Tag: ABS-CBN

Manila, Philippines – Media company ABS-CBN has announced the retrenchment of 100 of its employees, accounting for the company’s 3% of its workforce.

The company has confirmed said news to MARKETECH APAC when reached out, citing the global decline in pay TV business, as well as the TV industry being hurt by lower consumer spending translating into lower advertising spends.

“We are committed to providing those affected with full benefits and support, and are deeply grateful for their many years of service to the company and to the public,” ABS-CBN said in a press statement.

Nonetheless, ABS-CBN has highlighted how its TV ratings continue to improve, as well as its film studio Star Cinema producing two box office-hitting titles ‘Unhappy for You’ and ‘Rewind’. 

It has also highlighted that its music business has gotten a strong boost from the popularity of girl band BINI–which has been notable lately for their brand collaborations with local brands like Jollibee, Modess, Surf, Sunsilk, amongst others.

ABS-CBN has struggled to maintain its revenue since its franchise on free TV and radio has been revoked by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. Following that, the network has laid off more than 4,000 employees as it affected multiple verticals of the media company.

In 2023, its radio channel TeleRadyo also ceased operations, with its 630 kHz frequency taken over by a new ‘TeleRadyo Serbisyo’ done in partnership with ABS-CBN and Prime Media Holdings.

The media industry in the Philippines has been experiencing difficulties as well, which resulted in shutdowns like of CNN Philippines in January this year.

Manila, Philippines – PLDT and ABS-CBN have jointly announced that it will cancel the proposed acquisition of Sky Cable, a cable television service provider owned by ABS-CBN. The announcement was made via Sky Cable’s official media channels.

Both parties have not mentioned the reason for this cancellation. MARKETECH APAC checked both stock disclosures of PLDT and ABS-CBN for further information, but no other details of the reason for the acquisition cancellation have been disclosed as of this writing.

With this, Sky Cable will continue its broadcasting operations beyond February 26, the supposed final broadcast date for the cable TV service provider. Its broadband operations remain unaffected as well.

“We thank all our SKY subscribers for their continued patronage and support. We remain committed to providing the same level of customer experience and service for both our cable and internet services,” the company said.

It is worth noting that both the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have already approved the acquisition deal earlier this year.

Details about the merger first came into light when ABS-CBN, the parent company of Sky Cable, signed an agreement with PLDT back in March 2023 to sell off fully the business to PLDT. It is also worth noting that Cignal, the media firm under PLDT’s MediaQuest affiliate, had already a 34.99% stake in Sky Cable, which materialised back in 2022.

Manila, Philippines – Media giant ABS-CBN has announced that will be shutting down ‘TeleRadyo’, a pay television channel under its ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs (ANC) arm. According to the company, the closure was brought by financial losses it had experienced since 2020.

“The company is deeply saddened by this closure and having to part ways with the many passionate and committed people who have made Teleradyo an important source of news and information for many Filipinos,” ABS-CBN said in a statement.

TeleRadyo was founded in 2007 as the television counterpart of the commercial news and radio channel DZMM Radyo Patrol. Following the cease and desist order from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to close its broadcasting activities, DZMM Radyo Patrol ceased operations alongside its other free broadcasting channels. They have then moved to TeleRadyo for continued reporting.

Following the TeleRadyo closure announcement, ABS-CBN has also announced a joint venture with Prime Media Holdings. Said venture will produce various programs, which will be supplied to broadcasters and other third party platforms including Philippine Collectivemedia Corporation.

Prime Media Holdings is the majority shareholder of the new venture, with ABS-CBN serving as a minority shareholder.

ABS-CBN also hopes that through its deal with Prime Media, they can help some of their former personnel a chance to find new job opportunities.

Manila, Philippines – Media giant ABS-CBN has announced a partnership with Indian over-the-top (OTT) service MX Player to bring several of its shows to India, dubbed in multiple languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, and Malayalam.

Some of these shows include “The General’s Daughter”, “Hanggang Saan” (A Mother’s Guilt), “A Love to Last”, “Mea Culpa”, and “Love Thy Woman”.

According to ABS-CBN, its recent partnership reflects its cross-border endeavours, such as international co-productions, content adaptations, and multilingual distributions, which is deemed a ‘timely opportunity’ for them.

Maribel Hernaez, managing director for Asia-Pacific at ABS-CBN Global, said, “In this partnership, ABS-CBN and MX Player are able to show to a wider range of audience the shared culture of Filipinos and Indians, and – more importantly – a true humanity through exceptional storytelling. Whether it’s about revenge or a love story, crime or action, family or society, viewers will surely find a story apt to their taste.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for MX Player said, “MX Vdesi is a content category that is performing extremely well on our platform, and we strive to bring viewers compelling stories from around the world in an Indian language of their preference. We’re delighted to expand into a new international territory with the addition of these five Filipino titles and we believe the highly relevant and relatable narratives will strike a chord with Indian audiences.”

