MediaQuest Holdings

For the United Arab Emirates publishing house, see Mediaquest Corporation.
MediaQuest Holdings
Subsidiary
Industry Broadcast television and radio network, Print publishing
Founded 1998
Headquarters Makati, Philippines
Key people
 Manuel V. Pangilinan (Chairman)
Noel C. Lorenzana (President)
Annie Naval (COO & Managing Director)
Owner Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company
Subsidiaries MediaScape Inc.
Hastings Holdings, Inc.

MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. is a media conglomerate owned by the Beneficial Trust Fund of the PLDT. It owns most of the media establishments such as TV5 Network, Inc. (TV5),Nation Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), Cignal Digital TV (Cignal), 51% interest in The Philippine Star, 12% interest in Philippine Daily Inquirer, 70% interest in BusinessWorld Publishing Corporation (BusinessWorld) and 30% in Unitel Group.

History

MediaQuest was established in the 1990s by PLDT through its Beneficial Trust Fund, a retirement fund agency. First launched with Home Cable, a direct-to-home cable TV subscription service and second largest cable TV company through Unilink Communications. On July 1, 2001, Home Cable merged its CATV operation to Sky Cable Corporation and created Beyond Cable Holdings, Inc. with an enterprise value of P14.5 billion. Beyond Cable Inc. controls 66.5% through Benpres Holdings and 33.5% through MediaQuest Holdings Inc.[1][2] Home Cable ceased its operations on June 30, 2005 (which was replaced by SkyCable Silver). PLDT sold its stake in SkyCable to the owner by ABS-CBN Corporation and Lopez Holdings Corporation in 2008.

In 1998, MediaQuest acquired Nation Broadcasting Corporation from the consortium of the Yabut family and then House Speaker Manny Villar.

In 2001, MediaQuest bought a controlling stake in GMA Network. This was until 2006 when an attempt to acquire GMA was failed. MediaQuest attempted again to acquire the network in 2012 but the talks collapsed.

In 2007, MediaQuest acquired GV Broadcasting Systems, a direct-to-home satellite provider and radio network from Satventures Inc. of the Galang family. At the same year, it launched myTV as a mobile TV service.

One of the biggest acquisitions was the 2010 acquisition ABC Development Corporation and blocktimer Primedia Inc.

In 2013, MediaQuest, through subsidiary Hasting Holdings, took over and later acquires the 70% ownership share on newspaper BusinessWorld after contributing to the company's capital.[3] The group has previously acquired an 18% stake in national newspaper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

In 2014, MediaQuest acquired a majority stake of 51% in The Philippine STAR. The Belmonte family, owners of the newspaper, retained a 21% stake, as well as management and editorial control. Pangilinan has since appointed Atty. Ray Espinosa as the company's new chairman of the board.[4]

Owned and operated

Television and radio

Motion picture

Satellite and digital

Print publishing

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=96588
  2. ↑ http://cerphin.net/balita/GMA-Network-opposes-SkyCableHome-Cable-full-consolidation/artikulo/46977/
  3. ↑ PLDT Group seals takeover of BusinessWorld retrieved July 1, 2013
  4. ↑ Agcaoili, Lawrence (1 April 2014). "MVP gets 51% of STAR". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 5 August 2014.