Television in the Philippines

**Television in the Philippines** was introduced in October 1953.

### Major television networks

- **GMA Network**: Launched on October 29, 1961, by American journalist Robert Stewart under the name Republic Broadcasting System (RBS), it was the fourth television station launched in the Philippines. The network was shut down on September 23, 1972 due to martial law but returned in December of the same year after it was allowed by the government. In 1974, RBS changed its name to GMA Radio-Television Arts after the takeover by the new management by the triumvirate composed of Gilberto Duavit Sr., Menardo Jimenez, and Felipe Gozon. It eventually became one of the top stations in the country. The network was rebranded as GMA Rainbow Satellite Network in 1992 before it adopted its current name GMA Network in 1995.
- **TV5**: Launched in July 1962, by Chino Roces of _The Manila Times_ as ABC, it was the seventh television station launched in the Philippines. On September 23, 1972, ABC was one of the networks forcefully shut down by then-President Ferdinand Marcos due to the implementation of martial law. On February 21, 1992, ABC returned to television and became the fastest-growing network. On August 9, 2008, the network was relaunched as TV5. The network is currently owned by PLDT's media arm, MediaQuest Holdings of Manny V. Pangilinan.

### Pre-Major television networks

- **A2Z**: On October 6, 2020, ABS-CBN entered an blocktime agreement with ZOE Broadcasting Network that rebranded ZOE TV into A2Z on October 10. The channel was available in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, and other cable and satellite providers including ABS-CBN's Sky Cable. The channel's programming included some of the ABS-CBN programs and movies and its other sister television networks, as well as feature content from ZOE TV's sister station Light TV and its content partners CBN Asia and Trinity Broadcasting Network.
- **GTV**: is a Philippine free-to-air television network owned and operated by Citynet Network Marketing and Productions Inc. It was launched on February 22, 2021, replacing GMA News TV on its flagship station, UHF Channel 27 Metro Manila, and its provincial relay stations.
- **RPTV**: is a Philippine free-to-air television channel operated by TV5 Network, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. media arm of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund; on behalf of Nine Media Corporation, the controlling owner of Radio Philippines Network (RPN), a subsidiary of the ALC Group of Companies. It was launched on February 1, 2024, replacing CNN Philippines on its flagship station.

### Speciality Major television networks

- **Blast Sports** is a digital free-to-air sports-oriented channel of TAP Digital Media Ventures Corporation. It began its broadcast on BEAM TV's digital terrestrial broadcast nationwide on January 17, 2024 in soft launch mode. The new channel offers selected sporting events that also airs on TAP Sports and Premier Sports.
- **Heart of Asia Channel**: known on-air as **Heart of Asia**, is a Philippine free-to-air television channel owned by GMA Network Inc. The channel was on test broadcast from June 12–28, 2020 and was officially launched on June 29, 2020.
- **I Heart Movies**: is a Philippine free-to-air television channel owned by GMA Network Inc. The channel was on test broadcast from March 22, 2021, until March 31, 2021, and was officially launched on April 5, 2021.
- **One Sports**: is a television station of TV5 Network Inc. with Nation Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) as its primary content provider and was launched on March 8, 2020. One Sports serves as a sports channel for The 5 Network with its programs primarily produced by its sports division of the same name. It was formerly called 5 Plus, when it was launched on January 13, 2019, and AksyonTV, a Filipino-language news channel launched by TV5 in 2011–2019.
- **PRTV Prime Media**: (also known as Prime TV) is a Philippine free-to-air digital television channel owned by Prime Media Holdings thru Philippine Collective Media Corporation. It serves as the national extension of PCMC's PRTV brand, which is currently used on its regional television station in Tacloban. the channel began its test broadcast from May 27, 2024 until July 14, 2024 and was officially launched on July 15, 2024 on BEAM TV's digital subchannel broadcast featuring TeleRadyo Serbisyo (now as DZMM TeleRadyo) programming and a simulcast of ABS-CBN News' _TV Patrol_.

### Government-owned television networks

- **Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC)**: is a Philippine-based media company and VHF television network of the Government Communications Group under the Presidential Communications Office (PCO). IBC, along with sister stations Radio Philippines Network and sister media companies People's Television Network and Philippine Broadcasting Service, forms the media arm of the PCO. Its studios, offices, and broadcast facilities are located at the IBC Compound, Lot 3-B, Capitol Hills Drive cor. Zuzuarregui Street, Barangay Matandang Balara, Diliman, Quezon City.
- **People's Television Network (PTV)**: is the flagship state broadcaster owned by the Government of the Philippines. Founded on February 2, 1974, by Lito Gorospe and Francisco Tatad, PTV is the main brand of **People's Television Network, Inc. (PTNI)**, one of the attached agencies under the Presidential Communications Office (PCO). PTV, along with sister media companies Radio Philippines Network (minority-owned) and Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation, and radio network Philippine Broadcasting Service, forms the media arm of the PCO. Its head office, studios, and transmitter are located at Broadcast Complex, Visayas Avenue, Barangay Vasra, Diliman, Quezon City.
- **Radio Philippines Network (RPN)** (20% minority share; currently carries **RPTV**): is a Filipino-based media company based in Quezon City. It is the flagship media property of Nine Media Corporation of the ALC Group of Companies; along with the Government Communications Group under the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), and Far East Managers and Investors Inc., owned by the family of company founder Roberto Benedicto under the name Kanlaon Broadcasting System (KBS), among others, as major shareholders. RPN, along with sister stations Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation and sister media companies People's Television Network and Philippine Broadcasting Service, forms the media arm of the PCO. The network's main offices and transmitter are located at RPN Compound, Panay Avenue, Brgy. South Triangle, Diliman also in Quezon City.

