| Type | Commercial television network |
|---|---|
| Country | Philippines |
| First air date | July 1953 |
| Availability | Worldwide via The Filipino Channel |
| Founded |
October 23, 1953 by James Lindenberg |
| Slogan | In the service of the Filipino, Worldwide! |
| Owner | ABS-CBN Corporation |
| Key people |
Jose Agustin C. Benitez Jr., Head of Channel 2 sales |
| Launch date | October 23, 1953 |
| Picture format | 480i (SD) |
| Official website | www.abs-cbn.com |
ABS-CBN commonly referred to as the Kapamilya Network (literally means "part of the family") or simply Dos (Tagalog for number "2"), is a major commercial television network in the Philippines owned and operated by the ABS-CBN Corporation. It was launched in October 23, 1953 becoming the first commercial television network in Asia.[1] Its headquarters is in Quezon City.
Today the flagship terrestrial television channel is DWWX-TV or channel 2 hence the name Dos. The network operates through its 25 fully owned originating television stations, 35 relay television stations and 8 affiliate regional television network. It is also available worldwide on cable television and direct-to-home satellite through The Filipino Channel as well as in iptv, and internet.
The network is set for digital broadcasting by the end of 2011 and just waiting for the "go signal" from the NTC. The network is already using HD cameras on its local shows although the pictures are re-scaled to accommodate the market needs. It is plan that by 2015, the network will start broadcasting in HD.
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ABS-CBN Network traces its history to the first Philippine television station DZAQ-TV, owned by Bolinao Electronics Corporation later renamed Alto Broadcasting System.
James Lindenberg, owner of BEC, was the first to apply for a license to the Philippine Congress to establish a television station in 1949. His request was granted on June 14, 1950. Because of the strict import controls and the lack of raw materials needed to open a TV station during those days, Lindenberg branched to radio broadcasting instead.
Judge Antonio Quirino, brother of then President Elpidio Quirino, also tried to apply for a license to Congress, but was denied. He later bought stocks from BEC and later gained the controlling stock and renamed the company from BEC to Alto Broadcasting System (ABS).
DZAQ-TV began commercial television operations on October 23, 1953, the first fully licensed commercial television station in the Philippines. The first program that aired was a garden party at the Quirino residence in Sitio Alto, San Juan. After the premiere telecast, the station followed a four-hour a day schedule, from six to ten in the evening.
In 1955, Manila Chronicle owner Eugenio Lopez, Sr. and then Vice President Fernando Lopez acquired a radio-TV franchise from Congress and immediately established Chronicle Broadcasting Network (CBN) in 1956. In February 24, 1957 Lopez called Judge Quirino to his house for breakfast and ABS was bought under a contract written on a table napkin. The corporate name was reverted to Bolinao Electronics Corporation immediately after the purchase of ABS.
With the establishment of DZXL-TV 9 of CBN in 1956, the Lopez brothers controlled both television channels in the archipelago. The monopoly in television was broken in 1961, when DZBB-TV 7 was established by the Republic Broadcasting System (now GMA Network, Inc.) (RBS), owned by Robert Stewart.
In 1967, the company was renamed ABS–CBN Broadcasting Corporation. This company became the formal merger of the two stations DZAQ-TV 3 (ABS) and DZXL-TV 9 (CBN).
In 1966, ABS-CBN became the first TV station to broadcast certain shows in color and by December 18, 1968, ABS-CBN opened its present day Broadcast Center complex in Bohol Avenue, Quezon City; it was then the most advanced broadcasting facility of its kind during its time in Asia.
In 1969, DZAQ-TV transferred to channel 2, while its sister station DZXL-TV transferred to channel 4. This was in response to frequency adjustments, so that the television station of the Kanlaon Broadcasting System (later Radio Philippines Network) can occupy the Channel 9 frequency.
When then President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, the station was forced to shut down. The company was seized from the Lopezes and its newly built Broadcast Center became the home of state-run TV stations Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation (BBC Channel 2, with call sign changed to DWWX-TV), Government Television (GTV Channel 4, with call sign changed to DWGT-TV and later renamed MBS-4) and Kanlaon Broadcasting System (KBS Channel 9).
The long hibernation of the station ended in February 1986. As the EDSA revolt broke out and the dictator's grip on power crumbled, the reformists in the military saw that TV would be a vital asset for victory. Thus, at 10 AM on February 24, they attacked and took the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center that was then the home of MBS-4.
