ASAP

History

ASAP's first decade (1995–2003)

When Sa Linggo nAPO Sila became 'Sang Linggo nAPO Sila to replace Eat Bulaga! (which left ABS-CBN to go to GMA after then-producer TAPE Inc. (show now produced by TVJ Productions on TV5 and RPTV) denied ABS-CBN's offer to buy the airing rights of the show), a TV show was conceptualized by Deo Endrinal with a group of production people from the displaced APO show in January 1995 as a "concert party" on Sundays.

Martin Nievera accidentally joined the group while on break from taping his eponymous talk show. He gave the show the title acronym ASAP which stood for All-Star Sunday Afternoon Party. The production group decided to bring him and Pops Fernandez, along with Ariel Rivera and Dayanara Torres, as main hosts for the show. The cast of Pare Ko (Claudine Barretto, Victor Neri, Roselle Nava, Gio Alvarez, Jao Mapa, Mark Anthony Fernandez, Nikka Valencia) became co-hosts for the show to attract younger audiences.

In 1996, the show's line-up of co-hosts and performers evolved as it included different young stars from ABS-CBN's Talent Center (Ang TV, Gimik and Star Circle). The show also celebrated its first anniversary as it finally wrested the top spot away from its closest rival, GMA Supershow. The show became victorious in 1997 as they celebrated their 2nd anniversary from the Araneta Coliseum, as their former institutional rival show GMA Supershow folded up; Supershow was replaced by SOP.

The show originally had its own theme song, "Hot na Hot sa ASAP", in 1995. During the show's second anniversary, another theme song was released, entitled "Better Than Ever", to replace the original theme. Initial broadcast commenced on February 5, 1995, at the Delta Theatre on Quezon Avenue. In 1997, the show was transferred to Studio 3 of the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center in Quezon City, sharing space with 'Sang Linggo nAPO Sila. However, it suffered a setback on May 10, 1998, when one of the main hosts, Martin Nievera, resigned from the show because of marital issues with co-host (and now ex-wife) Pops Fernandez, and also to focus on his eponymous late night talk show. Dayanara Torres later left the show to pursue a career in Hollywood. Richard Gomez and Zsa Zsa Padilla became regular hosts from that time, as replacements for Nievera and Torres.

On February 7, 1999, the show celebrated its 4th anniversary, via a simultaneous broadcast from the Cuneta Astrodome, in Pasay, and the University of St. La Salle Coliseum, in Bacolod City, to usher the second season of the MBA. Magandang Tanghali Bayan main hosts Randy Santiago, John Estrada, and Willie Revillame helped in hosting ASAP from Bacolod while the main hosts were in Cuneta Astrodome. In the same year, the show celebrated the finales of top-rating soaps Mula sa Puso and Esperanza with a grand production number.

ASAP Mania (2003–2005)

In April 2003, the show was reformatted as ASAP Mania, after it lost its top-rating status to SOP Rules. Consequently, some original main hosts, such as Ariel Rivera and Pops Fernandez, later left the show, while Martin Nievera and Zsa Zsa Padilla started hosting the show on a semi-regular basis. The biggest talent acquisitions of the show, however, were Gary Valenciano and Kuh Ledesma, who replaced Rivera and Fernandez. Valenciano and Ledesma signed exclusive contracts with ABS-CBN and also had creative input to make the show more interesting. In addition, Valenciano also celebrated his 20th showbiz anniversary on the show earlier that year.

Some ASAP segments such as "Star in a Million" and "Victim" became such hits with the viewers that the ABS-CBN management decided to turn both segments into full-length shows on weekend primetime in November of that year. The move resulted in the network regaining lost audience share on weekends as both shows were rated highly against their rival counterparts.

In 2004, ASAP gradually regained leadership with the addition of singing champions from Viva-produced singing contests Star for a Night, on IBC, and Search for a Star, on GMA Network, (Sarah Geronimo, Mark Bautista, and Rachelle Ann Go) and ABS-CBN's very own Star in a Million (Sheryn Regis, Christian Bautista, and Erik Santos) along with their runners-up.

In May 2004, ASAP launched a youth-oriented spin-off, ASAP Fanatic, to serve as a venue for its new young stars (some of which came from Star Circle Quest) to perform and interact with fans. First-generation housemates and cast of Pinoy Big Brother would later join the spin-off in 2005. The show held a special advanced anniversary episode on October 10 of the same year at the Folk Arts Theater and the PhilSports Arena.

ASAP '05; use of year logos (2005–2009)

In 2005, the format changed to ASAP '05 and added rising TV host Toni Gonzaga and commercial-model-turned-singer Nikki Gil. From that year until 2009, the show's name featured the last two digits of the year (e.g. ASAP '08 in 2008).

