hosted by Randy Santiago, Dennis Padilla, and Smokey Manaloto with Liezl Martinez, Anjanette Abayari, Joy Ortega and Giselle Sanchez as co-hosts. In less than six months after it aired, SST started to overtake EB in ratings by providing fresh interactive segments. Ai-Ai delas Alas (who previously co-hosted "Lunch Date") and Bayani Agbayani (who was part of "SST"'s production staff) were also hired to be co-hosts for the show.
However amidst the high ratings of the show at that time, it started as a blind item as 1994 was about to end until news had leaked out that SST was going to go off the air to give way to EB the 12 pm slot. This transpired after EB itself had decided to move to GMA following their producer TAPE Inc.'s refusal to sell the show's rights to ABS-CBN. During SST's New Year episode on December 31, 1994, the announcement of the new variety show's move to GMA was officially made by main hosts Randy Santiago and Dennis Padilla. The management decided to keep SST after they decided to move it to an earlier time slot, as a pre-programming to EB. SST aired its last noontime episode on January 27, 1995. On January 30, 1995, SST was reformatted as a morning talk show, with its timeslot at 10:30 am. In June 1995, SST was permanently cancelled.
After Eat Bulaga! moved to GMA, ABS-CBN decided to make Sa Linggo nAPO Sila into a weeklong noontime show as Sang Linggo nAPO Sila (SLNS). It aired its pilot episode on February 4, 1995, led by the APO Hiking Society. During its first year, 'Sang Linggo led the ratings in the provinces and cities where ABS-CBN had a stronger signal. The real challenge to the show was deviating its content from the usual noontime variety show that Eat Bulaga! presented to the viewers for almost two decades. Meanwhile, Bulaga had presented new faces like Allan K., Jose Manalo, and Donna Cruz, and new segments such as Super SiReyna and Philippine Bulaga Association. Calendar Girl was introduced by SLNS in 1996 with various male hosts joining APO Hiking's Jim Paredes or Buboy Garovillo in interviewing the contestants clad in two-piece swimsuits. The segment was reformatted in 1998 with John Estrada, Randy Santiago, and Willie Revillame named as permanent segment hosts. The new trio handled the segment by delivering naughtier jokes on TV. SLNS also introduced an interactive game portion, "Barangay APO" where segment host Eagle Riggs toured different barangays around Metro Manila to give out cash prizes.
The rating for SLNS had improved but the main hosts did not agree with the changes on their show. Eventually, ABS-CBN ended their noontime show on November 30, 1998, due to criticisms that some of the show's hosts lack real connection with the masses. Magandang Tanghali Bayan took place with its main hosts: Santiago, Estrada, and Revillame.
MTB (1998–2005)
Magandang Tanghali Bayan (1998–2003)
After the APO failed to beat the EB's high ratings, Randy, John, and Willie were pitted against the established trio of Tito, Vic, and Joey as ABS-CBN launched its new noontime show on November 30, 1998, with the title Magandang Tanghali Bayan. Its highlight segment, Pera O Bayong, made Magandang Tanghali Bayan overtook EB's ratings for years. Due to the growing popularity of the show, EB gave its first millions on television through its new segments Meron O Wala and the all-time popular segment Laban O Bawi which featured the phenomenal all-female dance group Sexbomb Girls. Magandang Tanghali Bayan faced numerous controversies and suspensions including the one-week suspension of the show in August 1999 due to the notorious green jokes of the main hosts. During that week, a placeholder show entitled Esep-Esep filled in the timeslot. In 2001, Revillame was dismissed from the show which resulted in major changes, such as new hosts and segments.
Another triumvirate was introduced on Magandang Tanghali Bayan when matinee idols Rico Yan, Dominic Ochoa, and Marvin Agustin joined the show after Willie's exit. Their addition resulted in the show bringing in a younger demographic and a more wholesome approach to noontime viewing. However, on March 29, 2002, Yan died during his Lenten vacation in Palawan, and Magandang Tanghali Bayan later reformatted on November 23, 2002, with new segments and additional hosts, after it had lost its victory in terms of ratings to EB. The reformat, however, failed to stop the management from deciding to bring back Revillame effective February 22, 2003, which led to its second incarnation, Masayang Tanghali Bayan.
