ABS-CBN Broadcasting
Corporation ( ; ABS-CBN: "Alto
Broadcasting
System-Chronicle
Broadcasting Network") is a
Philippine
-based multi-media
conglomerate. It is an integrated media and entertainment
company in the Philippines with 42 subsidiaries and an asset base
of more than
PHP34 billion
(US$707.09 million) as of March 2009. ABS-CBN is principally
involved in television and radio broadcasting, as well as the
production of television programming for domestic and international
audiences and other related businesses. It was founded on June 13,
1946 (62), becoming
Asia's first commercial
television broadcaster in 1953. It is part of the
Lopez Group of Companies. It also
broadcasts content to the rest of the world through
The Filipino Channel, TFC Direct,
TFCko (video on
demand) and
TFCnow internet TV.
The network's main broadcast facilities, news headquarters,
transmitter and satellite operations and studio complex are located
at the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center at Sgt.
Esguerra Ave., Mother
Ignacia St., Barangay Laging Handa, Diliman,
Quezon
City
. In Metro Manila
, its terrestrial VHF station is
Channel 2 (DWWX-TV
) while its
terrestrial UHF station is Studio 23
(DWAC-TV).
On March 3, 2008, Executive Vice-President
Charo Santos-Concio had been promoted as
the fifth president of ABS-CBN, taking over from interim president
Eugenio Lopez III.
History
Beginnings
The nucleus of what ABS-CBN would be began in 1946 with Bolinao
Electronics Corporation (BEC). BEC was put up by
James Lindenberg, the father of Philippine
television, an ex-GI and electronics engineer who went into radio
equipment assembly and radio broadcasting. At that time, the giant
Philippine network was Manila Broadcasting, with
DZRH as the top station. In 1949, James Lindenberg
shifted Bolinao to radio broadcasting with DZBC and masterminded
the introduction of television to the country in 1953.
In the 1951, Lindenberg partnered with Antonio Quirino, brother of
then President
Elpidio Quirino , in
order to try their hand at television broadcasting. In 1952, BEC
was renamed as Alto Broadcasting System or ABS. "Alto" was a
contraction of Quirino’s and his wife’s first names, Tony and
Aleli. Though they had little money and resources, ABS was able to
put up its TV tower by July 1953 and import 300 television sets.
The initial test broadcasts began on September of the same year.
The very first full-blown broadcast, however, was on October 23,
1953, of a party in Tony Quirino's home.
The broadcasting
channel was known as DZAQ-TV Channel
3.
Merger
ABS-CBN logo (1967-1972).
In turn, on September 24, 1956, the Chronicle Broadcasting Network
(CBN) was organized. The network was owned by Don Eugenio Lopez Sr.
The following year, Don Eugenio acquired ABS from Quirino and
Lindenberg. However, it was only on February 1, 1967 that the
corporate name was changed to ABS-CBN Broadcasting
Corporation.
In the late 1950s, Don Eugenio's son,
Geny Lopez saw the potential of TV to
reach and link Filipinos across the archipelago.
Therefore, by 1961,
the station extended its reach to the provinces through the ABS
tower in Cebu
. By
the mid-1960s, the ABS network was leading the radio industry, with
stations like
DZXL and
DZAQ
Radyo patrol, which featured journalists like Orly Mercado, Joe
Taruc, Mario Garcia, Bobby Guanzon, and
Rey
Langit. ABS also made breakthroughs in the TV industry by
achieving the country's first color TV broadcast, first satellite
feed, first use of videotape, among others. It featured top shows
then, such as
Buhay Artista,
Your Evening with
Pilita,
Tawag ng Tanghalan, and
Student Canteen, among others.
On
December 18, 1968, ABS-CBN opens its new Broadcast Center on Bohol
Avenue, Quezon
City, where it stands till today. At the time, it
was the most advance facility of its kind in Asia. The station
again made breakthroughs by using live satellite transmissions from
abroad, foremost of which was the first moon landing in 1969. The
network enjoyed a big chunk of the ratings.
