UPDATE: The announced closure of Sky’s cable services on February 26 will not push through after ABS-CBN and PLDT called off their Sale and Purchase Agreement.
The cable company has advised its customers regarding the impending closure of the service.
In an electronic mail sent out to its subscribers, Sky Cable announced that it will be ending its broadcast operations on February 26, 2024 at 11:59 pm.
Sky Fiber customers will be unaffected. Although those subscribed to the bundle plan consisting of the Fiber and Cable services, they will be shifted to the standalone Fiber plan only.
Those who are subscribed to the cable TV service, Sky says that they have listed providers in their customers’ respective areas to assist them in transitioning to another company.
Sky also said that existing cable TV customers will no longer be charged for their plan from January 27 and February 26, 2024.
These changes will happen as Sky shifts to a full-fledged broadband company owned by leading telecommunications giant PLDT.
PLDT recently completed the acquisition of Sky Cable Corporation from its previous owners — the Lopez Group and ABS-CBN Corporation — after the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) gave the greenlight for the transaction last January 19.
ABS-CBN, on January 22, disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) the following:
“The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) on January 19, 2024, allowed the sale of Sky Cable’s broadband business and related assets to PLDT via the sale of 100% of Sky’s total issued and outstanding capital stock,” ABS-CBN disclosed to the PSE.
The company added: “The proposed transaction is, however, still subject to a number of closing conditions.”
“ABS-CBN will disclose material information to update the disclosure made to the exchange on March 16, 2023, once they become available.”
PLDT acquired Sky for Php 6.75 billion, with Php 4 billion of which going to ABS-CBN.
The Kapamilya network said in the past that the money generated from the sale of Sky will go to paying its debts, as well as its content creation business.
Sky Cable over the years
Launched in 1992, Sky Cable is the biggest fixed-line cable television service in the country, having served more than 700,000 households at its peak in 2012.
Although, in recent years, it was badly hit by the “cord-cutting” phenomenon, which saw its base dwindle to 300,000 cable TV customers by the end of June 2022.
Its broadband service, meanwhile, remains strong at 350,000 customers during the same period.
Over the years, Sky also had introduced various services and acquired some of their nearest competitors.
It began with Sun Cable, then in 2001, the company bought Home Cable from PLDT. Both of which were eventually folded into the main Sky brand.
Interestingly, because of Home Cable, PLDT had a minority stake in Sky Cable for years, before they eventually sold it off in 2008, as the telco giant prepared to launch the satellite television provider Cignal TV in 2009.
In 2012, Sky purchased rival cable TV provider Destiny Cable and its subsidiaries from Solid Group, Inc. for more than Php 3.5 billion.
Sky also entered the direct-to-home satellite TV space to compete primarily with Cignal TV. The service launched in 2015 and was named Sky Direct.
However, the DTH business fizzled out after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued an alias cease and desist order versus Sky Direct amid the ABS-CBN franchise renewal debacle in 2020, affecting more than 1.5 million subscribers nationwide.
For a time too, ABS-CBN’s digital TV receiver box was branded as ‘Sky TV+’ from its inception in 2011 until that was dropped in favor of the name ‘ABS-CBN TVplus,’ which was introduced to the market in February 2015.
TL;DR: Sky Cable will end its cable TV service on February 26, 2024 at 11:59 pm.
Subscribers will no longer be charged for their usage of their respective cable TV plans from January 27 up to the shutdown date.
Sky Fiber customers will not be affected.