PHILIPPINE TV

Television was introduced in the Philippines in 1953 with the opening of DZAQ-TV Channel 3 of Alto Broadcasting System in Manila. The station was owned by Antonio Quirino, the brother of the incumbent Philippine president,who was set to run for re-election the following year. The station operated on a four hour-a-day schedule (6 – 10 p.m.) and telecast only over a 50-mile radius. This television station was later bought by the Chronicle Broadcasting Network which started operating radio stations in 1956. CBN was owned by the Lopezes who were into various business concerns. The acquisition signalled the birth of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Network, now considered one of the major broadcasting companies not only in the Philippines but also in Asia.

The Lopezes also owned The Manila Chronicle, a leading daily at that time. ABS-CBN therefore became not only the first radio-TV network in the Philippines but also the first cross-media entity owned by a family — a situation which remains until today. Subsequently, the Lopez group added a second station, DZXL-TV 9. By 1960, a third station was in operation, DZBB-TV Channel 7 or Republic Broadcasting System, owned by Bob Stewart, a long-time American resident in the Philippines , who also started with radio in 1950. The first provincial television stations were established in 1968 in Cebu, Bacolod, and Dagupan by ABS-CBN. The network is supplemented by 20 radio stations located nationwide.Economic constraints during these early years of television forced a dependence on imported programs from three U.S. networks ABC, CBS, and NBC. Importing programs was cheaper than producing them locally. In addition, canned programs appeared to be more popular among local audiences, even though initiatives were made in educational programming.

The commercial thrust of Philippine broadcasting has made it unique among other East Asian countries, where the electronic media are controlled and operated by the government. While this free enterprise environment made local broadcasting globally competitive, the same environment made it difficult to produce and broadcast public service and “development” oriented programs.

Philippine television‘s early dependence on US programs may be partly responsible for “colonial mentality” that has continued to afflict Filipinos during the past several generations. The commercial orientation of TV also engendered a “that’s entertainment” mentality in both the advertisers and the general public.

According to the 1998 KBP Broadcast Media Factbook, there are 137 television stations nationwide. Of this number, 63 are originating stations, 50 are relay, and 24 ultra high frequency (UHF) stations. Cable TV is technically not considered part of the broadcast TV industry. In terms of TV stations distribution by island groups, Metro Manila has 12 TV stations (all types), Luzon, 53 stations; Visayas 28 TV stations and Mindanao, 44 TV stations. Most TV stations are part of the five major TV networks’ ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, Associated Broadcasting Corporation, GMA Network, Inc., Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC), Radio Philippines Network (RPN), and People’s Television Networtk, Inc. The biggest networks are ABS-CBN and GMA Network. ABS-CBN has 11 originating stations, 14 TV relay stations, and 8 affiliate TV stations. GMA Network has two originating, 40 relays and seven affiliate stations.

The 1994 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey reported that about 45 percent of total households nationwide have access to television sets and that household population aged 10 years old and over exposed to television reaches about 57 percent.

Satellite and cable technologies have virtually made universal access to broadcast media possible. For example, ABS-CBN television reaches approximately 90 percent. The network is linked with the Pan American Satellite (PANAMSAT), which provides its programmes to all cable operators and direct-to-home markets within the satellite’s footprint. Through a cable television system, it can reach Filipino communities in the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States. Similarly, GMA Radio Television Arts Network reaches the entire country through its 30 stations nationwide. Filipinos in Southeast Asia, Hawaii, Guam, Saipan, Canada, and the United States can tune in to GMA-7, either through Mabuhay satellite or cable television systems.

Until recently, UHF television broadcasting was unheard of. Only those who could get access to the Far East Network of the U.S. Armed Forces Radio and Television Service, beamed to the U.S. bases in Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base, were familiar with the bandwidth. Southern Broadcasting Network (SBN Channel 21) and Molave Broadcasting Network (Channel 23) were the first commercial stations to broadcast on the UHF band in mid-1992. SBN 21 features “global-oriented” programmes from the World TV, a local VHF channel, while Channel 23 carries MTV programming as received via satellite from Hong Kong’s Star TV.

Others followed after the initial success of these stations: Byers Communication’s Channel 68 became the first Pay-TV channel; Rajah Broadcasting TV 29 the first home shopping channel; and Radio Mindanao Network Channel 31the first all-movie channel. The two UHF stations are in Baguio City and Cebu City.

The most phenomenal growth, however, has been in cable television. The growth of early cable television, introduced in 1969, was stunted during the Marcos regime, because of a decree granting exclusive franchise to a business ally of the former president to install and operate cable TV nationwide. This decree was abolished by President Aquino in 1987. The introduction of satellite programming by TV networks ABS-CBN and GMA in 1991 spurred interest in cable television. Provincial community antenna TV (CATV) systems have been set up to receive broadcast signals from stations originating in Manila. Metro Manila is now one of the most advanced urban centres in Asia with respect to cable TV, where two major cable systems, Skycable and Home Cable, offer 60 channels or more.