In 2006, the show absorbed talent from the displaced spin-off show ASAP Fanatic and became a three-hour show. It also launched a somewhat complicated logo resembling LED lights, where the words ASAP were made out of connected dots, which had been in use until 2015. Also in January of that same year, boxing legend Manny Pacquiao guested on the show.

On June 18, 2006, Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson performed for the first time on the ASAP stage, following their stint on Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Edition 1. A few months later, the ASAP Pop Viewers' Choice Awards was launched, where the best in domestic pop culture was honored.

In February 2007, Asia's Nightingale, Lani Misalucha, joined the show on a temporary basis while ex-SOP performers Karylle (daughter of Zsa Zsa Padilla) and Billy Crawford followed suit in 2008. The show also rolled out a grand welcome fit for royalty when it introduced then-Kapuso Primetime actress Angel Locsin as the newest Kapamilya actress in August, and the following month, KC Concepcion, after her long stay in Paris.

On January 27, 2008, the show was aired from different locations as it also officially started the 55th anniversary celebrations of ABS-CBN.

The year 2009 saw milestones for the show, as it launched new groups including the Kanto Boys and Sessionistas. Midway through that year, the ratings of its rival show SOP declined due to ASAP again completely regaining the credibility, prestige, and acclaim it once lost to the former. As a result, its rival show reformatted before that same year ended, but the move no longer worked with the viewers. The show also paid tribute to Efren Peñaflorida, who was hailed as CNN Hero, as well as former President Corazon Aquino, in August, (who happens to be the mother of recurring guest star Kris Aquino).

ASAP XV, ASAP Rocks, ASAP 2012 (2010–2015)

On January 3, 2010, the show was relaunched as ASAP XV to mark its fifteenth anniversary. Year numbers in the show title weren't adapted but instead anniversary marks were used. America's Best Dance Crew champion Jabbawockeez also became guest performers since then. During the show's special anniversary episode on February 7, 2010, a new set was introduced and an opening break bumper (OBB) was instituted for the first time. Competition became a three-way battle when GMA Network (Party Pilipinas) and TV5 (P.O.5) produced their own "concert party" shows, where some of their talents and staff were ASAP alumni. In October of that same year, the show celebrated the diamond anniversary of another valued advertiser of ABS-CBN, P&G Philippines, and Carol Banawa guested once again to promote her new album.

On January 2, 2011, the show was launched as ASAP Rocks as a way of asserting its over-the-top but tastefully conceptualized production numbers, and the first episode for 2011 began with a short audio–visual presentation (AVP) emphasizing the "concert experience" format. On April 3, 2011, a new set was introduced, and for the first time in show's history, the show welcomed the Eat Bulaga! main host Vic Sotto as a special guest, performing in the show twice (April and December 2011) to promote separately the two movies that he did for ABS-CBN's film arm Star Cinema. In his December 2011 guesting, Vic was joined by some of his Eat Bulaga! co-hosts on stage to promote the MMFF entry Enteng ng Ina Mo. All of these moments occurred before both Eat Bulaga! and ASAP being aired together on TV5 twelve years later. The show also lost its two former co-hosts and performers AJ Perez and RJ Rosales that same year, due to their deaths.

On January 1, 2012, the show again used year numbers, after they were last used in 2009, with ASAP 2012. On January 22 of that same year, the show celebrated the Chinese New Year through a special episode taped at the Quirino Grandstand. The following month, Sarah Geronimo temporarily left the show as she was given her own primetime show, Sarah G. Live. July of that year saw the show making milestone episodes which include the 20th anniversary of Star Magic, a farewell tribute to Comedy King Dolphy Quizon in the wake of his death, and the 50th and 30th showbiz anniversaries of Vilma Santos and Martin Nievera, respectively. In August of that year, the show gave support to its main host Zsa Zsa Padilla as she battled a kidney disease before returning in September. On December 16 of that year, Venezuelan actor Fernando Carrillo guested on the show during his visit to the Philippines.

ASAP's second decade (2015–2018)

On January 3, 2016, for the second time in 13 years, the show was titled just ASAP. Jolina Magdangal and Luis Manzano became main hosts of the show. On January 10 of the same year, the show paid tribute to their erstwhile rival GMA Supershow's "Master Showman" German Moreno, who died two days prior.

