The country’s only 24/7 comedy-oriented channel will be going off the air soon.
In the ticker displayed by satellite pay television platform Cignal TV on its channel 2 (not to be confused with the free-to-air station), currently occupied by BuKo, it announced the channel’s nearing shutdown.
As per the advisory, it directed viewers to continue enjoying BuKo, as it will no longer be available starting December 1, 2025.
The said channel was launched back in October 2021, nearly two years after the partnership between Cignal and content provider APT Entertainment was inked in 2019.
The said 5-year contract to develop the channel included plans to air old clips from the country’s longest-running variety show Eat Bulaga, specifically Little Miss Philippines, which at that time was still under TAPE, Inc. and broadcast by GMA Network.
At launch, however, shows that aired include productions from APT, as well as Cignal’s sister company TV5.
The list includes H3O: Hahaha Over (originally from QTV 11, with Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola, and Gladys Guevarra), TV5’s Pidol’s Wonderland (with Dolphy), Lokomoko, and Wow Mali, and even GMA’s Bubble Gang.
The original Iskul Bukol (with Tito, Vic, and Joey) is also part of the classics block.
Original shows were also created for the channel, such as Kusina ni Mamang (hosted by Pokwang) and #MaineGoals (with Maine Mendoza).
Aside from situational comedy and gag shows, pandemic gameshows Fill in the Bank (with Jose Manalo and Pokwang) and Bawal na Gameshow (with Paolo Ballesteros and Wally Bayola), as well as the 2004 drama series Leya were all reaired on BuKo.
In the years that followed, the channel also served as an additional platform for TV5 and Cignal shows, with simulcasts of Eat Bulaga (E.A.T. era), Wil To Win, and Vibe, among other shows, also airing on BuKo.
After the shutdown, the remaining original entertainment channel operated by Cignal will only be Sari-Sari Channel (a joint venture with Viva Communications), with other stations being the news and sports channels One PH, One News, and One Sports+.
UPDATE: The ticker has been removed and the channel continues to air on the Cignal platform, as per usual. The pay TV provider did not make any comments about the reversal of the closure.