Martial Law era
The station suffered a setback, though, upon the declaration of
Martial Law. On midnight of September
22, 1972, a day after the declaration of Martial Law, ABS-CBN and
its affiliate stations were seized.
Geny Lopez, the president of the network,
was imprisoned and held without trial for five years until he and
his cellmate Sergio Osmeña
III launched a daring jailbreak in 1977 and
sought asylum in the United States
. The network itself was taken over by
Roberto Benedicto, a presidential crony, who used the Broadcasting
Center at Bohol Avenue, then renamed as "Broadcast Plaza", as the
home of
MBS-4.
Capture of Broadcast Plaza (MBS-4)
At the height of the
People
Power Revolution, military reformists, believing that
television would be a powerful tool to aid the revolution, attacked
and took over the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center. On
February 24, former ABS-CBN talents put the
station back on the air and televised the drama of the unfolding
uprising, thereby contributing to the strength of the revolt.
Growth
Original ABS-CBN logo
(1986-2000).
On February 28, 1986, after the
Marcos regime was brought to its end by the
revolution, Geny Lopez returned to the country after his self exile
to the United States and started rebuilding what was left of the
station. Recovery was difficult and resources were low. Hence,
former ABS-CBN employee
Freddy
García was brought in to rework the station's programming. By
1988, ABS-CBN had regained its foothold in Philippine TV
ratings.
In 1987, ABS-CBN also beefed up their news programs with
TV Patrol, anchored by a team of
announcers led by current Vice-President
Noli de Castro. (Its original lead anchors
included de Castro,
Mel Tiangco,
Frankie Evangelista, and
Angelique Lazo, with the late
Ernie Baron telling the daily weather
newscast.) Other reputable news programs followed, such as
Magandang Gabi, Bayan and
Hoy Gising! and top-rating talk shows like
Mel & Jay and Teysi ng Tahanan.
The
entertainment programs of ABS-CBN were also beefed up with a mix of
programs that aired previously on RPN-9
and IBC-13
(Eat Bulaga!, Okey
Ka Fairy Ko!, The Sharon
Cuneta Show, Coney Reyes on
Camera) while producing homegrown shows through the years that
made an impact on Filipino viewers (The Maricel Soriano Drama
Special, Palibhasa Lalake, Home Along Da Riles, etc.)
In 1989, ABS-CBN shifted to satellite broadcast, enabling the
entire country to watch the same programs simultaneously. Slowly,
the station inched its way to financial recovery, which it achieved
by 1990. It regularly garnered around 70% of the market.
Now, ABS-CBN has extended its foothold as a national network.
According to their website, they reach 97% of all households in the
country. Likewise, they provide content for
Studio 23 on UHF and for the
ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC),
Hero,
MYX,
Knowledge Channel,
Lifestyle Network,
Cinema One,
Balls,
Velvet, and
Maxxx
on cable.
Expansion
Aside from
its flagship terrestrial network ABS-CBN 2 Manila, ABS-CBN broadcasts to many predominantly Filipino people in the Middle East,
United
States, Europe, Australia and several other countries via The Filipino Channel or TFC. The
network has also diversified into film (
Star
Cinema - ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc.), music recording
(
Star Records), publishing (
ABS-CBN Publishing), and interactive
media (
ABS-CBN Interactive).
In August
2008 it inked a deal with Sorenson Pacific Broadcasting to
broadcast news and other content from the network and its sister
channels to its television and radio broadcasting properties in
Guam
and The CMNI
. Former ABS-CBN president
Eugenio Lopez III became chairman of the
network since 1996.