In February 2016, another singing contest grand winner from the GMA Network, Jonalyn Viray transferred to ABS-CBN under the screen name Jona and officially joined the show. A few weeks later, ASAP moved to an earlier timeslot, at 11:45 AM, and extended its runtime to 2 hours and 45 minutes. Meanwhile, the comedy gag show Banana Sundae was transferred to a later timeslot, at 2:30 PM.

On May 15, 2016, ASAP launched two singing groups: the ASAP Birit Queens, an all-female vocal group composed of Jona Viray, Morissette, Klarisse de Guzman, and Angeline Quinto; and the ASAP Soul Sessions, a soul/R&B vocal group composed of Jason Dy, Daryl Ong, Jay R, KZ Tandingan, and Kyla. However, both groups disbanded in late 2017 as part of the show's introduction of new segments that were more youthful. Two weeks later, the show celebrated the 25th anniversary of MMK with Charo Santos-Concio as a guest who paid tribute to the latter show's impact on Philippine television.

On July 3 of that year, the show instituted a new segment, "ASAPinoy", paying tribute to Filipino composers and singers who contributed to the success of Original Pilipino Music (OPM), with a special episode held at the Newport Performing Arts Theater. By October of the same year, the show welcomed Ogie Alcasid as a regular performer after a few years of guest appearances. However, this segment ended in October 2018 with Ariel Rivera as the last artist paid tribute to, followed by Rico J. Puno during the Himig Handog 2018 Finals after his death.

On May 21, 2017, ASAP staged a special episode at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in celebration of Star Magic's 25th anniversary and was soon divided into two parts. The first part was staged live, while the second part (aired the following week) was pre-taped.

In January 2018, ASAP replaced their existing segments with new segments, including "ASAP TLC: The Love Connection" replacing "ASAP LSS: Love Songs and Stories", and adding "ASAP RePlay Retro Playlist", which honored legendary international acts. On April 15 of that year, ASAP launched a dance segment titled "ASAP MYX: The Maja-Yassi Xperience" and, in June, a teen singing group called ASAP G!.

ASAP Natin 'To, ASAP XP and the 2020s decade (2018–present)

After ASAP Live in Sydney and the Himig Handog 2018 Grand Finals, it was confirmed through different showbiz websites that the show would undergo a reformat as ASAP Natin 'To which also coincided with the entry of Regine Velasquez as one of the show's main hosts. Jasmin Pallera was named as the new supervising producer/business unit head of the show, replacing long-time business unit head Joyce Liquicia. Some of the show's cast were retained, contrary to reports that some of them would not be seen on the show. On November 15, 2018, all social media accounts of ASAP unveiled the teaser and the new logo of the now revitalized show, to be renamed ASAP Natin 'To. Only the typeface, since 2015, continues to be used; no segments from the previous era were carried over.

The reformatted show premiered on November 18, 2018, a week after the Himig Handog 2018 Grand Finals. On December 2, 2018, a new online show, iWant ASAP, was launched, hosted by Robi Domingo, Donny Pangilinan, Maymay Entrata, and Edward Barber. The online show airs at 11:30 am PHT, 15 minutes before the airing of ASAP Natin 'To, replacing ASAP Chillout.

On December 2, 2018, the show launched their first segment under the new format entitled "The Greatest Showdown", which featured various singers. As of now, Martin Nievera, Pops Fernandez, Ariel Rivera, Sharon Cuneta, and Jolina Magdangal are the only original artists remaining since the show's first airing in 1995.

On January 5, 2020, the same day current rival program All-Out Sundays premiered on GMA, ASAP Natin' To celebrated its 25th anniversary in advance, and also partly reverted to its original format.

On February 9, 2020, ASAP Natin' To launched a new segment titled ASAP Concert Presents, with the Pair of Aces (Jona and Darren Espanto) performing on the first part of the segment.

On March 10, 2020, ASAP Natin 'To, along with other ABS-CBN shows, temporarily stopped the admission of live studio audiences as part of the country's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, upon the country's declaration of a state of public health emergency. On March 15, 2020, as Metro Manila was placed under a community quarantine, the show stopped staging live episodes and aired replays for the first 2 weeks. Despite having a scheduled live episode to be staged on the said date; it was cancelled due to the already-imposed restrictions. The show later taped new episodes via remote work arrangements via Zoom, from March 29, 2020, onwards.

