Tito Sotto, Joey De Leon dismiss rumors of 'Eat Bulaga!' closure
Tito Sotto and Joey De Leon shut down rumors that Eat Bulaga! is closing amid losses.
On April 17’s episode during its Gimme 5 segment, the TV hosts brought up the speculations, which included producers of Eat Bulaga!, TV5 operator Media Quest, and their very own TVJ Productions alongside Vic Sotto supposedly holding meetings amid the increasing production costs of the noontime show.
"May mga sinungaling na nagkakalat na nalulugi raw tayo, at magsasara na raw tayo,” Sotto said.
De Leon, meanwhile, told him that the rumormongers are just jealous as Eat Bulaga! has been airing since 1979. "Naiinggit lang ang mga 'yan dahil hindi sila kasali sa Top 5 longest-running show in the world."
To dispel the rumors, Sotto said they’d give the media copies of their filed income tax returns from the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Without dropping names, De Leon also dared shows to last even at least 15 years.
“Baka luluhod ako sa harap niyo. Fifteen lang ha, hindi 50 years,” he said. “Bastusan na kasi ang labanan eh. Bastusan na, siraan, walang kuwenta. Enjoy lang tayo.”
"Umabot muna kayo ng 45 years. Longest-running, Top 5 in the world,” he added. “Mainggit kayo. Bakit kayo ganyan? Ang sasama ng ugali ninyo."
Vic, meanwhile, didn’t comment on the issue and only laughed at their pronouncements.
TVJ had an arduous trademark battle with its former producer TAPE Inc. on the usage of Eat Bulaga!, which was airing on GMA Network for the longest time.
They transferred to TV5 amid internal issues with TAPE and during the thick of things, they used E.A.T. as their show’s title.
In December, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPhl) revoked the “Eat Bulaga!” and “EB” trademarks from TAPE.
After losing the trademark battle, GMA’s noontime show was changed to Tahanang Pinakamasaya. It, however, went off the air last March. It was replaced by ABS-CBN's It's Showtime.
TVJ, meanwhile, started using Eat Bulaga! and its theme again following the IPOPHL decision.