ABC (Philippine TV network) (PatrZDZ's vision)

**Associated Broadcasting Company** (**ABC**) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network based in Mandaluyong, with its alternate studios located in Novaliches, Quezon City. It is the flagship property of MPB Primedia Inc., a local company backed by Media Prima Berhad of Malaysia.

ABC's flagship station in Metro Manila is DWET-TV, which is carried in VHF Channel 5 (analog broadcast), UHF Channel 18 (digital broadcast) and UHF Channel 51 (digital test broadcast; the latter is licensed to TV5's sister company Mediascape/Cignal TV). TV5 is also broadcasting to seven other owned-and-operated stations and nine affiliate television stations nationwide, as well as on all cable and satellite TV providers nationwide. Its programming is also available outside the Philippines through The Mabuhay Channel. ABC also operates a radio station, 106.7 Dream FM, in Metro Manila.

## History

### The early years (1960–1972)

Joaquin "Chino" Roces, owner of the Manila Times was granted a radio-TV franchise from Congress under Republic Act 2945 on June 19, 1960. He then founded the Associated Broadcasting Corporation with its first studios along Pasong Tamo — with DZMT 1100 kHz, DZTM 1380 kHz and DZWS 1070 kHz as its first radio stations. It became the fourth television network in the country, when it established DZTM-TV Channel 5. ABC operated radio and television services from 1960 until September 23, 1972, when President Ferdinand E. Marcos declared Martial Law. Both ABC and the Manila Times were forcibly shut down as a result with rivals ABS-CBN, RBS, MBC and RMN–IBC's radio and television broadcasts also shut down by martial law that day.

After the People Power Revolution in 1986, Chino Roces made a successful representation with President Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino for the network's reinstatement. ABC's rival ABS-CBN reopened that year but ABC was not yet reopened until it made a test broadcast in 1991 and finally reopened in 1992. Roces died in 1988, but his son Edgardo Roces would reopen the network after.

New stockholders led by broadcast veteran Edward Tan and Chino Roces's son Edgardo then began the arduous task of resuming broadcasts. The Securities and Exchange Commission granted their application for an increase in capitalization and amendments to ABC's articles of incorporation and by-laws. They were subsequently granted a permit to operate by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

### The return and growth (1992–2003)

ABC inaugurated its studio complex and transmitter tower in San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City in 1990 and began conducting test broadcasts by airing Japan documentaries at the end of 1991; officially and finally returning to the air as the Associated Broadcasting Company on February 21, 1992, with the different callsign of the flagship station, DWET-TV and the corporate name, Associated Broadcasting Company, which the Company uses C as the corporate initial instead of keeping Corporation, the name of the original ABC, along its original callsign, DZTM-TV, during the pre-martial law years as a result of the new management of the now revived network which took over its operations.

ABC acquired a new 25-year franchise to operate on December 9, 1994, under Republic Act 7831 signed by President Fidel Valdez Ramos. In the same year, it went on nationwide satellite broadcasting. In a surge of phenomenal growth, ABC earned its reputation as "The Fastest Growing Network" under new network executive Tina Monzon-Palma who served as Chief Operating Officer.

In 2001, ABC began to produce local versions of The Price Is Right (hosted by Dawn Zulueta and later acquired by ABS-CBN); Wheel of Fortune (hosted by Rustom Padilla, later acquired by ABS-CBN); and Family Feud (hosted by Ogie Alcasid, later acquired by GMA Network, then by ABS-CBN, and later reverted back to GMA). This was during the height of the game show frenzy within Philippine networks brought on by the success of IBC's Philippine editions of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (hosted by Christopher de Leon, which is later transferred to TV5 hosted by Vic Sotto) and The Weakest Link (hosted by Edu Manzano).

### The Cojuangco era (2003–2008)

In June 2003, The Tan-Roces joint consortium sold ABC TV and radio stations to the group led by businessman Antonio "Tonyboy" O. Cojuangco, Jr. former Chairman of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and owner of Dream Satellite TV and Bank of Commerce, among other assets it later formally acquired in October of the same year. Cojuangco was the president and CEO of ABC, while Jose T. Pardo, a former secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry also was the network's board chairman at the time. The new management introduced many changes including a stronger news and public affairs division, modernization of its broadcast equipment, and the acquisition of broadcast rights of Philippine Basketball Association games. Additionally, the new network executives led by Roberto Barreiro coined a new slogan, "Iba Tayo!" ("We're Different!") which was conceived at the height of the "network wars" between ABS-CBN and GMA, with each of these two networks offering programming that bear the same format. ABC aimed to veer away from this practice by coming up with different shows with fresh and distinct formats to complement its flagship program, the PBA, targeting the burgeoning middle to upper-class youth market. ABC continued to support Family Rosary Crusade, and its religious pre-identification campaign "Please Pray the Rosary" was played before every program on the network until the plug gradually phased out due to the network's programming revamp.

In 2005, ABC won the "Outstanding TV Station" award at the 2005 KBP Golden Dove Awards, with several other programs on the network also earning awards in their respective categories.

In early 2007, ABC implemented a series of budget cuts, primarily directed towards its news department, which laid off most of its employees. The cuts, held prior to the 2007 general elections, left ABC almost incapable of coverage.

In November 2007, ABC debuted an array of new sports programming, including NBA basketball, pro boxing, and WWE events, as part of a new five-year deal with Solar Entertainment. However, due to their high costs and poor ratings, these programs were later dropped throughout 2008, and its NBA review show "House of Hoops" was cut back as well and eventually cancelled by April 2008. However, much of these programs, along with the PBA (as ABC elected not to renew its contract that ended after the 2008 Fiesta Conference), would be picked up by RPN, who had begun a much wider partnership with Solar earlier in 2007, which led to its privatization by the latter in 2011.

### ABC-MPB Primedia partnership (2008–present)

In March 2008, Cojuangco announced that ABC had reached a partnership with MPB Primedia Inc., a local company backed by Media Prima Berhad of Malaysia as part of a long-term strategy to eventually make the network more competitive amidst the rising network wars between ABS-CBN and GMA. MPB Primedia, meanwhile, was formed to serve as seed asset for Media Prima's proposed private equity fund to invest in various media companies within Southeast Asia. Cojuangco said MPB Primedia Inc., in principle, would produce and source most of the entertainment programs while ABC would continue to be responsible for news programming and operation of the stations. MPB Primedia was also given exclusive right to schedule and manage sale of ABC-5's airtime.

## Programming

ABC programs are consisting of news and public affairs, sports programming, movie blocks and special presentations, local dramas and soap operas, anime series, foreign cartoons, musical and variety shows, reality shows, comedy and gag shows, informative and talk shows, and others. From 2004, the network is the official broadcaster of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It also airs Word of God Network every Monday to Saturday morning, and Catholic mass live from the church (usually from Veritas 846) every Sunday morning.

ABC is also notorious for being the originator of tabloid talk shows in the Philippines which featured confrontations, physical fights and scantily clad guests; these include Face to Face, Face the People, Solved na Solved, and the public service program Idol in Action.