It is both the end and the start of a new era for the media giant.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange last Monday, June 15, media giant ABS-CBN Corporation noted changes in its Articles of Incorporation.
According to the Lopez family-owned firm, its Board apprived during its meeting last April 3 the network’s change of address from the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center along Sgt. Esguerra Avenue corner Mother Ignacia, which had been the network’s base since 1968, to the ELJ Communications Center along Eulogio Lopez, Jr. Drive, which is located at the other end of the property.
The said move comes as the Kapamilya network begins consolidating its operations to the remaining 1.4 hectare space of the larger ABS-CBN Compound in Quezon City.
This comes more than a year after it sold the 3-hectare portion of its overall 4.4 hectare lot to Ayala Land, with the land sold including facilities such as the Broadcast Center that houses most of the network’s studios and newsroom, as well as the Millennium Transmitter.
In a recent disclosure, however, of the Ayala group, it has yet to proceed with its plans on the property, which it noted to be one that sits on a “prime spot.”
Opened in 1968, the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Centre was touted as the most-advanced facility in the region during its time.
During the Martial Law era, as the Lopez-owned stations went off the air, the network owned by Roberto Benedicto made use of the facility, using it to produce programs for KBS-9 (later RPN), BBC-2, and IBC-13.
Eventually, the center also became home to the government-owned TV network, the Maharlika Broadcasting System, until the end of the Marcos, Sr. dictatorship in 1986.
The compound also became the location of a crossfire between groups during the height of the EDSA Revolution, during which it was successfully taken over by the pro-democracy group that beamed New TV-4 (now PTV) and gave updates regarding the uprising.
Upon its return in September 1986, ABS-CBN was not yet able to take hold of the entire center, as it shared the facility with PTV-4 until 1992.
Since then, the Broadcasting Centre has been used to film and produce multiple television series, variety shows, and newscasts of the television network.
It was also the location for the booths of defunct Kapamilya AM and FM radio stations, DZMM Radyo Patrol 630 and MOR 101.9.