The news came straight from TV5’s president.
On Tuesday, October 17, TV5 President and CEO Guido Zaballero shared to the media that the A2Z channel of ZOE Broadcasting Network will become the new home of the Philippine Basketball Association.
Games of the PBA will be exclusively seen on free TV via A2Z. This is made possible after the PBA and TV5 entered into an agreement with ZOE to air the games on the channel.
The arrangment will be that live games of the league, starting with the upcoming season 48 Commissioner’s Cup, will air on A2Z.
On top of that, PBA E-sports and PBA 3×3 will also be airing on channel 11, whilst also broadcasting on the dedicated PBA Rush channel on Cignal TV and other pay TV providers.
According to Zaballero, the move of the league out of channel 5 is due to the Kapatid network’s commitment to air more entertainment programming. In recent months, the network has added dramas to its afternoon block, which was the PBA’s slot on the network for nearly a decade.
Meanwhile, One Sports, which is TV5’s sister sports channel on free TV, will be concentrating on other sports properties that the network has, including the PVL and UAAP. Albeit, catch-up airing of PBA games will still remain on One Sports.
As for ABS-CBN shows airing on A2Z’s primetime block, according to PBA’s official account on X, “there will still be news in between games,” hinting that ‘TV Patrol’ will remain on its current slot at A2Z.
In a statement, ABS-CBN acknowledged the changes. The network says that “starting 5 November 2023, some of ABS-CBN’s programs on A2Z every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday will make way for the PBA games starting season 48.”
The Kapamilya network also advised its Primetime Bida free TV viewers to catch their shows ‘FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,’ ‘Can’t Buy Me Love,’ ‘Senior High,’ and ‘The World of A Married Couple’ on TV5 instead.
Sunday nights, game shows ‘Everybody, Sing!’ and ‘I Can See Your Voice’ will air on a delayed basis on A2Z, while keeping their respective simulcasts on TV5.
ABS-CBN also said that their group and A2Z (ZOE) “have mutually agreed on the changes whenever there are PBA games.”
Aside from A2Z and TV5, Kapamilya primetime shows are also seen on cable via Kapamilya Channel, Jeepney TV, and Cine Mo.
Kapamilya Online Live also broadcasts these shows on Facebook and YouTube, while iWantTFC offers both the Kapamilya Channel live stream and catch-up.