What goes up must come down. Or perhaps it would be more fitting to say that the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
This is probably the best way to describe the AlDub phenomenon that rocked the country in 2015.
In July 2015, Philippine Television saw the birth of a new craze, a phenomenon that rocked every aspect of marketing, branding, social media, and television. “Eat Bulaga,” that has been on the air for the past four decades, its renewed energy courtesy of AlDub attracted a lot of viewers and renewed interest in the long-running noontime show.
READ: ABS-CBN, unfazed with AlDub Phenomenon
In an article by marketing expert Josiah Go published in the Inquirer, the AlDub craze was cited for bringing “Eat Bulaga” to new heights. The phenomenon was able to propel EB’s viewership to 6.2 million households during its ‘Tamang Panahon’ episode at the Philippine Arena. It also held a record of over 41 million tweets.
Like a shooting star, however, AlDub is fast losing its popularity, according to Go.
He said there was a rapid decline of AlDub’s viewers from 6.2 million in October 2015 to 4 million in November 2015, 3.5 million in early December 2015 and 2.6 million just before the end of 2015.
This was confirmed by Kantar Media that revealed that “It’s Showtime” is now beating Eat Bulaga’s National TV Ratings. From January 11, 2016, “It’s Showtime” scored higher TV ratings than its rival where the ‘Kalyeserye’ is being aired.
That is the first time since the AlDub phenomenon was born that ABS-CBN’s noontime show has beaten “Eat Bulaga.”
Although AlDub related hashtags still remain on top during Eat Bulaga’s time slot, the number of tweets drastically went down. Is this an indication of netizens slowly loosing interest of the tandem? Maybe it is.
Aside from ratings and TV viewership, another indication that can be attributed to AlDub’s lackluster ratings is the recent MMFF 2015.
While AlDub’s “My Bebe Love” got the record for the highest opening gross sales of over 60 million, the movie didn’t meet the country’s expectation. AlDub fans were eager to rally behind the film, saying it can go as high as 1 billion in gross ticket sales, but the target was not met and it failed to secure the top spot.
While “My Bebe Love” was on top of gross sales from Christmas Day until the end of the year, it eventually lost to the Vice Ganda-Coco Martin starrer “Beauty and the Bestie” that emerged as the MMFF’s top grossing film, leaving the AlDub movie to the No. 2 spot. Even though there were issues of ticket swapping (which the MMFF committee denied), Star Cinema announced that “Beauty and the Bestie” has become the highest grossing Filipino film of all time.
READ: “Beauty and the Bestie” reigns over “A Second Chance” as top grosser movie in Philippines
That being said, is the phenomenal AlDub love team finally losing its appeal? Is this the end of the craze that rocked the nation?
Is AlDub’s fame starting to fade?