### Minor television networks

- **Aliw Channel 23**: is a Philippine television network owned and operated by Aliw Broadcasting Corporation. The network broadcasts on UHF Channel 23 via digital terrestrial television in Metro Manila.
- **All TV**: is a TV station owned and operated by Advanced Media Broadcasting System of businessman and former senator Manny Villar. Its broadcast facilities and studios are located at the Starmalls EDSA Complex, EDSA corner Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City.
- **Net 25**: is a television network owned and operated by Eagle Broadcasting Corporation (EBC). EBC is owned by the key members of the independent Christian church, the Iglesia ni Cristo. The network is named for its flagship station in Metro Manila, DZEC-DTV, which is carried on UHF channel 28 on digital terrestrial TV and has carried by major cable operators in the country. The station's broadcast facilities are located at EBC Building #25 Central Ave., Barangay Culiat, New Era, Quezon City.
- **Southern Broadcasting Network (SBN)** (currently carries **SolarFlix**): is a Filipino-owned media company based radio and television network based in Metro Manila. SBN is a subsidiary of Solar Entertainment Corporation, a Filipino-owned television company managed by the Tieng family.
- **UNTV**: is the flagship television network of the Progressive Broadcasting Corporation (known on air as UNTV-PBC). Together with Breakthrough and Milestones Productions International (known on air as UNTV-BMPI), the network's content provider and marketing arm and Christian religious organization Members Church of God International (MCGI), its major blocktimer. DWAO-TV is one of very few NTSC-System M stations in the world that broadcast on Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Channel 37. In 2019, UNTV transferred its studios from the old UNTV Building at 907 EDSA Quezon City to La Verdad Christian College (LVCC) Caloocan Building, 351 EDSA, Brgy. Bagong Barrio West, Caloocan. UNTV transmitter is located at Emerald Hills, Sumulong Highway in Antipolo, Rizal. The 16-storey UNTV Broadcast Center, also referred to as The Millennial Tower and now called The Philippine Broadcast Hub along EDSA Philam is currently under construction to serve as its new headquarters.

### Religious television networks

- **Hope Channel Philippines**: (Seventh-day Adventist Church, Gateway UHF Television Broadcasting) is a religious network of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Philippines. Its TV stations are owned by **Gateway UHF Television Broadcasting**, while its radio stations are owned by Digital Broadcasting Corporation. Founded and launched on September 26, 2010, in the South Philippines (its main service broadcast provider).
- **INC TV**: (Christian Era Broadcasting Service International) is the flagship UHF television station of Christian Era Broadcasting Service International, a broadcast ministry of the independent Philippine Christian church, the Iglesia ni Cristo. INC TV studios and transmitters are located at Redeemer Street, Milton Hills Subdivision, Brgy. New Era, Quezon City.
- **Light TV**: (Jesus Is Lord Church) is a UHF digital television station of ZOE Broadcasting Network. DZOZ-DTV studios are located on the 22nd Floor, Strata 2000 Bldg., Emerald Ave., Ortigas Center, Pasig. Its transmitter is located at ZOE Compound Center, Crestview Heights Subdivision, Barangay San Roque, Antipolo, Rizal.
- **Truth Channel**: (formerly known as **Ang Dating Daan Television** or **ADDTV**) is a Philippine religious television network founded in 2014 as ADDTV and then launched on September 3, 2017, as Truth Channel. It is the flagship television network of the Members Church of God International (MCGI), together with UNTV News and Rescue, the network's carrier on free-to-air digital terrestrial television (DTT). It is known for its broadcast of _Itanong mo kay Soriano_ and _Ang Dating Daan_ hosted by International Televangelist Bro. Eli Soriano and Kuya Daniel Razon. It broadcasts 24 hours a day on Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Channel 38 in Metro and Mega Manila, Rizal, Bulacan, Pampanga, Laguna, Cavite, and some parts of Tarlac. The Ang Dating Daan program also hold the longest running religious program in the Philippines since 1983 when the program made its national television debut on IBC Channel 13.
- **TV Maria**: is a national Catholic television channel broadcasting from Manila, Philippines. Owned by **TV Maria Foundation Philippines** (a non-profit, non-stock organization under the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila), it airs 24 hours a day and is currently available on major and provincial cable operators, on digital terrestrial television broadcasts via RJ Digital TV's DTT subchannel in Mega Manila and GNN's DTT subchannel.

## Most viewed channels

|Position|Channel|Share of total viewing (%)|
| --- | --- | --- |
|1|GMA Network|47.6|
|2|TV5|15.5|
|3|GTV|10.7|
|4|A2Z|8.3|