The network has also introduced its second terrestrial channel,
Studio 23 (UHF band) in 1996, as well as
cable channels
MYX (a music channel),
ABS-CBN News Channel (a cable news
channel),
CinemaOne Global/
Cinema One (a cable movie channel), the
Lifestyle Network (home and lifestyle
channel),
Pinoy Central TV
(regionally produced shows. This channel was replaced by
Kapamilya Channel),
Hero (the country's first
Tagalog-dubbed
anime
channel, and
ANIMAX's only known competitor
in Southeast Asia),
DZMM TeleRadyo
(the country's first interactive TV on Radio) and
Knowledge Channel (all
educational channel). Recently in the first quarter of 2008
three additional cable channels namely
Balls (Sports Channel),
Velvet (women's Channel) and
Maxxx (all men focus channel). The
network's radio stations include
DZMM 630 kHz
(AM-Manila),
DWRR 101.9 (FM-Manila), and
My Only Radio regional FM stations.
ABS-CBN has established regional stations and news bureaus to
handle operations in different areas throughout the Philippines. It
also broadcasts to locations all over the world via
The Filipino Channel, managed by
ABS-CBN International. Shows
are also available for live viewing and subscription via the
Internet through ABS-CBN Interactive's
TFCNow!
service.
ABS-CBN affirms its social responsibility in its slogan, "In the
Service of the Filipino", and through the work of the
ABS-CBN Foundation. Through multimedia,
the foundation has delivered
E-TV (Educational
Television) VCDs to hundreds of public schools in the country that
benefitted students. The foundation is also the umbrella
organization of such foundations such as the
Knowledge Channel (KCh)
Foundation,
Bantay Bata (Children's
Watch),
Bantay Kalikasan
(Environment Watch), and ABS-CBN Bayan Foundation (formerly,
ABS-CBN Bayan MicroFinance).Geny Lopez died in 1999 during
cancer.
The Kapamilya network
In 2003, during the television station's 50th anniversary, ABS-CBN
launched its present slogan, "
Kapamilya" (literally means
"a member of the family").
Its international unit ABS-CBN Global Ltd. plans to undertake an
initial public offering (IPO) the following year and might list on
the Singapore Stock Exchange to help finance its expansion
plans.
The network celebrated its golden anniversary in 2003. The network
held its Kapamilya Homecoming, which gathered over 4,000 former
employees and talents for a grand reunion at ABS-CBN’s compound in
Bohol Avenue, Quezon City. The network also launched a promo called
"Treasure Hunt", where the people were invited to bring their
oldest television, radio sets, microphones, and posters. The
network also celebrated its 16th year reign in the TV ratings, with
13 of their shows included in the Top 15 daily programs in TV.
ABS-CBN also launched new shows such as the then phenomenal
Meteor Garden etc. The company also
did a nationwide caravan, showcasing the network's talents.
On October 2003, the network held a month-long celebration of
ABS-CBN and Philippine TV's 50th year. The station produced two
commemorative documentaries about the station's contribution in
news and entertainment.
Sa Mata ng Balita encapsulated
some of the most unforgettable, most remarkable, and most
celebrated landmarks of the last 50 years as captured by television
news.
50 Taong Ligawan: The Pinoy TV History, on the other
hand, was the first extensive television documentary done about the
history of Philippine Television and the evolution of Philippine
entertainment.