When Marcos was deposed, the network was sequestered and returned Channel 2 to the Lopezes but not Channel 4. On September 14, 1986, ABS-CBN TV went back on the air, broadcasting from what used to be their main garage at Broadcast Center in the pre-Martial Law days. Back then they had to share space in the building that was rightfully their own, which was then occupied for the most part by the government TV station Channel 4. Cash was low and resources stretched to the limit, with offices being made to double as dressing rooms and basics such as chairs, tables and phones in short supply.
By late 1986, the network was faltering, ranking last among the five stations and suffering heavy losses. Eugenio "Geny" Lopez Jr. by early 1987 brought in programming whiz and ABS-CBN veteran Freddie Garcia, then working for GMA Network, and set him loose to work his magic touch.
Six months later on March 1, 1987, Channel 2 was relaunched with the live musical special, "The Star Network: Ang Pagbabalik Ng Bituin" (The Return of the Star). By 1988, ABS-CBN was topping the ratings, a position it had never relinquished for 16 years.
Later that year, it launched nationwide domestic satellite programming and by 1994, expanded its operations worldwide. In 1999, Channel 2 launched its 120-kilowatt Millennium Transmitter, resulting in improved signal quality throughout Mega Manila.
In the year 2005, ABS-CBN re-upgraded into a very high capacity of 346.2 kilowatts resulting a much clearer signal in Metro Manila. In the same year, ABS-CBN's TV ratings moved to the number 2 spot because of GMA-7's supremacy in Mega Manila.
ABS-CBN Corporation has applied for a digital television-terrestrial service (DTT) license to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). Although the NTC has reconsidered the European standard (DVB-T), it had eventually adapted the Japanese DTV standard (ISDB-T) due to unknown reasons.
By 2008, ABS-CBN started DTV test broadcast in select areas in the Philippines, although the media conglomerate and the network itself did not announce it.
By April 4, 2011, ABS-CBN eventually announced that it is ready for digital broadcast by the second half of the year and is now just waiting for the permission of the National Telecommunications Commissions to start broadcasting in digital. ABS-CBN also announces that it will offer an additional 5 new premium channels exclusively for terrestrial digital subscribers. Aside from the main line-up channels, the ABS-CBN and Studio 23, an addition of five new channels will be carried; each channel will show movies, news, cartoons, educational content and music.[2] But for the meantime, ABS-CBN carries NBN and GEM TV for the test transmissions.[3][4]
The network is also ready for high-definition programming as it had just announced it acquisition of 24 high-definition studio cameras from Sony as well as the upgrading of its studio facilities in Quezon City from analog to a non-linear post production facility. The EVS provided the network the tapless technology that was the first of its kind in Asia.[5][6][7][8]
On January 22, 2006, ABS-CBN's broadcast of Solar Sports' "Hataw Pacquiao, Laban ng Bayan" became the 3rd most watched TV event in Philippine history[9] as AGB Nielsen Media Research showed that 2.073 million households (5.261 million individuals) watched the Pacquiao-Morales rematch compared to "Rosalinda"'s 1.486 million households (3.787 million individuals) of its July 13, 2000 episode (Rosalinda is a Mexican telenovela purchased by ABS-CBN). It also registered the highest audience share of 79.5% against Rosalinda's 78.3%. However, Rosalinda remains as the highest rated TV show in Philippine TV history, with 68.9% compared to the 59.2% of the said rematch. The Pacquiao-Larios match on the other hand, which was held last July 2, 2006 at Araneta Coliseum, registered the second biggest number of viewers of a TV event[10] in Philippine history, having a rating of 65.7% in Mega-Manila and the highest audience share of 96 to 99% at the Urban Centers nationwide.
In a survey conducted by the AGB Nielsen Media Research from October 8 to October 13 using its National Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM) for the first time showed that ABS-CBN Network garnered a 43% viewership, putting it ahead of GMA Network, Inc. which got a share of 35.2%.[11] The NUTAM was officially launched last October 16, 2006 to determine the TV ratings and audience share of local TV Programs from the different urban areas in the Philippines.
