The country’s oldest 24/7 news channel has reached another milestone.
On Friday, May 1, ANC, the ABS-CBN News Channel marked a significant moment in its history as the station officially turned 30 years old.
For this special occasion, newscasts look backed on the history of the channel, with the channel also slightly updatinf its look to sport a special ANC 30 logo across its platforms.
Apart from that, a surprise move also came on Friday as the network officially revived its news bulletin, ANC Headlines, which was retired in late 2024 in favor of the Filipino-language News Patrol. It airs twice daily at 10:00 am and 1:00 pm.
ANC was first launched back on May 1, 1996 as the Sarimanok News Network (SNN)—a branding that is based on the iconic sarimanok icon that ABS-CBN used during that decade.
Sky Cable, which was the a separate entity from the ABS-CBN, launched the following year the business-focused Sky News, a separate service from SNN, and was headed by Executive Class host David Celdran.
The two channels would later merge into a single entity and would become known as the ANC that many know today.
Since then, the network’s programming has largely remained the same, focusing on delivering news, insights, and business to viewers in the Philippines and abroad.
The channel also serves as the flagship news station of ABS-CBN. It is complemented by the television counterpart of DZMM Radyo Patrol 630, DZMM TeleRadyo—which is currently under the joint venture of the Kapamilya network and Prime Media Holdings.
Although, visible challenges have plagued the station, especially in recent years following the terrestrial network shutdown of ABS-CBN.
Live news programming on the channel had become increasingly limited to weekdays, and since December 2024, the remaining live news show on weekends is the simulcast of TV Patrol Weekend.
Original public affairs programming were also reduced, so did the network’s business news programs.
Despite that, ANC has adapted to the times and made its programs available streaming platforms. Aside from free YouTube livestreams, it also offered the subscription-based ANC Prestige that allowed viewers to watch the cable feed on YouTube, which is a feature that later transitioned to the iWant’s premium users.
Recently, the channel was also brought to subscribers of Cignal TV, which is the largest pay TV provider in the Philippines.
ANC is also seen in other cable TV providers, such as Sky Cable and Converge Vision, among others.