‘Goodbye, crop!’: GMA Network enters new era by broadcasting in 16:9 starting Monday

Finally.

In a short plug on Friday evening, GMA Network officially announced its transition to broadcasting in 16:9 widescreen display format. The change will affect its local and international channels beginning Monday, February 27, 2023. These channels are GMA, GTV, Heart of Asia, I Heart Movies, Pinoy Hits, and Hallypop in the Philippines. For international viewers, they will see the switch happen on GMA Pinoy TV, GMA Life TV, and GMA News TV.

With this shift in broadcast format, GMA will no longer confine and crop its programs on TV to fit the long dreaded and rather, obsolete, 4:3 format. All, while shooting those shows in 16:9 and even in high-definition. Instead, viewers will now see the full-scale of the picture, with more shots, angles, and basically, content going to be seen than before.

This is especially good for spectators of sports programs like the ‘NCAA’, the viewers of big-budget fantasy dramas like ‘Mga Lihim ni Urduja’ and the upcoming ‘Voltes V Legacy’. In news, the change will also likely lead to more details, improved text size, among others, made available on the screen.

This announcement from the network also finally confirms the change that was teased a few weeks ago by Kapuso director Rico Gutierrez, who shared in his social media account that they are now moving to shooting in 16:9 format for ‘The Boobay and Tekla Show’.

But this is not the network’s first time mingling with the display format. 16:9 broadcasts of Kapuso programs have been available online as far back as 2016 with Encantadia being one of the firsts to do so, while in terms of live streamed shows, flagship newscast 24 Oras led the pack. Shows on Kapuso Stream have also been airing in the format since it launched last year.

In terms of shooting in high-definition though, GMA had also had its share of successful trials, with the most coming from the Public Affairs unit, like I-Witness and Born To Be Wild, dating back to the late 2000s and early 2010s. In recent years, Born To Be Wild had even shifted to a crisper and higher quality cameras with 4K-capable equipment being deployed to them.

However, GMA is not the first TV network to broadcast in the 16:9 format. In the Philippines, TV networks like NET25, ALLTV, CNN Philippines, PTV, and IBC on free TV are some airing in 16:9. On cable TV, the ABS-CBN News Channel, Metro Channel, Cinema One, One News, among others, have also “been there, done that.“

Still, this ginormous change is expected to be a huge win for the audience as the quality of the picture they see will improve, leading to an enhanced, enjoyable, and pleasant viewing experience.

GMA Network will be in 16:9 starting Monday, February 27 at 5:30 am. Unang Hirit is expected to be the first show to air in this new display format on the main channel.