In the last quarter of 2006, ABS-CBN Network led the nationwide television viewership share against rival GMA Network, according to AGB Nielsen Media Research (Philippines) nationwide survey released October 26, 2006.[12]
In the January 15, 2007 issue of BusinessWorld, a local broadsheet containing Business reports, AGB-Nielsen Media Research, the official ratings provider, released for the first time the official results of its Nationwide Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM).[13] The Nationwide Viewing Panel results for the week ending January 6, 2007, showed that in terms of individuals, 8 out of top 10 programs came from ABS-CBN with the Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal P4M Edition as the top-rater. In terms of households, all top 10 programs came from ABS-CBN with Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal P4M Edition also as the top-rater. ABS-CBN posted a channel rating of 12.2 and an audience share of 43.1 in terms of households, and a channel rating of 5.9 and an audience share of 42.7 in terms of individuals. GMA Network on the other hand posted a channel rating of 10.2 and an audience share of 36.9 in terms of households, and a channel rating of 5.3 and an audience share of 38.7 in terms of individuals.
In the last quarter of 2007, ABS-CBN topped the Nielsen Media Research Philippines survey among three market segments. It emerged as the preferred channel among affluent Filipinos, teenage audiences and families of Overseas Filipino workers. Nielsen defined the affluent as those living in posh, “gated villages” with income higher than ₱50,000 a month, while the teens are those in the 13-19 age bracket regardless of economic bracket. OFW beneficiaries, meanwhile, are those with a member of the family working abroad. In data presented by the said research and survey group, ABS-CBN registered a 79.4 percent grade to emerge as the top local channel most often watched by viewers who belong to the A, B and C1 market segment. The Kapamilya network was followed by GMA with 64.1 percent, while ABS-CBN's sister station, Studio 23, came next with 25.3 percent. The teens TV viewership category was also ruled by ABS-CBN with its 62.11 percent clip compared to GMA's 38.6 percent. It also collected the most viewership in the OFW families segment, registering a strong 64.0 percent as compared to GMA-7's 49.9 percent showing.[14]
In 2007, according to AGB Nielsen, ABS-CBN lead the very first overall year end nationwide television ratings (NUTAM). Capturing 60% in urban Visayas and 66% in urban Mindanao while it trailed two points against GMA in urban Luzon with 40%. The top three overall highest rated programs in 2007 are all ABS-CBN shows. However, ABS-CBN no longer subscribes to AGB Nielsen due to ratings manipulation allegations.
In the first quarter of 2009, Data from TNS Media Research nationwide ratings and audience shares for the Feb 1-May 2 period showed that ABS-CBN has built its nationwide leadership to a whopping 44 percent audience share or an increase of 22 percent over its perennial rival.[15]
Based on the TNS report from May 1 to 31, seven out of the top 10 weekday programs, and eight of the top 10 weekend programs nationwide were from ABS-CBN.[16] All Top 5 Primetime shows are from the Kapamilya Network namely May Bukas Pa, Only You, Tayong Dalawa, TV Patrol World, and koreanovela Boys Over Flowers. This result a record-breaking revenue of close to P1.4 Billion for the month of May.[17]
In recent years, ABS-CBN has been involved in several controversies and scandals involving its subsidiaries and programming.
Two major incidents involving ABS-CBN have involved the networks' variety show Wowowee. Demand for tickets to a one-year anniversary episode of the show at the PhilSports Arena in 2006 caused a deadly stampede killing 76 people.[18] Over a year later in August 2007, the show became entrenched in another scandal involving the possibility of a new game on the show being rigged as evident by a "mechanical glitch" which occurred during an episode,[19] which grew greater after Eat Bulaga! host Joey de Leon and Wowowee host Willie Revillame started exchanging attacks on-air against each other during their respective and competing shows.[20] The incident later lead to a probe by the Department of Trade and Industry led by senator Mar Roxas (which was jokingly suggested by Joey during a speech he made on Eat Bulaga! in reference to the Hello Garci scandal, dubbing it "Hello Pappy")[21]
In late 2007, ABS-CBN accused AGB Nielsen Philippines of tampering with the ratings during their 2007 ratings surveys.[22][23]
On January 22, 2008, Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) supported the petition for Writ of amparo filed by the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation's 11 employees (led by Ces Oreña-Drilon) with the Supreme Court to rule on the legality of journalists' arrests concerning the failed Manila Peninsula rebellion. It stated: "We support employees from ABS-CBN in standing up for their democratic rights to work free from harassment and intimidation, especially from government officials and authorities." Meanwhile the Supreme Court required the respondents to file comment to the amparo petition within 10 days. Further, Harry Roque, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP)'s lawyer announced its filing of a class lawsuit for injunction with damages (Article 33, New Civil Code of the Philippines) against the Philippine National Police, inter alia.[24]
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