For the celebration's finale, the
broadcasting giant capped its 50th anniversary with a spectacular
extravaganza dubbed as Kapamilya: ABS-CBN at 50, held at
the Philippine International Convention
Center
(PICC) in Pasay City. It was hailed as one
of the biggest media events of the year. The Lopez-led network
rolled out the red carpet to welcome its high-profile guests from
the business, advertising and media sectors, politics, members of
the diplomatic community, with many of the society’s luminaries and
glitterati. Valued friends and supporters of the network throughout
the five decades also attended the grand affair. The network's
official 50 Years station id won an Award for Excellence in the
2004 Golden Quill Festival.
On November 7, 2006, ABS-CBN
unveiled its flagship coffeetable book,
"Kapitan: Geny Lopez and the Making of ABS-CBN." The
453-page book chronicles the hardships and odds that the network
founder had to face, as well as the achievements and contributions
of ABS-CBN in Philippine Television history. The book won various
awards, including Best Biography/Autobiography in the 26th National
Book Awards, and a merit award in the publications category of the
2007 Gold Quill Awards.
On September 29, 2007,
ABS-CBN acquired the
exclusive rights to the whole
movie library of the late
Fernando Poe, Jr., after
Susan Roces signed the
contract. ABS-CBN Chairman
Eugenio Lopez III, Cory Vidanes, Senior
Vice President of TVP Production, and Poe’s daughter Grace
Poe-Llamanzares were present.
ABS-CBN 55 years
In 2008, ABS-CBN celebrated their 55th year in television. For the
first time in Philippine TV History, ABS-CBN started the year by
launching three primetime shows namely
Lobo,
Palos and
Kung Fu
Kids last January 28, 2008. ABS-CBN also launched Walang Iwanan
sa BayaniJuan in June 12, 2008 incoincedence with the celebration
of 110th Philippine Independence.
On April 26, 2009,
ABS-CBN is the only media
organization to be cited as one of the country's top 15 listed
companies in corporate governance, as shown by an annual survey of
the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD).It is the only media
company to garner a score of 90 percent or higher in the 2008
Corporate Governance Scorecard, a survey of corporate governance
practices among 172 publicly-listed companies in the country.
Programming
The following is the current primetime line-up from 7:00-10:30
p.m.:
| Legend |
| Comedy |
Drama |
Game/Reality |
Kids/Fantasy |
Talk show |
News and Current Affairs |
Movie block |
Primetime Bida, Weeknights before
Bandila.
Branding of ABS-CBN
The ABS-CBN logo features three main elements, the vertical line
rooted on a horizontal origin, the three extending circles, and the
text ABS-CBN. The vertical line or bar represents a tower
(broadcasting tower), with the circles symbolizing its signals
representing the red, green and blue or
RGB
colors which makes up a
pixel shown on the
television. The 3 divisions of the
Philippines is also denoted by the three circles.
Sarimanok
The
Sarimanok, a legendary bird in
Philippine Folklore was first used in 1966 to identify color
broadcasts (somewhat similar on how the
NBC
peacock has been utilized). In 1993, which happens to be the
Chinese Year of the Rooster, ABS-CBN relaunched the Sarimanok with
a new station ID featuring the legendary bird. The
Sarimanok ID became utmostly associated with the channel
that ABS-CBN opted it to become the station's mascot. Incidentally,
ABS-CBN named its new 24-hour news channel the Sarimanok News
Network, the precursor of the
ABS-CBN News Channel.
The evolution of ABS-CBN logos
In the Year 2000, ABS-CBN had changed its corporate logo. The
previous logo, which featured stylized letters and a square with
three concentric circles and a line gave way to the present logo's
styling. The three circles with colors, red, green, blue with the
vertical line at the center still remain, although the logotype has
changed and the square is no longer used in some uses of the
logo.
Slogans
Program production
ABS-CBN Broadcast Center
At the heart of ABS-CBN’s new capabilities are its technical
equipment and systems. Consisting of a new master routing system. A
400x400 input/output matrix, has full stereo-audio capability and
also provides additional levels of tally, serial control, machine
control, and SMPTE time-code functions. The TOC houses 125
equipment racks providing space for a control system for studio and
post-production; 200 stereo-audio distribution amplifiers; 325
video distribution amplifiers; a 2,880-position video patchbay; and
a 3,380-position stereo audio patch field. The camera control
center supports a total of 27 cameras, assignable to any studio.