Cast

Main hosts

Luis Manzano (since 2003)

Kim Chiu (since 2006)

Robi Domingo (since 2008)

James Reid (2010–2012; since 2014)

Alexa Ilacad (since 2014)

Darren Espanto (since 2015)

Kyle Echarri (since 2016)

Maymay Entrata (since 2017)

Donny Pangilinan (2017–2020; since 2021)

Janine Gutierrez (since 2021)

Belle Mariano (since 2021)

Kai Montinola (since 2025)

OPM Icons

Martin Nievera (1995–1998; since 2002)

Zsa Zsa Padilla (since 1998)

Gary Valenciano (since 2003)

Sarah Geronimo (since 2004; on hiatus)

Erik Santos (since 2004)

Jed Madela (since 2005)

Yeng Constantino (since 2006)

Angeline Quinto (since 2011)

KZ Tandingan (since 2012)

Ogie Alcasid (since 2017)

Regine Velasquez-Alcasid (since 2018)

Current regular/semi-regular performers

Six Part Invention (since 2019)

Release

For most of its broadcast history ASAP was broadcast on ABS-CBN, from its premiere in 1995 to 2020. Following the shutdown of ABS-CBN due to its franchise non-renewal on July 10, 2020, ASAP moved to ABS-CBN Corporation's pay television network Kapamilya Channel, with simulcasts of the variety show available on Jeepney TV. In October 2020, the show made its free TV return on A2Z. From January 24, 2021, until December 28, 2025, and again since October 18, 2026, ASAP started its simulcasts on TV5, replacing Brightlight Productions shows such as Sunday Noontime Live!, I Got You, and Sunday 'Kada. Additionally, since January 4, 2026, the show simulcasts was later expanded into ALLTV, thus marking the show returned to former main ABS-CBN's terrestrial television network channel frequencies as well as discontinuing the ASAP Natin 'To name and logo after 7 years.

Ratings

ASAP was consistently the leading Sunday noontime show on Philippine television from 1995 until it was rated number 2 in 2002, when SOP took over the number one spot. It was ranked number one throughout 2003 and 2004, but went back to number 2 when GMA became the leading network in Mega Manila. ASAP once again became the ratings leader from 2007 until early 2020; the ratings leadership became more intense in 2009, which caused the reformatting of SOP in November of that year.

ASAP temporarily ceased airing live shows in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown of its home network on free-to-air-television, ABS-CBN. When it returned on Free TV in October 2020 and eventual return to former main ABS-CBN television service channel frequencies in January 2026, the program was losing in ratings to All-Out Sundays, a current rival program on GMA hosted by Alden Richards, Julie Anne San Jose, and former ASAP mainstays Christian Bautista, Mark Bautista, Bea Alonzo, and Rayver Cruz.

Licensing and merchandise

ASAP Music

ASAP Music is the record label of ASAP, distributed by Star Music. The label has released a tribute compilation album to OPM classic pop-rock band Hotdog. It has also released soundtracks of ABS-CBN TV series Sana Maulit Muli, My Girl, and Your Song presents: My Only Hope, all of which starred Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson. It has also released dance compilations for the defunct segment "Ultimate Dance 4" and the current segment "Supah Dance Plus". All contain original remixes and dance songs.

ASAP Pop Viewers' Choice Awards

ASAP Pop Viewers' Choice Awards is an annual award show that is held on a Sunday afternoon during a ASAP variety show at the end of every year, usually in November or December. It honors the year's biggest television, movie, and music acts, as voted by Kapamilya fans. In November 2015, the ASAP Pop Viewers' Choice Awards was changed to ASAP Pop Teen Choice Awards.

Others

ASAP Lifestyle – ASAP's clothing line, available through BUM boutiques in the Philippines.

ASAP Bookazine – ASAP's book-magazine, and the first ever book-magazine released by a Philippine TV show.

ASAP Online – ASAP's official website, where viewers, fans and supporters can view information about the show, read fun facts about the cast, get an update on the events and lifestyle, view photos and videos on-set, send their requests to artists, and even chat with them.

ASAP Remix – A "throwback" spin-off musical variety show aired on Jeepney TV every Sunday from 12:00 AM to 1:30 AM, just hours before the latest ASAP XP episodes will air on the Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, All TV, and TV5. It features selected memorable production numbers featuring the entire ASAP cast with special guests from more than the past 30 years.

ASAP XP Replay – A replay of the show's episode is aired on Metro Channel every Sunday from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM and on Jeepney TV from 10:00 PM to 12:00 MN.

Studios used by ASAP

Delta Theatre (February 5, 1995 – early 1997)

ABS-CBN Studio 3 (March 1997 – 2004)

ABS-CBN Studio 10 (2004 – 2026)

Tours

Since 1996, ASAP has held at least one show every year outside the studio (except years when the COVID-19 pandemic prevailed). Since 2014, the international shows are held in the middle–late part of the year, and a taped episode is aired the week of the concert. Then the international concert is aired in the following two to four weeks, divided into two to four parts.