BY MYLA IGLESIAS

GMA Network yesterday said it posted a double digit increase in TV advertising minutes in March despite the modest single-digit increase of 4.1 percent in total industry TV advertising load.

GMA, citing data from Nielsen Company Philippines, said it logged 8,348 advertising minutes in March 2009, up by 1,173 minutes or 16 percent from the previous year.

It said its rival ABS-CBN’s Broadcasting Corp.’s ad load dropped by 16.6 percent to 5,530 minutes in March.

GMA Network said it continued to load higher than ABS-CBN and was ahead by 2,818 minutes in March 2009. This lead is 420 percent higher than GMA’s lead over ABS-CBN of 542 minutes in March last year, it added.

GMA Network said it continued to dominate competition in TV ratings in viewer-rich Mega and Metro Manila, North and Central Luzon, and Total Urban Luzon, again citing data from AGB Nielsen Philippines in March 2009.

In Mega Manila, GMA Network got a 40.4 percent overall audience share, 9.3 percentage points higher than ABS-CBN’s 31.1 percent. In Metro Manila, GMA Network posted a 37.7 percent audience share versus ABS-CBN’s 33.6 percent.

In Total Urban Luzon, which accounts for 77 percent of the total TV household population in the country, GMA Network said it posted an overall audience share of 39 percent, up by 4.9 percentage points over ABS-CBN’s 34.1 percent. In North and Central Luzon, GMA’s overall audience share of 45.5 percent was up by 13.6 percentage points over ABS-CBN’s 31.9 percent.