The local CNN station is in limbo, as per reports.
On Thursday, major news organizations Pilipino Star Ngayon and Rappler reported that CNN Philippines might be ceasing operations soon.
According to both publications, the news station could face the axe as its parent firm Nine Media Corporation could not keep up with rising operational costs, including the fee to use the CNN brand.
Senior news anchors like Pia Hontiveros, Rico Hizon, and Pinky Webb have also been spoken to by the network’s management and are now said to be free to look for new “potential employers,” another news blog Medianewser reported.
A management-level meeting happened today, January 25, while a general assembly is also touted to be taking place on Monday, January 29, where staffers will be told about the future of the station.
It is understood that the licensing agreement between Warner Bros. Discovery, the entity owning CNN, and Nine Media is set to expire on December 31, 2024, after being first renewed back in 2019.
As of publication, CNN Philippines, nor its parent Nine Media have not yet issued their official statement regarding the rumors.
“News You Can Trust”
CNN Philippines was launched in 2014 after Nine Media Corporation and then-Turner Media inked a licensing agreeement, which allowed the local company to use the CNN name and add international content from the renowned news channel to its programming.
It then made its debut on television on March 16, 2015, and kept most of the team from the channel’s former iterations as Solar News and 9TV.
After Jing Magsaysay stepped down as head of the local CNN station, former CNN Executive Director for Content Sales & Partnerships Armie Jarin-Bennett assumed the role as the Executive Vice President and Managing Director of CNN Philippines in 2016.
Under her stewardship, CNN Philippines rapidly changed its programming and presentation, and doubled down on news coverages of major breaking news stories.
This was especially true during the onset of the Marawi Siege, as CNN Philippines devoted its primetime block to a wall-to-wall coverage of the war in Mindanao.
The network will also break into the mainstream political affairs after hosting the sole Vice Presidential debates during the 2016 National elections.
CNN Philippines, at that time, also saw the expansion of its news programming, which include ‘The Source’ and ‘Balitaan’ with Pinky Webb, ‘News Night’ with Pia Hontiveros, among many others.
The news channel became a training ground for budding anchors when it had CNN Philippines ‘Newsroom Jr.’ between 2018 and 2020, which also was an integral slot to its children-oriented programming on weekends.
In 2020, Jarin-Bennett departed from the station.
That year, former BBC and Bloomberg anchor Rico Hizon joined the channel to anchor the weeknight slot of ‘Newsroom,’ which later morphed into ‘The Final Word’ that still airs today.
CNN Philippines also broke its usual format multiple times, as it aired sports programming like the NBA in 2019, volleyball matches of the Super League, and lately, the PBA.
Entertainment shows also became part of the line-up, first with children shows, some of which from Warner’s Cartoon Network during its earlier years.
In recent years, meanwhile, it had the ‘Silver Screen’ movie block in 2022, and recently, a simulcast of TV5’s noontime show ‘Eat Bulaga’ in 2024.
Financial woes
Financial reports of Nine Media Corporation (NMC), as reported by Rappler from the Securities and Exchanges Commission, indicate that the network had been hemorrhaging cash in the past few years.
As a matter of fact, Nine Media’s 2022 financial report state that the company had a net loss amounting to Php 239.7 million that year, despite generating revenue of about Php 407.3 million.
This happened as its operational costs ballooned to about Php 514.9 million in 2022.
Those include the license fee to use the CNN brand and payment for RPN-9’s airtime, and the salaries of its about 300-person team.
Nine Media has been owned by JRLT-JHI Corporation since 2014, which in turn is under the ALC Group of Companies of the late Amb. Antonio Cabangon-Chua.
ALC also owns another media company in Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, which operates DWIZ 882 on AM radio, Home Radio 97.9 on FM, and ALIW Channel 23 on digital terrestrial television.
NMC also has a 34% majority stake in Radio Philippines Network, which operates the VHF channel 9 and DTT channel 19 frequencies in Metro Manila, on top of other TV and radio stations under the Radyo Ronda branding across the country.
RPN-9
Speaking of RPN, in the past two decades, the network had struggled to find its foothold in the ever-changing landscape of Philippine television.
After getting a brief turnaround in the ’90s with the airing of hit telenovela ‘Marimar,’ the intense competition RPN faced from major networks ABS-CBN and GMA took a toll on the erstwhile number 1 network by the early 2000s.
Adding to that is the challenge from cable TV networks, who offered complementary shows to the programming the network had that time, which was mostly dependent on foreign shows.
Hence, in 2007, RPN entered into a programming agreement with Solar Entertainment, which was part of the latter’s agressive plan to expand their footprint on free-to-air television through similar agreements with other networks like SBN-21 and RJTV.
With RPN, Solar formed CS/9, a crime and suspense-programming channel in 2008. A year later, they expanded their offerings and transformed to Solar TV.
In 2011, they tried bringing feminine-oriented programming to a wider audience by moving ETC from SBN-21 to RPN-9.
Eventually, the constant changes at RPN settled when news programs of Solar News Channel took the place of ETC — which moved back to SBN in 2013 — as Solar made the move to sell its stake in RPN and its Solar News division to ALC the following year.
With the issue surrounding the future of CNN Philippines, rumors suggest that RPN brand will make a comeback of sorts on TV, just in time for the network’s 64th year.
As of publication, CNN Philippines, nor its parent Nine Media have not yet issued their official statement regarding the rumors.