Linking the entire production and technical complex is a cable
management system consisting of more than 50,000 meters
(165,000 ft) of 8281 double-shielded coax cable; 106,000
meters (350,000 ft) of 8451 shielded audio cable; 5,000 meters
(17,000 ft) of serial control cable; and 12,000 meters
(40,000 ft) of triax camera cable. Post-production facilities
include six computer-edit-equipped suites, with the 28 VTRs
assignable to any suite. There are also an additional 18 A/B
roll-edit suites. Each of the eight studios is equipped with a
minimum of three cameras, with the capability of expansion to six
cameras each. Individual studio control rooms include dual
mix/effects switchers; dual channel DVE systems; 24-channel
stereo-audio mixing boards; dual channel character generators;
multichannel facility intercom; and remote serial machine control.
New studio lighting includes remote-controlled motorized battens
and a 3,200K SCR programmable lighting control system. This
alleviated the requirement for lengthy testing and troubleshooting
at the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center in Manila.
ABS-CBN’s facility is among the most sophisticated broadcast
centers in the Pacific Rim and among the most modern in the world.
It is capable of producing and airing multiple, simultaneous live
and recorded productions (from and to any part of the world). The
enhancement and digitalization of the Broadcast Center has enabled
the network to respond to a diverse market’s rapidly growing demand
for a greater variety of broadcast programming.
ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs
After the
1986 EDSA Revolution,
the network was first to air a newscast and current affairs show,
namely
TV Patrol and
Probe. The network's news
organization suffered from credibility issues, including its
alleged partiality in various political issues and the involvement
of its former news anchors and network
chairman in the political arena. Based on
the latest Pulse Asia Survey, ABS-CBN News was the most trusted
news station garnering 68 points against its rival network
GMA Network, garnering 60 points.
At present, the news organization is headed by former
CNN Jakarta and Manila Bureau Chief
Maria Ressa. Ressa introduced major
organizational changes and reforms, including the drafting of Code
of Ethics that is very much benchmarked on international standards.
The new Code of Ethics served as the
Bible of all the
members of the news organization.
ABS-CBN also owns the
ABS-CBN News
Channel, the only Filipino 24-hour cable news channel in the
Philippines.
ABS-CBN Regional Network Group
The ABS-CBN Regional Network Group is the provincial network of
ABS-CBN.
It is responsible for simultaneously airing
most of the shows seen on ABS-CBN's
flagship station in the provinces. The ABS-CBN Regional
Network Group has several stations in each region outside
Mega Manila to ensure nationwide coverage. The
local stations also produce their own newscasts which air prior to
TV Patrol and other local programming which air on Sundays. ABS-CBN
Regional Network Group (RNG) glorified its roots while reaching out
wider audience in 2007, consistently building on local content and
developing infrastructure to deliver better service and cement its
position as the top-rating regional network in the country. RNG's
journey of innovation reached Filipinos through the network's 43 TV
and 16 radio stations, and even went the extra mile to cross the
oceans and touch OFW's everywhere. Regional versions of favorite TV
shows were created, enabling ABS-CBN to reach out and connect with
wider audiences worldwide. The launch of the local game show
Kapamilya Winner Ka! in Visayas and Mindanao. Gandang Umaga,
Pilipinas in Northern Luzon, and the 17th local TV Patrol in
Southern Tagalog (Region IV-A & IV-B), provided more relevance
to regional audiences.
Competition
ABS-CBN lost a large chunk of its audience in 1996 when
RPN introduced the "telenovelas,"
or dubbed soap operas from
Latin
American countries. The following year, the company regained
its audience after it changed its primetime schedule by adding
Filipino-produced soap operas.
In mid-2004, the company made an investment when
GMA Network gained audience share in
Mega Manila, although ABS-CBN retained its lead
in other provinces and overseas. The network signed a contract with
Endemol to gain rights of its franchise of
Big Brother. Since
the rights were expensive, the company launched a series of
promotions in the first and second quarter of 2005.
In August 2005,
Pinoy Big
Brother
was aired, which became a hit which caused
ABS-CBN to license more programs from Endemol such as Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal
and Pinoy Dream
Academy.
