'Bulaga' pilot in Indonesia gets good ratings
The debut of “Eat Bulaga” in Indonesia last Monday, July 16, did well, ratings-wise.
This was the good news Malou Choa-Fagar, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Television and Production Exponents Inc. (Tape Inc.), producer of the noontime show relayed to Yahoo! Philippines OMG! in a phone interview a day after she arrived from Indonesia.
“The Indonesian version airs for one-and-a-half-hours at 4 pm because they have to consider the viewers’ prayer time,” Malou added.
“Eat Bulaga”, the Indonesian version also retains all the segments Filipinos see everyday at noontime, like “Pinoy Henyo”, “One For All, All For One,” “Bolagaan” and “Karaoke Stud.”
And since Indonesians are not familiar with what “Eat Bulaga” means, Malou revealed that the pilot episode carried an explanation about the show’s program.
Unplanned
The Indonesian franchise was something Tape Inc. executives didn’t plan at all.
“It was they (Indonesia’s Surya Citra Televisi or SCTV)) who approached us,” recalls Malou. The program director Harsiwi Achmad has been watching “Bulaga” on YouTube even before she was not yet with SCTV. She studied the show closely and felt it will work in Indonesia. So when she moved to SCTV, she contacted a Filipino, Gerry de Guzman, who became the mediator between Indonesia and the Filipino 'Bulaga' executives.”
Malou recounts that the SCTV executives went to the Philippines to watch the show to see how it runs.
As of now, Malou explains, “Bulaga” Indonesia is on a trial period and SCTV will assess its performance after one season for 13 weeks.
