We Are Pathetic By Our Own Doing': Open Letter Rips GMA Executives Over Growing ABS-CBN Dominance

Tensions are rising within the broadcasting landscape as an unsigned open letter targeting top executives of GMA Network surfaces online. 

The candid critique accuses the Kapuso management of undermining its own creative talents while handing prime television real estate to ABS-CBN content and personalities.

​The letter spares no feelings regarding the return of Vice Ganda’s hit late-night talk show, Gandang Gabi, Vice! (GGV), which is set to air on both ABS-CBN platforms and GMA. Critics in the letter call out the move as an insult to homegrown Kapuso comedians like Boobay and Tekla—whose show The Boobay and Tekla Show (TBATS) lost its slot—and bring up past controversies involving veteran journalist Jessica Soho.

​The GGV Revival Controversy:

The letter slammed Vice Ganda’s announcement that GGV will broadcast on GMA, questioning why the network continues to uplift external stars at the expense of local talent.

​The Noontime Dilemma: It criticized GMA for giving the former Eat Bulaga! time slot to ABS-CBN's It's Showtime instead of greenlighting an original project created by GMA's in-house writers and producers.

​Drama Collaboration Backlash: Co-productions in drama and teleseryes were labeled as a tacit admission that ABS-CBN remains superior in drama production, despite Kapuso shows often outperforming them in traditional broadcast ratings.

​Media Expansion: The document highlighted Vice Ganda's recent two-year creative partnership with MediaQuest (TV5) while maintaining ties with ABS-CBN and appearing on GMA, dubbing the situation an unfair distribution of network clout.

​"GGV, It's Showtime, drama collaborations—ABS-CBN benefits the most. It distributes its programs through GMA while one of its biggest stars expands into MediaQuest and TV5. The irony is painful: ABS-CBN has increasingly invaded the airwaves of the network that supposedly won the war. We are pathetic by our own doing."

​While cross-network collaborations were initially praised as a historic shift for Philippine TV following the loss of ABS-CBN's broadcast franchise in 2020, this latest backlash highlights growing internal and fan fatigue over the dynamic. Neither GMA Network nor ABS-CBN executives have issued an official statement regarding the leaked letter.