The successor of its namesake free-to-air channel.
On Saturday, June 13, 2020, ABS-CBN Corporation launched in conjunction with its 74th company anniversary the new Kapamilya Channel on pay television.
The channel’s main purpose was to become the new home of the network’s content, which were affected by the infamous May 5 cease-and-desist order by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the expiration of its 1995 Congressional franchise to operate its nationwide frequencies.
On its launch day, the new channel began with the broadcast of the Kapamilya Daily Mass at 5:30 am, followed by a slate of children-oriented programs and movie presentations throughout the rest of the morning.
Noontime variety program ‘It’s Showtime’ was the first live show to broadcast, with the episode also being their first in-person production since the March 2020 lockdowns due to COVID-19.
Aside from the aforementioned, KapCha also had its own original weekend shows, ‘Paano Kita Mapasasalamatan?’ with Judy Ann Santos and ‘Iba Yan!’ hosted by Angel Locsin.
Entertainment programs ‘MMK’, ‘ASAP’, ‘Ipaglaban Mo!’, along with then-top-rated weekday primetime drama ‘FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano’ were also part of the slate.
Kapamilya Channel, in contrast to ABS-CBN channel 2, aired for 24 hours the entire week and its graveyard slots occupied by ‘Movie Central Presents‘ showcasing English-language movies in original audio.
At launch, a 30-minute bulletin ‘News Patrol’ was aired in lieu of ‘TV Patrol,’ but that was later reversed when the flagship Kapamilya newscast debuted with ‘The World Tonight’ on the channel on July 27, 2020.
Five years on, Kapamilya Channel remains on the air, with most of its original programming simulcast on Kapamilya Online Live and A2Z channel on free TV.
A select number of KapCha shows are also aired by TV5 and GMA, among other partner platforms of ABS-CBN.