Pinoy Idol - Transition From Philippine Idol

Transition From Philippine Idol

ABC had previously announced during an episode of Philippine Idol and a report on ABC's late night news show Sentro that they would produce a second season of the show. However, rumors began to spread that Philippine Idol would not be having its second season in 2007 as planned, while major station GMA Network was planning to acquire the Idol franchise. Sources claimed that ABC incurred heavy losses in the previous season, primarily because of the low number of advertisement slots despite being a widely followed show. ABC asserted that it was still under negotiation with FremantleMedia about the second season and had earmarked Asian Idol as its "big launch", although there was a possibility that GMA was negotiating about Idol as well since the network already had local versions of Celebrity Duets and Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?--both FremantleMedia franchises.

After several negotiations, FremantleMedia had officially decided to move and to have the second season aired on GMA Network, which premiered on April 5, 2008. FremantleMedia's representative Geraldine Bravo said that it is "very fortunate" to find a new partner, while GMA Network's Senior Vice President for Entertainment Wilma Galvante added that both parties have agreed that the network "has the experience, the resources, and the people to mount talent-search programs".

ABC was reportedly sore about the deal, saying through its senior vice president for Corporate Affairs Terra Daffon that ABC was willing to buy only Idol with no other packages attached, but FremantleMedia has apparently found a better deal with GMA, "a giant" compared to their network which they described as a "Jack trying to climb the beanstalk". ABC was also saddened by rumors that GMA would relaunch the show instead of recognizing the first season and therefore not acknowledging Mau Marcelo as the first Philippine Idol. Daffon commented that GMA's move to acquire FremantleMedia programs was a complete turnaround from its previous vow not to "buy" any foreign franchise, and that it seemed set in battling rival ABS-CBN anew as the latter has franchises from Endemol. Galvante, meanwhile, countered that she will not back down from what she said that GMA will not "copy" foreign franchises completely, without making adjustments to entertain local viewers, which was different from her own statement over a year before that the GMA network did not need to "buy" a foreign franchise to put up their own talent searches.

Reports also said that GMA would treat Pinoy Idol as a completely different show, without referring to Philippine Idol as its "first season" and not recognizing Mau Marcelo as the "first winner".