He has received support from the rest of the company’s upper management.
In a statement on Friday, April 17, ABS-CBN’s Board of Directors expressed their message of solidarity with the media giant’s President and CEO Carlo Katigbak amid the challenges the company is facing more than five years after its legislative franchise was not granted by Congress in 2020.
It read, “We, the undersigned members of the ABS-CBN Board of Directors and Board of Advisors, believe in ABS-CBN as an institution and the value it creates for the viewing public.”
The signees were company directors Randolf David, Emmanuel de Dios, Rafael Lopez, Honorio Poblador, Martin Lopez, and advisors Charo Santos-Concio, Federico Garcia, Salvador Tirona, Antonio Periquet, Cynthia Del Castillo, and Cesar Purisima.
It continued, “Notwithstanding the loss of its broadcast franchise, we believe in its qualities as a content-provider, allowing it to pivot its business model and return to profitability.”
They then emphasized that they are backing the leadership team headed by Katigbak and are confident in the group’s ability to execute its recovery plan.
“ABS-CBN is more than a media company. It is an institution that has served Philippine democracy and the Filipino people for generations — a mission that remains vital and very much alive. We are committed to its employees, its artists and journalists, and the public it continues to serve,” stressed the board.
The said message comes days after the town hall event, where Katigbako personally relayed to the thousands of employees of the network about the proposal of shutting down the company back in November as it continues to be in the bleed cash, more than five years after the events of 2020.
However, the said proposal, which was made by an unnamed director, was ultimately turned down and the company continues to operate as a content provider to this day.
ABS-CBN currently has a live licensing agreement with Advanced Media Broadcasting System, which allows its content to broadcast via ABS-CBN sa ALLTV2. Moreover, it also has content partnerships and block time agreements with GMA Network, Zoe Broadcasting Network (A2Z), as well as streaming platforms Netflix, Prime Video, and more.