May 5, 2021 would mark the first anniversary of the eventful Cinco de Mayo in Philippine media. On that day, last year, the country’s leading network was ordered to shut its operations on free-to-air TV and radio as its franchise lapsed the day prior. Months later, ABS-CBN’s fate was sealed when Congress rejected to renew the network’s license to operate.
In this special feature series, we’ll take a look at the things that have changed since that fateful day for the broadcaster. Also, we’ll see how they’ve been able to cope and somehow reinvent themselves as a result of the May 5 shutdown.
For this piece, the spotlight will be on Mother Ignacia’s digital TV channels and what happened to them after May 5, 2020.
Background
In 2011, ABS-CBN was the first of the Big 3 stations to test out the new technology that was the ISDB-T digital broadcasting that originated from Japan. Initially, ABS-CBN sought to offer a clearer Kapamilya network to its loyal viewers in selected trial areas near Metro Manila. That was made possible by the product that they called the “Mahiwagang Black Box“, which was a staple in Ted Failon’s radio program on DZMM. The box was an unbranded digital receiver that was not available in the market then.
Later on, ABS slowly introduced the first digital terrestrial channels in the country. The list includes Myx2 – a music channel brethren of the cable-exclusive Myx, Yey – a dedicated kids channel, Sine Box – a movie channel. In the years after, DZMM TeleRadyo joined the lineup, so did S+A to provide news and sports programming, respectively.
The last piece in the puzzle was the official rollout of ABS-CBN TVplus as the brand for the “mahiwagang black box” in February of 2015. Around this time, SineBox was officially christened as CineMo!, Myx2 had been discontinued, and Knowledge Channel also made its free TV debut at launch.
The network, however, didn’t stop there. Seeing an opportunity in pay-per-view via digital TV, they launched Kapamilya Box Office (KBO) in May 2015 as TVplus Xtra. This would later be a source of controversy during the franchise hearing as the NTC and Congress jointly went against the practice of encryption on free TV. For context, KBO was encrypted and viewers have to pay a fee in order to access programs on the channel.
By that time, ABS-CBN had already the following channels: ABS-CBN on DTT, S+A on DTT, CineMo!, Yey, DZMM TeleRadyo, Knowledge Channel, and KBO.
Fast forward to June 2018, ABS-CBN doubled its initial offering of six digital channels. Cable TV channels Jeepney TV, Myx, and O Shopping began airing on DTV via a ‘free trial’ until December of that year. Also part of that were the respective debuts of English-language Movie Central, and the Asian entertainment-centric Asianovela Channel.
The free trial, however, didn’t actually end on the supposed schedule and lasted even beyond 2019. From June 30, 2018 until May 5, 2020, ABS-CBN had 12 DTT channels carried on their platform. The network was indeed a juggernaut during their time on digital TV.
May 5, 2020 on the DTT network
Just as ABS-CBN was ordered to shutdown by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), several of their digital TV offerings were also affected. The first few casualties (apart from ABS-CBN and S+A) were Asianovela Channel, Movie Central, the free-to-air feeds of DZMM TeleRadyo, Jeepney TV, Knowledge Channel Myx, and O Shopping. But CineMo, Yey, and KBO continued as usual as they were carried through blocktime via AMCARA.
After Cinco de Mayo
By May 8, however, TeleRadyo was able to return to DTV through the said blocktime arrangement, with Asianovela Channel and Jeepney TV following on June 1st.
But this setup won’t last long as on June 30, the NTC issued an alias cease-and-desist order for ABS-CBN, AMCARA channel 43, and Sky Direct. The already depleted reach of the station was drastically scaled back with the execution of the aCDO. That was when all of ABS-CBN’s digital TV offerings were knocked off air, with Asianovela Channel, KBO, and Yey leaving the airwaves for good. But erstwhile DTT brands Cine Mo!, Jeepney TV, and TeleRadyo continued on cable and satellite TV.
Months later, CineMo! and Jeepney TV were able to re-expand its reach when it launched on Gsat, Satlite and Cignal TV. TeleRadyo, on the other hand continues to be a source of news both on cable and online as much of its original programming is simulcasted on the ABS-CBN News YouTube channel.
Speaking of digital transitions, Yey also lives on as ABS-CBN official child-oriented channel online and in conjunction with the Just Love Kids brand on the Kapamilya Channel. Also, former DTT movie channel Movie Central had since transitioned as KapCha’s late-night movie block since the channel’s launch in June 2020.
Knowledge Channel has since returned to free TV, albeit in a form of timeblock named “School at Home” aired on A2Z Channel 11 every morning.
But not all of the Kapamilya digital channels were able to “transition”. For example, Asianovela Channel was liquidated and Kapamilya Channel has assumed its role via the First and True Home of Asianovelas block. On the other hand, the controversial KBO had officially ceased operations on July 1, 2020, with ABS-CBN later shifting its focus to the new online PPV service, KTX.ph and streaming service iWantTFC.
Speaking of those new media services, the next edition of this special feature series will explore on how the ABS-CBN shutdown expedited the company’s pivot to the new ways of content consumption.