The government has allocated zero funding for the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) in 2023, making privatization the only option for the 62 year-old broadcaster to survive beyond July next year.
In the past, there had been several attempts to privatize the ailing government station alongside RPN, which were sequestered in 1986 after the government seized assets owned by cronies of the Marcos regime. However, to date, only RPN has been partially privatized. For IBC, the floor price for its sale is pegged at P10 billion, according to the GOCC in 2021.
In today’s budget deliberation, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz also appealed for a reconsideration for IBC’s budget before the Congress, saying the funds will eventually go to assuring the operations of the network, as well as salaries of its employees. Cruz also echoed that the non-funding of the network might even lead to its demise by as early as January 2023.
IBC, during the pandemic, also became home to the DepEd TV distance learning block which boosted both income and viewership for the network.