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The PLDT Inc. media group saw a boost in 2020 after the Duterte administration and its allies in Congress crippled ABS-CBN’s flagship television business.
PLDT President and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan said his satellite television company Cignal TV experienced a “tsunami” of new subscribers following the closure of the SkyCable Corp. service, a subsidiary of ABS-CBN, called SkyDirect on 30 last June. “Cignal had a very good year because, unfortunately, SkyDirect was closed and there was a significant migration of SkyDirect subscribers who switched to Cignal,” said Pangilinan during a press conference last week. He said Cignal added 1.3-1.4 million new subscribers “in the latter part of 2020.” This will boost revenue and earnings starting this year, he said.
At the same time, Pangilinan said that TV5 benefited from some of ABS-CBN’s popular shows after the company signed a block-time agreement with the Lopez-led network.
“The ABS content that has been shown so far on TV5 has helped [ratings] a bit, ”said Pangilinan.
ABS-CBN resorted to leasing airtime from other companies after their free-to-air broadcasts closed on May 5 last year. The National Telecommunications Commission, which issued the cease and desist orders, cited the expiration of the ABS-CBN and SkyCable franchises after repeated renovation efforts languished in the House of Representatives.
ABS-CBN was once the largest television broadcasting company in the country, reaching tens of millions of viewers and listeners per day. SkyDirect was a home satellite television service with approximately 1.5 million subscribers.
While ABS-CBN continues to broadcast primarily through its online channels and cable television business, free-to-air advertising provided most of its earnings. The company was forced to lay off nearly 5,000 employees, shut down business operations and much of its regional media operations after Duterte’s allies in Congress finally voted to cancel its offer for a new franchise on July 10. last. President Duterte had threatened to block the renovation himself. , saying that the media giant did not air some of its political announcements during the 2016 elections. INQ
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