ABS-CBN: GMA-7 PALUGI NA!

At the back GMA-7's financial disclosure of posting a 71% growth in profits for the first quarter of the year, ABS-CBN Corporation the country's largest media Conglomerate stressed that the growth of the rival was only made possible because of the large volume of political advertisements.

ABS-CBN further argued that without Political Ads, GMA Network would most likely incur a decrease in profits, year-on-year due to reduced recurring Advertisements. GMA-7 had lost its wide margin in the Mega Manila area and consistently registered wilted numbers in the national level, driving away possible investors. The company had lost significant volume of TV commercials due to decreased audience and tougher competition form rivals. It has also lost the support of the P500M advertising deal with Colgate-Palmolive Corp. which went back to ABS-CBN after almost a year of rift.

Charles Gamo, ABS-CBN investor relations head, said the company (ABS-CBN) remains strong amidst threat imposed by emerging TV unit (TV 5) by the PLDT Group. He stressed regular airtime revenues significantly grew for the first 5 months of the year, indicating a healthy financial outlook for the rest of the year.

Nevertheless, Felipe Yalong, GMA Finance Chief Officer, disclosed on June 6 2010, at the Philippine Star, that the Network's bottom line will remain strong even without Political Advertisements.