Kris not part of new GMA 7 lineup

Kris Aquino

When Kris Aquino announced in September last year that she was leaving ABS-CBN, observers assumed that she’d soon be seen on GMA 7, because APT Entertainment, the company she signed a deal with, is closely associated with the Kapuso network.

It has already been four months since the news broke, but GMA 7 executives still don’t have a definite answer about whether or not a show for Kris is truly in the works.

“We don’t have any idea right now. She’s being managed by a different group; we have yet to hear from them,” senior vice president for entertainment Lilybeth Rasonable insisted, when it was pointed out to her at a press con that Kris’ name was noticeably missing from GMA 7’s lineup of new shows for 2017.

Is the loquacious celebrity not welcome in Rasonable’s turf? “If she weren’t welcome, Kris wouldn’t have been able to guest in Marian Rivera’s talk show, ‘Yan ang Morning,’”  the network executive replied.

She said that should Kris be interested in becoming a “blocktimer,” no one is stopping her from doing so: “Our department isn’t directly involved with blocktimers, but I can say that she’d have to go through the same process as everyone else,” she said.

Meanwhile, Rasonable admitted that the beginning of 2016 was “tough” for them, ratings-wise. But from September onwards, Rasonable—citing figures from AGB Nielsen—claimed that GMA 7 was able to regain the upper hand in the ratings battle, thanks to its revitalized primetime programming, led by the network’s top performers, like “Alyas Robin Hood” and “Encantadia 2016.”

For the first three months of 2017, GMA 7 is banking on the success of the following to sustain its momentum: Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza’s “Destined to be Yours”; Janine Gutierrez’s “Legally Blind”; Dennis  Trillo’s “Mulawin vs Ravena”; and Jennylyn Mercado and Gil Cuerva’s “My Love from the Star.”