The new partnership comes after a recent partnership by ABS-CBN with Warner Brothers Discovery to bring several of its lifestyle programs across APAC viewers. ABS-CBN has also teamed up with media giant rival GMA Network to bring several of its ‘Star Cinema’ movies to the network, as well as partnering with Hong Kong telco SmarTone to provide Filipino entertainment content in Hong Kong.

Manila, Philippines – National media conglomerate ABS-CBN has signed a deal with US-based global media conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery to bring ABS-CBN’s lifestyle programs to a much wider audience in Asia.

Three of the highlighted programs include ‘Beached’. a travel show hosted by Marc Nelson and Maggie Wilson–which will air on Discovery Asia, as well as ‘The Crawl’ by Piolo Pascual and ‘Foodprints’ by Sandy Daza, which will air on the Asian Food Network.

Aside from linear broadcast, the three shows will also be available on the streaming platform Discovery+ on iOS and Android devices.

Locally, these programs can be watched on the Metro Channel, Cignal, and GSAT.

The international partnership just comes months after ABS-CBN terminated its previously-agreed partnership with local media network TV5, over concerns of local regulations and scrutiny brought by the suspension of its media franchise on free television.

Despite that, ABS-CBN has been expanding locally and internationally, most recently with its opening of a Los Angeles office, as well as partnering with fellow media giant GMA Network and Hong Kong-based telco SmarTone.

Manila, Philippines – Barely a month after Philippine media giants ABS-CBN and TV5 have announced their sales and purchase agreement, both companies have now agreed to terminate said agreement. This comes after both companies temporarily suspended their partnership following lawmaker and regulator concerns.

In a stock exchange filing submitted by ABS-CBN to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the company said that both parties confirmed that they have not implemented any of the transactions covered by the sale and purchase Agreement, as well as the debt instruments agreement.

In a separate disclosure, TV5 and ABS-CBN also announced that they have mutually agreed to terminate the investment agreement dated 10 August covering the proposed acquisition by ABS-CBN of 34.99% equity interest in TV5 and the convertible note agreement dated 10 August covering the proposed subscription by ABS-CBN to a convertible note to be issued by TV5.

As previously reported by Inquirer, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said that Congress should look into the previous allegations brought to ABS-CBN and its holding company Lopez Holdings during the 2020 Congress session on the media giant’s franchise, including tax payments and foreign ownership that ABS-CBN had refuted before.

Manila, Philippines – The previously-announced historic partnership between ABS-CBN and TV5 has been paused by both companies following concerns raised by regulators and lawmakers alike.

In a joint statement, ABS-CBN and TV5 said that the pause will give the space for both media organisations to respond to the issues, and accommodate any relevant changes to the terms.

“Both ABS-CBN and TV5 believe that an agreement between the two media companies will have a favourable impact on Philippine media, and on free-to-air television—which remains the most affordable and extensive source of entertainment and public service to Filipinos,” both companies stated.

Through the previously announced partnership, ABS-CBN Corp will acquire 6,459,393 primary (new) common shares in TV5, representing around 34.99% of the total voting and outstanding capital stock of TV5 for PHP2.16b.

In addition, cable and satellite TV subsidiaries of ABS-CBN and PLDT also entered into a similar deal. Cignal Cable Corp, under MediaQuest, said it was acquiring 38.88% of Sky Cable Corp, under ABS-CBN, for PHP2.862b.

In a report by Inquirer, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said that Congress should look into the previous allegations brought to ABS-CBN and its holding company Lopez Holdings during the 2020 Congress session on the media giant’s franchise, including tax payments and foreign ownership that ABS-CBN had refuted before.

In addition, Sagip party list lawmaker Rodante Marcoleta, who was one of the primary Congress members that forced ABS-CBN out of air in 2020, delivered a privilege speech against the deal. This was then followed by three members of the House of Representatives filing separate resolutions to investigate the deal.

ABS-CBN has been forced off-air in 2020 after failing to renew its franchise and heavy scrutiny from Congress over alleged foreign ownership of the media giant.

United States – ABS-CBN, a media giant in the Philippines, has been reportedly planning an international expansion by opening its new office in Los Angeles, California.

ABS-CBN’s actress Sharon Cuneta broke the news on her official Facebook page by reposting a job ad by Cinema Sala, a platform showcasing Filipino and Filipino-American work in film and the performing arts. It said that the network is planning a physical office in Hollywood, and is looking for an assistant/coordinator.

According to recent news by Bilyonaryo, the international expansion comes after ABS-CBN signed a landmark investment deal with TV5, another media giant in the country under Manny Pangilinan.