Masayang Tanghali Bayan (2003–2004)
Magandang Tanghali Bayan aired its last episode on February 21, 2003, and was replaced by Masayang Tanghali Bayan as ABS-CBN's response to the noontime competition against EB. The new MTB premiered on February 22, 2003, and was simulcasted on ABS-CBN's VHF (led by flagship station Channel 2) and UHF channels (Studio 23) nationwide, with Revillame reunited with Santiago and Estrada, along with co-hosts Padilla, delas Alas, Bayani Agbayani, Mickey Ferriols, Aubrey Miles, Tado, and Bentong. The show gave out more cash prizes than its predecessor through the segments Super Jack En Poy and Urong Sulong, which gave away 2 million pesos as a jackpot prize.
Before the end of 2003, Revillame resigned from the show in regards to his derogatory joke against their co-host Mahal. The show continued to air until February 2004 with comedian Vhong Navarro and actor-host Edu Manzano taking over Willie's place. However, Masayang Tanghali Bayan failed to sustain viewership and was canceled on February 20, 2004, two days before its first anniversary on television.
MTB: Ang Saya Saya (2004–2005)
The third incarnation of MTB, entitled MTB: Ang Saya Saya premiered on February 21, 2004, with delas Alas, Manzano, and Arnell Ignacio as its main hosts. The show introduced a new set of co-hosts and segments, with a focus on reality talent-based search on the latter. However, these efforts were overshadowed by the Silver Special of Eat Bulaga! which received the highest rating of a noontime show exceeding 30%. On November 15, 2004, MTB: Ang Saya Saya lost its 12:00 pm slot to Kris Aquino's Pilipinas, Game KNB? and started airing as an afternoon variety show on a 12:45 pm time slot as the network's strategic move against the anniversary special, which failed. After months of low ratings, the management decided to cancel MTB: Ang Saya Saya on February 4, 2005, and launched a new noontime show hosted by Revillame.
Wowowee was ABS-CBN's longest-running noontime show. Former MTB main host Revillame returned on the noontime slot with the new show Wowowee on February 5, 2005. ABS-CBN's influence worldwide (via TFC) helped Wowowee lead the noontime race for years. The show faced controversies during its five-year run on television. The ULTRA Stampede, which happened during the first anniversary of the show, led to the death of 71 people. The Guinness World Records cited the incident as "the greatest death toll in a game show." Another controversy was the Hello Papi scandal, wherein Revillame allegedly cheated a contestant during the jackpot round on one of the Wowowee's game segments. The scandal also led to an on-air argument between Revillame and de Leon. Wowowee underwent two incarnations, with the first from February 5, 2005 to February 4, 2006, and second and final from March 11, 2006 to July 30, 2010.
It's Showtime started as Showtime which was a morning talent show that started airing on October 24, 2009, as a lead-in program to Wowowee, overtook the ratings of both Wowowee and EB.
Competition became harder for EB so they decided to take a different approach. To celebrate their 30th anniversary in 2009, they honored people from different fields, gave scholarships to honor students, and built classrooms for public schools in different provinces. EB also renovated their studio to accommodate more studio audience, install LED screens, and to commemorate the first death anniversary of Francis Magalona on March 6, 2010. EB also launched its widely popular segment Juan for All, All for Juan: Bayanihan of D' Pipol (a regular segment which broadcasts remotely from different barangays).
In 2010, Revillame threatened ABS-CBN management to remove radio/TV host Jobert Sucaldito, or he would resign from the noontime show due to Sucaldito's criticisms against Revillame and Wowowee. On May 5, Revillame left permanently. After negotiations between Revillame and the network, the network decided that Wowowee would end its second and final incarnation that started on March 11, 2006 and the program overall on July 30, 2010 (coinciding with Eat Bulaga!'s 31st anniversary on ABS-CBN's rival GMA). The show was replaced by Pilipinas Win Na Win.
Pilipinas Win Na Win premiered on July 31, 2010, replacing Wowowee and was ABS-CBN's shortest-lived noontime show, with Kris Aquino and Robin Padilla as its main hosts, while some co-hosts from Wowowee joined. Some of the show's staff left the show to join Revillame's comeback on TV5 In 2010. After receiving consistently low ratings since launch, ABS-CBN asked Aquino mid-September to leave the show; she quietly left in September 2010. Two days later on October 2, ABS-CBN officially announced four new hosts and two new co-hosts. The four hosts tagged as the "hitmakers" include Rico J. Puno, Rey Valera, Marco Sison, and Nonoy Zuñiga.
From October 2010 to February 11, 2011, Showtime became a noontime show, moving Pilipinas Win Na Win to a later noontime slot from October to December 31, 2010.
