Former Senate President and Eat Bulaga host Tito Sotto made his reaction after It’s Showtime, the current holder of TV5’s noontime slot decided to transfer to GTV.
It can be remembered that TV5 originally planned to renew its contract with ABS-CBN and transfer Its Showtime to a nighttime slot and give its noontime slot for the new show made by the original hosts of Eat Bulaga who left GMA Network on May 31, 2023.
The decision of It’s Showtime would start a three-way ratings rivalry on the noontime slot.
However, Sotto believed that it’s more important for people to be happy by having more choices about what to watch during lunchtime.
“When we started ‘Eat Bulaga’ in 1979, the population of the Philippines was only 47 million. ‘Eat Bulaga’ lang ‘yon at ‘Student Canteen.’ Now we are 110 million. There’s room for everyone,” Sotto said.
“Ang pinakamaganda ay mapasaya natin ang ating mga kababayan. There’s a common denominator among us, lalo na ‘tong mga Dabarkads and ang production namin, loyalty,” he added.
TV5 President and CEO Guido R. Zaballero also said that the decision of It’s Showtime was a victory for televiewers.
“We respect the decision that they made. Ang pinakaimportante kasi is at the end of the day, panalo ‘yung Filipino viewers. This is a good day for TV. It proves that TV is really alive,” Zaballero said.