ABS-CBN TO LAUNCH ABS-CBN SIM BY YEAR END!

MANILA, Philippines -- ABS-CBN Corp. is gearing up to become the country's "third player" in the telecommunications industry, following a "pioneering" network sharing agreement with Globe Telecom Inc.

ABS-CBN chairman Eugenio Lopez III said the media conglomerate will launch an "ABS-CBN mobile SIM" that will offer the same telco services plus exclusive content from the company.

ABS-CBN AND GLOBE TELECOM SEALS CONVERGENCE DEAL! GMA-7 LEFT BEHIND?

MANILA, Philippines - Lopez-led ABS-CBN Corp. and Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. sealed the second big-ticket deal that marks the convergence of media and telecommunications businesses in the country.

On Tuesday, May 28, the country's leading media group and the second biggest telecommunications provider announced their "groundbreaking partnership," one that has been in the works for over 5 years.

KAPAMILYA ANIME DETHRONES ERSTWHILE MORNING SHOWS FROM GMA NETWORK!

Here are the comparative Household Ratings of ABS-CBN, TV5, and GMA-7 programs from May 7, 2013 based on the overnight ratings of Kantar Media/TNS among Total Philippines (Urban & Rural) households:

May 7, Tuesday

Morning

GMA NETWORK'S Q1 NET INCOME JUMPS 55% TO P603 MILLION!

Listed GMA Network Inc. on Wednesday announced its first quarter net income grew 55 percent to P603 million, up from P388 million a year earlier.

Consolidated revenues increased by 24 percent to P3.241 billion from P3.002 billion in the same comparable period.

CAPITAL INTERNATIONALS AND LOPEZ HOLDINGS INJECTS P4 BILLION OF INVESTMENT TO ABS-CBN FOR THE DIGITAL SHIFT!

MANILA -- A global private equity firm and hedge fund will be subscribing to P2.5-billion worth of new Philippine Deposit Receipts that will be issued by media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corp.

In a disclosure, ABS-CBN named the firm as Capital International Private Equity Fund VI, L.P. and affiliate funds.

ABS-CBN Q1 PROFIT JUMPS BY 66% TO P508 MILLION!

MANILA -- ABS-CBN Corp. saw its net income rise by 66% to P508 million in the first quarter from P306 million in the same period last year, buoyed by regular advertisements.

In a statement, the media conglomerate said consolidated revenues from ads and consumer sales went up 21% to P7.9 billion.

GMA CEO CONFIDENT ABOUT GMA'S PERFORMANCE DESPITE COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT!

Listed GMA Network Inc. is ready to face challenges in the broadcast industry in 2013, posting better than expected growth amid the challenges in 2012.GMA chairman and CEO Felipe Gozon said during the annual stockholder's meeting on Wednesday the company is "more than prepared to meet the challenges in broadcast."

"2012 was a challenging year for us but your company was able to achieve success... in 2013; continuous expanding and adding revenue sources is astutely pursued," Gozon said.

MVP TO COMBINE BUSINESS WORLD, PHIL STAR AND TV5!

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said he hopes to combine the writing forces of the media outlets under unit MediaQuest Holdings to improve analysis and content across his media platforms -- BusinessWorld, Philippine Star and TV5.

Speaking to reporters during Pangilinan's infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp (MPIC) first quarter results briefing, Pangilinan said he was looking to raise the quality of content by pooling together the journalistic sources of his media platforms.

TV5 INCURS NET LOSS OF P6.8 BILLION IN 18 MONTHS!

MANILA, Philippines - PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan is not pulling the plug on spending for the conglomerate's media units, although they may be losing money.

Pangilinan said he is giving his newly appointed TV5 chief executive officer Noel Lorenzana enough room to turn around the bleeding network, which lost another P2.8 billion in the first half last year, after losing P4 billion in 2011.

TV5 ADMITS IT WON'T BENEFIT MUCH FROM POLITICAL ADS!

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT) president and CEO Napoleon Nazareno says the group won't benefit much from election spending, which he expects will be largely channeled to TV and print ads.

But outgoing TV 5 president and CEO Ray C. Espinosa says the number three network has "picked up some ads, though not the same scale as the 2 major networks," referring to rivals ABS-CBN and GMA Network.

SHOWTIME ECLIPSES EAT BULAGA IN APRIL!

MANILA – ABS-CBN Corporation continued to pull away from its rivals as it dominated TV viewing across urban and rural homes nationwide in April, boosted by the performance of its noontime show "It's Showtime."

With its strong line-up of shows, the Kapamilya network garnered an average total day audience share of 42% or 12 points higher than GMA’s 30%, based on the data provided by Kantar Media.

ABS-CBN also maintained its leadership in the primetime block from 6 p.m. to 12 midnight, with an average national audience share of 46% compared to GMA’s 29%, and TV5’s 10%.

ABS-CBN INVESTS HEAVILY ON DIGITAL TERRESTRIAL TELEVISION FOR BETTER BROADCAST QUALITY!

MANILA, Philippines - Media giant ABS-CBN Corp. has been investing heavily in digital terrestrial television (DTT) and cable TV, as it aims to bring clear TV viewing to millions of Filipinos.

TV5 TO CHALLENGE ANC WITH THE LAUNCH OF CEO TV: AN ALL ENGLISH NEWS CHANNEL!

MANILA - PLDT board approved a P750-million investment in its media assets to allow the group to become a multimedia service company. Prior to that, the telco said it was investing an additional P3.6 billion to make "its media assets more visible to the shareholders of PLDT."

Pangilinan targets to complete the transaction in the next few months in preparation for the launch of TV5's all-English news channel, the CEO TV.

MVP TO SEIZE CONTROL OVER BUSINESS WORLD!

MANILA - The majority owner of the country's first business newspaper is ceding control to the PLDT group, sources told InterAksyon.com.

In a meeting last Tuesday, the cooperative of BusinessWorld decided to issue new shares to MediaQuest Holdings, which already has a 30 percent stake in the newspaper, the sources said.

Acquiring majority ownership of the newspaper, which has not been making money, has been MediaQuest's intention, the same sources said.