Revillame then transferred to TV5 on September 18, 2010, where he subsequently had stints with TV5 from October 23, 2010 (five months after he left from hosting Wowowee on May 5, 2010, three months after the said show ended on July 30 of that year, and also the same month where Showtime became a noontime show for the first time) to October 12, 2013, as a primetime game show host in Willing Willie, Wil Time Bigtime and briefly returned to noontime with Wowowillie. In 2015, he returned to Philippine television with hosting Wowowin , a primetime variety game show with the same format as the previous game shows on networks he previously served which are Wowowee (ABS-CBN), Willing Willie, Wil Time Bigtime, and Wowowillie (TV5) that aired on GMA and ALLTV from May 10, 2015, to April 5, 2023.
Pilipinas Win Na Win was cancelled at the end of 2010 in December 31, 2010, during the New Year celebration after constant low ratings and changing time slots. The cancellation was announced by Puno several times during the December 20 episode. Rumors were posted on entertainment websites from interviews of a fellow co-host, Valerie Concepcion before the network announced its cancellation.
After the cancellation of Pilipinas Win Na Win, ABS-CBN Studio 3 was later used as the studio of The Price Is Right hosted by Kris Aquino from February 14 to September 16, 2011, making the first non-afternoon show to use the studio after Wowowee's cancellation.
The unsuccessful stint of Pilipinas Win Na Win was immediately replaced by Happy Yipee Yehey! which premiered on February 12, 2011, returning Showtime to its original timeslot. Before its premiere, Willie Revillame (then-host of Willing Willie on TV5) challenged its upcoming host John Estrada that Happy Yipee Yehey! would not reach its success in terms of ratings and Revillame will promote Eat Bulaga! constantly on his show. Happy Yipee Yehey! was hosted by former MTB hosts John Estrada and Randy Santiago, along with Toni Gonzaga, Rico J. Puno and Pokwang. The new noontime show introduced segments similar to its predecessors like Pera O Bayong, My Girl and Miss Kasamabahay.
Revillame's prediction was correct. Two of the ABS-CBN noontime shows that aired after the 5 years, 4 months, and 18 days or 1,966 days domination of Wowowee which are Pilipinas Win na Win and Happy Yipee Yehey! both received consistently low ratings due to Eat Bulaga!'s strong noontime viewership. On January 28, 2012, Showtime went on hiatus as the show would be formatted to become a noontime show again which will replace Happy Yipee Yehey!. The drama series Mundo Man ay Magunaw took over the timeslot of Showtime while it was in hiatus from January 30 to February 3, 2012. Happy Yipee Yehey! aired its final episode on February 4, 2012, where it took over Showtime's timeslot on Saturday. Due to Showtime became the top morning variety show, ABS-CBN management decided to make it again a noontime show as It's Showtime after one year and its one-week hiatus on February 6, 2012, where it is continuously occupying the timeslot since then which made ABS-CBN's noontime slot again dominate that was not seen since the end of Wowowee 1 year and 7 months earlier on July 30, 2010. The show's return to a noontime slot introduced segments from the Showtime series and new segments like Sine Mo 'To, AdVice Ganda, That's My Tomboy, I Am PoGay, and Magpasikat. The show is currently hosted by Vice Ganda, Anne Curtis, Vhong Navarro, Jhong Hilario, Karylle, Ryan Bang, Kim Chiu, Ogie Alcasid, Amy Perez, Jugs Jugueta and Teddy Corpuz.
Following the ABS-CBN franchise renewal controversy, which led to the shutdown of ABS-CBN's free-to-air stations and the denial of the congressional franchise, It's Showtime resumed its broadcast on June 13, 2020, on Kapamilya Channel with simulcast on A2Z upon its launch in October 2020.
The show began its simulcast on TV5 on July 16, 2022, through a back-to-back deal with Tropang LOL , which was reformatted into a late morning variety show formerly called Lunch Out Loud. On May 1, 2023, It's Showtime returned to its original 12:00 PM timeslot, following the conclusion of Tropang LOL.
On June 30, 2023, It's Showtime ended its simulcast on TV5 and moved to GMA's sister network, GTV the next day with a new timeslot of 11:30 AM every Saturday.