“The goal of opening the LA office is to develop, collect, and curate material to produce from Hollywood, for the US and the world,” said Cinema Sala in the job ad.

Manila, Philippines – ABS-CBN and TV5, two of the media giants in the country, have reached a new partnership deal where ABS-CBN has acquired shares from TV5, which is majorly owned by MediaQuest.

According to a joint statement, ABS-CBN Corp will acquire 6,459,393 primary (new) common shares in TV5, representing around 34.99% of the total voting and outstanding capital stock of TV5 for PHP2.16b.

The deal also sees MediaQuest, which is owned by the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund, its stake reduced to 64.79 percent after the deal is finished. ABS-CBN can also acquire additional shares in TV5, which may increase the Kapamilya network’s stake in the Kapatid network to 49.92% after 8 years.

As part of the partnership deal as well, cable and satellite TV subsidiaries of ABS-CBN and PLDT also entered into a similar deal. Cignal Cable Corp, under MediaQuest, said it was acquiring 38.88% of Sky Cable Corp, under ABS-CBN, for PHP2.862b.

“The investment of Sky Cable by Cignal Cable is expected to benefit the former’s existing customer base consisting of over 300,000 cable subscribers and close to 350,000 broadband subscribers as of the end of June 2022,” MediaQuest said.

The company also added, “The proceeds of the sale of the Sale Shares, the Convertible Note and the issuance of the Debt Instrument in the total amount of PHP7.5b will be used to repay certain obligations of ABS-CBN and Sky Vision and to fund the investment of ABS-CBN in TV5.”

ABS-CBN Chairman Mark L. Lopez said the partnership was an opportunity to help TV5 grow, strengthen its free to air network, and take it to the next level.

“For ABS, it presents a fantastic platform for us to achieve synergies in production content and talent management as well as maximizing our content delivery. We look forward to be of greater service to the public as we come together in taking TV5 to the next level,” Lopez said.

Meanwhile, Manny Pangilinan, chairman at MediaQuest, commented, “ABS-CBN has always been the leading developer and provider of Filipino-related entertainment content not only in the Philippines but overseas as well. Our companies have always had these cherished values of providing top and quality programs in the service of the Filipino people and together we believe we can achieve this in greater measure and success.”

Last year, the ABS-CBN network began showing popular primetime programs of ABS-CBN such as ‘FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano’ as well as the long-running variety show ‘ASAP Natin ‘To’ on TV5.

Manila, Philippines – ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), the news channel arm of PH media conglomerate ABS-CBN, has announced that it is canceling its partnership with Chinatown News TV, a Filipino-owned media news channel broadcast in Chinese and made by the Filipino-Chinese community in the country. This was shortly after the parties announced the tie-up.

The cancellation comes after the network received backlash from the online community, pointing to the irony of establishing a Chinese broadcast in the news channel despite growing tensions between the Philippines and China regarding vessels of the latter that are currently lingering and taking space in the disputed West Philippine Sea.

ABS-CBN has recently covered the West Philippine Sea issue with one of its journalists, Chiara Zambrano, visiting the highly-contested area along with the ABS-CBN team before being chased down by the Chinese Coast Guard.

Ging Reyes, news chief at ABS-CBN, initially defended the partnership, stating that ABS-CBN had editorial control over their content, providing national news stories and ensuring accuracy of the translation from Mandarin to English subtitles.

“ABS-CBN News has vigorously covered these issues, in our pursuit of truth and public enlightenment. But we resist discrimination against any race. or ethnicity. The airing on ANC of Chinatown News should not be equated with the intrusions in the West PH Sea. Chinatown News is produced by fellow Filipinos who belong to the Filipino-Chinese community. They are part of Philippine society,” Reyes said in her Twitter thread.

Despite the defense, many netizens have opposed the partnership.

The Philippine arm of online democratic solidarity movement Milk Tea Alliance stated that Chinatown News TV is also responsible for the controversial music video ‘Iisang Dagat’ (‘One Sea’) co-produced with the Chinese Embassy to the Philippines, as well as spreading media lies about the persecution of Uyghur Muslim minorities in Mainland China.

TV writer and producer Erwin Aurella tweeted that a ‘Chinese propaganda’ video disguised as a ‘Chinese news program’ doesn’t speak to ABS-CBN’s motto of ‘In The Service of the Filipino People’.

In line with the partnership, netizens took to Twitter and mocked the station using the hashtag #ABSCBNTutaNgChina, alluding to the network being a ‘puppy’ of Chinese propaganda.

Controversially, Chinatown News TV also aimed to promote the ‘One Belt, One Road’, a global infrastructure development strategy by the Chinese Communist Party, the sole governing party of the People’s Republic of China.