Philippine television drama

Philippine television drama, also known as teleserye, Filipino telenovelas or P-drama, is a form of melodramatic serialized fiction in television in the Philippines. Teleserye is rooted from two words: "tele," which is short for "television," and "serye," a Tagalog term for "series" and "drama" for drama.

Teleseryes share some characteristics and have similar roots with classic soap operas and telenovelas, yet the teleserye has evolved into a genre with its own unique characteristics, often working as a social realist reflection of Filipino reality. Teleseryes are aired in prime-time five days a week. They attract a broad audience crossing age and gender lines, and they command the highest advertising rates in the Philippine television industry. The series last anywhere from three months to a year, or even longer, depending on their rating.

Other forms of Philippine dramas include "serials" and "anthologies," which are usually shown on a weekly basis. These dramas are also intended to air a finite number of episodes usually lasting one season depending on the ratings.

Soap operas in the Philippines originated when Gulong ng Palad (Wheel of Fortune) was first heard on the radio in 1949. The genre then expanded into television in the early 1960s. The first Philippine TV soap opera was Hiwaga sa Bahay na Bato (The Magic Stone House) in 1963, and was produced by ABS-CBN. Larawan ng Pag-ibig (Picture of Love), Prinsipe Amante (Prince Amante), and many others soon followed.

The Radio Serial was also the longest-running spanned serial that spanned for decades by the co-writer and revival writer Loida Virina in the mid-1970s. The story was also made into a soap starring Marianne Dela Riva as Luisa and Ronald Corveau as Carding in the decade where rising soaps began. It also made stars out of the young Romnick Sarmenta and also Beth Bautista who was a model and famous actress in the 1980s. The soap also starred veteran actress and character actress Caridad Sanchez whose time in showbiz has spanned for more than six decades until today.

From 1972 to 1986, however, in the advent of the martial law period imposed by the former Marcos regime, ABS-CBN was closed by the government, leaving RPN-9 and GMA as the only two commercial television networks in the country. In the 1970s and mid-1980s, RPN-9 and GMA emerged as Philippines' fiercest rivaling television stations, and were the only domestic networks allowed to broadcast nationwide for most of the time being.

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