Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation

The Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation (often shortened to BBC) was a Philippine television network that began operations on November 4, 1973 and ceased transmission on March 20, 1986.

History
DWWX-TV (formerly DZAQ-TV) station owned by ABS-CBN was shut down following the declaration of Martial Law in 1972, and served as the flagship station of BBC. Roberto Benedicto, a crony of then-President Ferdinand Marcos and owner of the Kanlaon Broadcasting System, took over the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center complex on Bohol (now Sergeant Esguerra) Avenue in Quezon City after the KBS Studios along Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City (which were ironically sold to them by ABS-CBN in 1969) were destroyed by fire on June 6, 1973, a few months before BBC went on air. The new network was named the "Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation" after Mount Banahaw, a dormant volcano located in southern Luzon known for its hot springs and mystical associations.

In July 1978, BBC, KBS and another Benedicto-owned network, the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) (which originally aired from San Juan del Monte), transferred to the Broadcast City compound in Old Balara, Quezon City, with the transmitter located along Panay Avenue, Quezon City, by then newly upgraded for better broadcast reception. This left Channel 4 (a frequency formerly owned by ABS-CBN and taken over by the government through National Media Production Center (NMPC) as Government Television in 1974) at the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center complex, then renamed MBS Broadcast Plaza (MBS being Maharlika Broadcasting System, the name that Channel 4 acquired in 1980).

By December 1973, the network also operated DYCB-TV 3 in Cebu and DYXL-TV 4 in Bacolod, both of which were also originally owned by ABS-CBN. Their call signs were also changed to DYCW-TV and DYBW-TV, respectively. The Cebu and Bacolod stations switched affiliations to GTV (Government Television; later the Maharlika Broadcasting System) in 1978 and reverted to their former call letters.

BBC-2 was rebranded as City 2 Television from 1980 until 1984. In 1984, it was rebranded again back as BBC-2. BBC ended operations on March 20, 1986 after People Power Revolution along with RPN and IBC (temporarily), after reformist soldiers disabled the transmitter that was broadcasting Marcos' inauguration from Malacañang Palace. Upon Corazón C. Aquino's subsequent accession to the presidency, BBC, RPN and IBC (collectively known as "Broadcast City") were sequestered and placed under the management of a Board of Administrators tasked to operate and manage its business and affairs subject to the control and supervision of Presidential Commission on Good Government. ABS-CBN resumed broadcasting on September 14, 1986 and its Cebu and Bacolod stations were returned to its original owner. DWWX-TV is still used as the callsign of the network's flagship station in Metro Manila.

BBC became well-remembered for its trademark jingle, Big Beautiful Country, composed by José Mari Chan and sung by various OPM singers of the 70s. By 1980, its relaunch as City 2 made history as the first national station to incorporate computer-generated graphics using the Scanimate system for its station identity and promo spots.

Programming

Radio stations
DWWA 1160/1206 - Metro Manila. Call letters were changed to DWAN; it was later owned by Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation and then under the management of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. This station is currently inactive.
DWWK-FM/DWOK-FM 101.9 - Metro Manila. The frequency was awarded to ABS-CBN in 1986.

See also
DWWX-TV
DWRR 101.9

References

Defunct Philippine television networks
Television channels and stations established in 1973
Television channels and stations disestablished in 1986