Is it time to retire the Big Brother franchise?

May 20, 2014 Showbiz News PBB

Two housemates have since been evicted and, four have been nominated to get the boot in the continuing saga of Pinoy Big Brother All-In.

It was announced that Brazilian-Japanese model-actor Daniel Matsunaga will walk in the doors of Bahay Ni Kuya as a celebrity housemate to further boost the competition, not to mention bolster the star power in a dire attempt to ramp up its ratings.

You read it right: the show is apparently struggling in viewership among urban households nationwide, according to last week’s overnight ratings from both AGB Nielsen and Kantar Media.

Low ratings

PBB All-In was reported to have gotten a measly 12.5% in AGB’s last NUTAM (National Urban Television Audience Measurement) figures for May 14, which is even higher than the 12.3% it garnered in the same day on Kantar ratings, wherein ABS-CBN programs have been known to dominate. As such, it has been the weakest among all the primetime ABS-CBN shows, which have been reported to have consistently lorded it over on both AGB Nielsen and Kantar ratings—led by the topnotchers Mars Ravelo’s Dyesebel, Ikaw Lamang and The Legal Wife. To emphasize how PBB All-In is struggling, even the endlessly repeated GMA-7 anime programs Slamdunk and Inuyasha have fared better. And they are aired mornings.

What gives? Is it the utter lack of compelling housemates for viewers to watch and keep track of on a daily basis? Is this season seemingly out of focus or seemingly disjointed happenings that make viewers construe that they are just out to have fun and flirt? Are those petty, mundane issues among them worth the airtime? Could we blame it on the controversy that mired its season premiere encapsulated in the social media hashtag, #PBBScripted? Or is it the entire “All-In” format of placing celebrities, artista relatives, athletes and random people under one roof not working?

‘Jumped the gun’

Former PBB Celebrity Edition housemate and Third Big Placer Gaby dela Merced admits one specific misgiving among the producers of the show. The format wasn’t explained very well.

“It was never explained …what ‘All-In’ meant. And what ‘All-In’ meant was that they were getting housemates from before, as in ‘All-In’ from teenagers, to artista,” Gaby tells this blogger after she was named a member of the Team USANA Pilipinas, composed of the country’s top athletes who benefit from health supplements offered by the Utah-based nutrition company USANA Health Sciences.

Aside from thriving careers in showbiz and events management, Gaby is better known as a multi-awarded Asian Formula-3 race car driver and top Filipina athlete.

Admittedly, Gaby said this led to the whole brouhaha, which eventually may have made the primetime audience to switch channels.

Perception

“I think people jumped the gun because the first two people they put in were already popular,” Gaby said, referring to La Salle reserve cager Axel Torres and Star Magic talent Jane Oineza. She said this led to a “perception” that everything was pre-arranged and scripted.

“It’s a perception. Why did people line up all day in Araneta and waited for so long?,” Gaby stressed, recalling the final leg of auditions held at the Big Dome on April 15 that drew thousands of aspirants who endured the scorching heat and long lines just to get a crack at making the cut, but were disappointed to find out that celebrities were being named as housemates.

“So, it’s frustration ng tao,” Gaby noted.

With the new faces coming in and some sure adjustments in the show’s elements forthcoming, ABS-CBN will definitely do everything to save its precious Endemol reality show franchise. Adding a visiting former Kapamilya turned K-Pop superstar Sandara Park as guest was a good move. Unfortunately, it only lasted a day. Daniel’s entry, which adds the hunk heartthrob factor to strengthen or complicate things inside the house, is yet another strategy to enliven interest in the show. But is it enough? Other steps? PBB producers surely still have a lot under their sleeves, but is it too late?