This takes the line “siblings turned rivals” onto a whole new level.
Beginning today, channel 11 of ZOE Broadcasting Network will officially begin anew as A2Z, under a blocktiming agreement with ABS-CBN Corporation. Notable Kapamilya entertainment shows like It’s Showtime, ASAP Natin ‘To, FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, among others will return to free TV after a few months of exclusively airing on cable and online. Alongside those titles, children-oriented, educational, and religious programs from ZOE’s Light TV 33, CBN Asia, and Knowledge Channel will also be a cornerstone of the schedule.
A2Z was a shocker on Tuesday afternoon as ABS-CBN officially broke the news that they will mark a return to free-to-air television via the station owned by Eddie Villanueva, leader of the Jesus Is Lord Church. Coincidentally, it was also Villanueva’s birthday on that day. DZOE TV 11 was also announced to be rebranding to the abovementioned brand.
Almost instantaneously, channel 11 restored its signal and played out movies from ABS-CBN Films and acquired foreign motion pictures as part of its test broadcast. That day also signified the return of Eleven that has been in pitch black since GMA Network cut their ties with ZOE in May last year. That effectively resulted to the move of GMA News TV from VHF to UHF TV on channel 27 on June 4, 2019. That event also marked the end of ZOE’s affiliation with the Kapuso network.
Through leasing ZOE’s airtime, GMA launched two channels between 2005 and 2019. Those were QTV and GMA News TV — both of which have constrasting degrees of success. The former, a female-oriented entertainment station, ended when GMA was said to have experienced declining revenue and low ratings. On the other hand, the latter became home to award-winning news and public affairs programs (which GNTV still does up to this day on 27).
The space opened up by GMA’s termination of the agreement with ZOE became a blessing in disguise for its longtime rival ABS-CBN.
The main network on channel 2 was forced to cease operating last May 5 on the account that the corporation’s legislative franchise to operate on free-to-air has lapsed and was not renewed by the Congress before its expiry the day before. Two months later, on July 10, the House of Representatives denied the Kapamilya network’s application for a new 25 year franchise. On September 10, NTC officially recalled all the frequencies that were assigned to ABS-CBN. For the duration of the shutdown, programs from ABS were only limted to viewers on pay TV and online – and to a certain extent, digital terrestrial TV until June 30.
Luckily, ABS-CBN was later able to find a free TV partner in the form of channel 11 as it was sitting vacant for more than a year now. It also does make a lot of business sense for the other camp as who would want to keep a valid frequency vacant and not making money from it for too long.
One major setback, however, is the lack of relay stations nationwide. Since all of the previous GNTV relays were either owned by GMA or is still affiliated to News TV, ZOE will have to settle with its limited reach for the forseeable future. Currently, channel 11 is only seen on Mega Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, and Batangas. Pay TV operators nationwide are expected to carry it as part of their basic lineup due to a mandate from the NTC regarding free-to-air channels. Still, this is miles better for ABS-CBN than not having access to free TV at all.
The elephant in the room that needs to be addressed is that ABS-CBN programming still rivals that of GMA-7. By assembling what was channel 2’s top-rating shows, new series, and even artists, A2Z surely is in the field to play. This results to the newfound rivalry between two former ‘half-sisters’ of 14 years.
The launch of A2Z is a welcome development to the free TV landscape that has experienced turbulence. Firstly, when the pandemic struck the Philippines hard. Secondly, the cessation of operations of ABS-CBN on channel 2 also brought an insurmountable challenge to other players who are trying to fill the void. A2Z 11 can also be considered as the knight in shining armor for advertisers and loyal viewers alike, as many of them were displaced as a result of those two major events.