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 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 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
Broadcasting Corporation garnered a 43% viewership, putting it
ahead of GMA Network, Inc. which got a share of 35.2%. 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 Broadcasting Corp. led the
nationwide television viewership share against rival GMA Network
Inc., according to AGB Nielsen Media Research (Philippines)
nationwide survey released October 26, 2006.
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). 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 P50,000 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.
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.
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. 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.
On May 19, 2009, according to
TNS
Media Research ABS-CBN marks a big milestone for as it
recaptures Mega Manila with an audience share of 40 percent vs.
GMA's 39 percent. It also got a whopping 50 percent audience share
vs. GMA's 31 percent on the National Ratings.
ABS-CBN leads in
Metro
Manila with 43 percent vs. GMA 's 34 percent.
Digital television
ABS-CBN applied for a digital television-terrestrial service (DTT)
license to the
National
Telecommunications Commission. Digital Television in the
Philippines will utilize the
DVB-T standard
utilized in most of Europe. The Dutch company Impeq Technologies is
one of ABS-CBN's consultants in the digital transition. The network
is planning to also supply DTV boxes in areas where signal
reception of Channel 2 is weak.
Areas such as Valenzuela
, Bulacan
, Rizal
, Cavite
and Laguna
are the potential market for the DTV set-top
boxes. The Metro Manila market will receive DWWX-TV and DWAC-TV and the company's six other cable channels
on the digital platform. The National Telecommunications
Commission will be giving television broadcast companies until
December 31, 2015, to fully convert from analog to digital
technology, in line with the worldwide shift towards the use of DTT
in broadcasting.
The company is slated to begin broadcasting
digital television starting in January
2008, although it has been presumably delayed since there were no
announcement during the entire month of January that the signal is
now digitized. It is now expected to begin its digital broadcasting
by 2009.
SD to HD
In April 19, 2009, ABS-CBN announced its intention to acquire 24
Sony HDC-1400R HD portable
studio cameras
which cost a total of $1.56 million.
ABS-CBN is upgrading
its studio facility at Quezon City, north of Manila, from SD to HD. The
decision to upgrade to high definition was based on the increasing
demand for high definition content from their domestic audiences
and those that they export to around the globe.
ABS-CBN Sports also produced the first nationally-produced true
high definition program, which was the
UAAP season 72. It, along with the NCAA games
can be seen on
SkyCable
HD.
EVS Technology
ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation celebrates its 55th anniversary,
the media conglomerate marks a new milestone in Philippine
broadcasting history by being the first to do tapeless TV
production in and out of their studios.
The Kapamilya Network was the first among Philippine networks to
recognize the digital trend in broadcasting by setting up a
100-percent non-linear post-production workflow. From 2003 to
today, ABS-CBN has been increasing its number of editing and audio
workstations and server storage to cope with the rising volume of
content.
With this development, the Philippines becomes the first country in Southeast Asia to go tapeless in TV
production.
ABS-CBN has chosen
EVS
technology to migrate to a tapeless production workflow in their
studios and Outside Broadcast vans.
The company will install 14 XT servers throughout their company for
ingest of media, and IPDirector in their studios for control of
these servers and for logging and browsing. Media transfer to Avid
ISIS for post production will be done with EVS' XFile acting as a
gateway. All media will be compressed in IMX for
SD and DNxHD for
HD, which makes all EVS equipment
natively compatible with ABS-CBN's Avid post production
system.
For studio production, three 4-channel XT servers controlled by
IPDirector will be installed in ABS-CBN studios for ingest, content
indexing, review, clipping, and transfer to temporary archive or to
Avid ISIS for post production. Using IPDirector allows users to
review multiple camera angles directly, making it easy to select
the best one. Also, because this solution ingests media digitally,
editors will be able to edit media immediately upon ingest, even
while recording is still in process, rather than waiting for tapes
to be digitized.