Beginning April 6, 2024, It's Showtime made its mark as the third Kapamilya noontime show to air on GMA, following the footsteps of its predecessors Student Canteen (1975–1986) and Eat Bulaga! (1995–2023) which saw both noontime shows achieve greater success in ratings during their time as a Kapuso noontime show. On June 17, 2024, the show expanded its reach when it simulcasted on ALLTV, marking a return to its original home, Channel 2 analog free television and Channel 16 digital free TV, both former frequencies of the producer, ABS-CBN. [12]
Lunch Out Loud is one of the numerous programs produced by Brightlight Productions, a production outfit of former Rep. Albee Benitez, that serves as the blocktimer of TV5 and was directed by newcomer Bjoy Balagtas. Serving as Creative Director to the show was veteran television director and former Star Magic head and now GMA Artist Center consultant Johnny Manahan. Former It's Showtime director Bobet Vidanes later on joined the show in November 2020 also as a Creative consultant until he took over from Manahan as Creative Director in 2021.
On July 16, 2022, Lunch Out Loud was reformatted as Tropang LOL and started airing as a late-morning variety show. The show also began its simulcast in the pay TV Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, and A2Z as a preprogramming to its former rival It's Showtime which also started its simulcast on TV5 the same day. The show concluded on April 29, 2023, with It's Showtime returning to 12:00nn timeslot.
TiktoClock premiered on GMA Network in July 25, 2022 as pre-programming to Eat Bulaga! . Directed by Louie Ignacio, it was originally hosted by Kim Atienza, Pokwang and Rabiya Mateo. Conceptualized as a one-of-a-kind countdown variety show where “every minute counts.” it had an original running time of 45 minutes from 11:15 am until 12:00 nn but later expanded to an hour (11:15 am until 12:15 pm) when GMA started airing contemporary Filipino movies under the movie block Lunchtime Movie Hits following the cancellation of Tahanang Pinakamasaya. In April 8, 2024 the show was moved to an earlier timeslot (11:00 am to 12:00 nn) and had a simulcast until September 13, 2024 on GTV back-to-back with It's Showtime . Atienza, Pokwang, Jayson Gainza, Faith da Silva, Herlene Budol and Isko Moreno currently serve as the hosts.
E.A.T. officially premiered on July 1, 2023, amidst a dispute over the ownership rights of Eat Bulaga! trademark between TVJ and TAPE, as it marks the highly anticipated television screen return for the renowned trio Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon alongside Allan K., Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola, Paolo Ballesteros, Ryan Agoncillo, Maine Mendoza, Ryzza Mae Dizon, Tugue Zombie, Miles Ocampo, Atasha Muhlach, and Carren Eistrup. It airs on TV5 from Mondays to Fridays at 12:00 pm to 2:30 pm and Saturdays at 11:30 am to 2:30 pm, with simultaneous live streaming on social media platforms. It also has a delayed telecast on the BuKo Channel on Mondays at 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm and Tuesdays to Saturdays at 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm. [13]
It's Your Lucky Day is a noontime game-variety show produced as a temporary replacement for It's Showtime , following a 12-day suspension issued by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) due to an alleged obscene act of improper etiquette involving Vice Ganda and Ion Perez in a July 25 episode Isip Bata segment.
The show premiered on October 14, 2023, temporarily replacing It's Showtime for the duration of its suspension and aired until October 27, 2023.
Tahanang Pinakamasaya became the official title of TAPE Inc.'s noontime show after the Marikina Regional Trial Court issued a joint decision preventing them and their home station GMA from using the Eat Bulaga! trademark and other elements associated to it. The new noontime show retained the hosts and staff hired by TAPE Inc. from the new Eat Bulaga! that premiered on June 5, 2023 after former main hosts Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon left on May 31, 2023 along with their co-hosts and key staff members.
The show premiered on January 6, 2024 and aired their last live episode on March 2, 2024. Consequently, TAPE Inc.'s social media accounts were taken down hours after the final episode. Replays of selected episodes were aired from March 4, 2024 to March 7, 2024. TAPE Inc. issued an official statement at the end of the March 7, 2024 replayed finale episode that they have decided to end the show, marking an end to TAPE's 29-year airtime lease on GMA's noontime block. GMA, on the other hand, issued a separate official statement circulated through their social media accounts.
Following the cancellation of Tahanang Pinakamasaya, GMA started airing contemporary Filipino movies under the movie block Lunchtime Movie Hits which began on March 8, 2024 with the 2011 movie The Unkabogable Praybeyt Benjamin . The Saturday edition of Kapuso Movie Festival began airing on March 9, 2024 as the network's lead-in to Lunchtime Movie Hits on Saturdays. Both movie blocks ceased airing on April 6, 2024, as It's Showtime became GMA's new flagship noontime show following GMA's new contract agreement with ABS-CBN Studios which was signed on March 20, 2024.
