MANILA, Philippines – It’s official. 

Jalosjos family-led Television and Production Exponents Incorporated (TAPE) and GMA Network (GMA) Incorporated announced on Thursday, March 7, that the noon show, Tahanang Pinakamasaya, will no longer air on GMA’s free TV Channel 7 starting Friday. 

“It is with heavy heart that we inform our televiewers that our noontime show ‘Tahanang Pinakamasaya’ on Kapuso network, GMA 7, will no longer be on air effective March 8, 2024,” TAPE said in a statement shared by GMA on its X (formerly Twitter) account and aired on GMA’s talk show Fast Talk with Boy Abunda.

“Despite our best efforts to save the show, both parties have reached a mutual agreement to finally call off the show,” the production firm led by ex-convict Romeo Jalosjos Sr. said. 

Tahanang Pinakamasaya ran replays from Monday to Thursday this week after announcing on its YouTube account that its show last Saturday was its “farewell episode.” TAPE adopted the name Tahanang Pinakamasaya only last January following an order by a Marikina court to stop using Eat Bulaga!

In a separate statement posted on its social media accounts, GMA said, “Due to unavoidable circumstances, TAPE has made the difficult decision to cease the airing of Tahanang Pinakamasaya.” 

GMA announced that Tahanang Pinakamasaya would be replaced by Lunchtime Movie Hits, which appears to be temporary.

TAPE thanked GMA for “understanding” the company’s “unwanted circumstances” that led to the show’s demise, an apparent reference to the bitter dispute between Jalosjos’ children and comedians Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, and Joey de Leon (TVJ) on how to run the show. The trio were the principal mainstays of Eat Bulaga! who were behind much of the show’s success along with TAPE’s part-owner, Antonio Tuviera, for the past four decades.

Eat Bulaga!, which began airing in 1979, is now on tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan’s TV5 network. It is one of the longest-running television shows in the Philippines.

TAPE thanked the show’s “loyal viewers, esteemed hosts, supportive advertisers, hardworking crew and dedicated employees” who have been with them since the firm began producing the show. Around 100 employees will reportedly be affected by the show’s demise.

Former Manila Mayor Isko Moreno and actor-comedian Paolo Contis led Tahanang Pinakamasaya after TVJ left TAPE in May 2023.

TAPE has a block time agreement with GMA to air a noon show on Channel 7 until end of 2024.

“GMA Network would like to thank TAPE for its invaluable contribution to noontime programming for the past decades, which Filipinos will surely remember for many years to come,” the Philippines’ leading media conglomerate also said.

“The Network will always be grateful to TAPE for its partnership over the past decades,” the company now led by Gilberto “Jimmy” Duavit Jr. said. 

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– Rappler.com