Outside the studio, ten OB Boxes, each consisting of an XT Spotbox
and an XFile will used in the field for multi-camera capture on
removable media. Six OB Boxes are SD only, while four are HD/SD
switchable. Finally, one 6-channel HD/SD X with LSM and XFile will
installed in the OB Van used for recording sports events. The XFile
removable media drives provide a cost-effective met.
TBC Intergration
TBC Integration, Inc. a leading equipment distributor and
integrator of satellite video networks and subscriber management
systems has been selected by
ABS-CBN International, the U.S. based
subsidiary of ABS-CBN Broadcasting, to provide a new turnkey video
system. TBC Integration will supply a state-of-the-art
MPEG-4/
H.264 video encoding,
multiplexing, control, and transmission platform.
The new system allows ABS-CBN International to substantially boost
video picture quality on its contribution channels delivered from
Manila to North America - without having to increase its leased
fiber bandwidth. TBC Integration will install the system in Manila,
and replace ABS-CBNi's current
MPEG-2 system
with MPEG-4/H.264 encoding technology that can deliver better than
50% efficiency compared to MPEG-2 systems. ABS-CBN International
also gains the flexibility to add new channels within its existing
bandwidth.
ABS-CBN can gain from the MPEG-4 video compression and
DVB-S2 satellite modulation technologies available in
many of the products TBC Integration is shipping and installing
today.TBC Integration's solution includes Thomson's ViBE EM 2000 SD
MPEG-4 encoders, NetProcessor 9030 transport stream processor,
XMS(TM) eXtensible Management System, and XMU eXtensible Management
Unit for control and management.Extensive and easy to use
management, monitoring, and control features in the design allow
ABS-CBN to dynamically reconfigure program bit-rates and route
signals to a satellite backup link in the event of a redundant
fiber network disaster. A satellite-backup sub-system uses the
latest in satellite DVB-S2 modulation technology for improved
spectral efficiency.
Controversies and scandals
In recent years, ABS-CBN has been involved in several controversies
and scandals involving its subsidiaries and programming.
Wowowee scandals and incidents
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. 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,
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. The incident later
lead to a probe by the
Department of Trade and
Industry lead 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")
Nielsen bribery scandal
In late 2007, ABS-CBN
accused
GMA Network of
bribing AGB
Nielsen Philippines during their 2007 ratings surveys.
Writ of Amparo
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.
Entities and ventures
List of subsidiaries
- ABS-CBN Center for Communication Arts, Inc.
- ABS-CBN Distance Learning Center
- ABS-CBN Easy Remit
- ABS-CBN Film
Productions, Inc.
- ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc.
- ABS-CBN Global, Inc.
- ABS-CBN Integrated and Strategic Property Holdings, Inc.
- ABS-CBN Interactive,
Inc.
- ABS-CBN International
- ABS-CBN Marketing & Productions
- ABS-CBN News Channel
- ABS-CBN Publishing, Inc.
- ABS-CBN Radio Operations
- ABS-CBN Regional
Network Group
- ABS-CBN
Talent Management & Development Center, Inc.
- AMCARA Broadcasting
Network
- APGI
- Balls
- Bayan Telecommunications
- Creative Programs,
Inc.
- Cinema One
- E-Money Plus, Inc.
- Hero
- Home Cable
- Knowledge
Channel
- Lifestyle Network
- Maxxx
- Myx
- New Media
- Nugen Music, Inc.
- Pinoy Central
- Roadrunner Network, Inc. (an animation, visual effects and 3D
CGI firm) [78708] [78709]
- Scenarios Incorporated
- Sky Films, Inc.
- Star Home Video
- Star Cinema
- Star Recording, Inc.
- The Filipino Channel
- The Religion Channel
- TV Food Chefs, Inc.
- Velvet
Affiliates and productions
Divisions
See also
References
External links
Related Cases
References
Official
(KBS)
(SBS)
Wikis
Facts
Map
Search
