ABS-CBN: building bridges in the air.

Company positioned to become a full-scale entertainment powerhouse

The ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. Ten years ago, on its 40th anniversary, Philippine President V. Ramos said that "the history of ABS-CBN is the history of Philippine television."

Founded by Eugenio Lopez Jr. in 1946, ABS-CBN first-introduced commercial television to the Philippines in 1953. It was also the first to set up a provincial station, to introduce color television and to attempt live satellite coverage. Indeed, the station has made its mark on the country, but it hasn't always been easy. During the early '70s the Marcos government shut down the station when it declared martial law on all media outlets critical of the regime. ABS-CBN was reopened fourteen years later, in February 1986, when a civilian-backed revolt ended the 20-year dictatorship and restored democracy in the Philippines. The following year, the station relaunched as the Star Network (Channel 2) and adopted a predominantly general interest programming schedule; some 85 percent of the shows were locally produced. The station rose to the No. 1 ratings position less than a year after its re-launch. In December 1988, Lopez's dream of linking the entire archipelago via satellite, of "building bridges in the air," was realized.

The network takes pride in award-winning news and public affairs shows like TV Patrol - the station's highest-rated newscast which was launched in San Francisco in September 1992. In 1995, ABS-CBN garnered audience shares of 50 percent, compared with the 24 percent of its closest competitor. The TV Patrol venture was the impetus for the creation of ABS-CBN International, which concentrates on expanding international distribution in North America. The expansion efforts target countries that have a heavy concentration of Filipino communities; ABS-CBN has penetrated the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia and will eventually enter the Middle East. The first Filipino premium cable channel, The Filipino Channel (TFC), was launched in the U.S. in April 1994. TFC now boasts more than 25,000 subscribers in the U.S., many of them concentrated in Guam and Hawaii. The channel features 24-hour broadcasts from Manila to the Pacific Rim via PanAmSat's PAS2 and Galaxy IV satellites.

ABS-CBN International also has a DTH service, TFCDirect. It is a 24-hour service that delivers all-Filipino programming directly to homes.

Regional TV and radio are also very important to ABS-CBN's operations. To address ABS-CBN's absence from the English programming market, the network formally launched a UHF station, Studio 23, in October. This new station is being primed to be the No. 2 station in the Philippines. According to Leo Katigbak, operations and program director, ABS-CBN, the new channel is off to an excellent start. "The latest survey only covered our launch date, but we ranked third overall after ABS-CBN and GMA-7, ahead of all other VHF/UHF channels."

Manuel P. Quioque, managing director of Studio 23, said that launching the UHF channel wasn't that easy because before the introduction of Studio 23, the perception of UHF channels had not been very good primarily because of their weak signals compared to the VHF channels. "From the outset, we made it clear to the industry via the individual presentations we made that Studio 23 was going to be different - with our crystal clear signal in Mega Manila from our 80KW transmitter, our presence in 13 provincial cities and our all-new English programming. As soon as we started our test broadcast three weeks before the launch we advised the industry. When they saw how clear the signal was and how heavy Studio 23 was being promoted on Channel 2, the nation's dominant VHF channel, they were convinced this was going to be a strong station," Quioque added. Studio 23's programming will be entirely in English and will primarily be U.S. sourced. The only program locally produced will be an English newscast.

Areas of expansion for the company include the construction of The Lopez Center, a complex that will house the different subsidiaries and production units of ABS-CBN; Star Cinema, a movie production company; Star Magic, a licensing and merchandising venture; and the acquisition of movie theaters.

SkyCable is the cable side of ABS-CBN. Cable penetration in the country is currently at 90 percent; SkyCable now reaches half of that. There are 55 pay channels in the SkyCable system; basic cable includes HBO, ESPN, CNN, TNT's Cartoon Network and various NBC channels. Sky Cable also has an exclusive deal with Bloomberg News.

Reena de Gusman Garingan, program acquisitions manager for SkyCable, said that Sky is distinct in that "we program our own channels." For example, IChannel is a 24-hour general entertainment service and Sky1 offers 24 hours of Philip-pine-produced newscasts, live coverage of the senate and stock market information. Garingan said that all of Sky's programming is broadcast in English. She buys American and Canadian programming and lots of French animation. "Since a lot of channels are coming into Asia, it's a matter of choosing the best channel to fit one's particular taste. We even have a channel called [H.sub.2]0, which is basically an aquarium on screen with Baroque music in the background. It's very relaxing to watch," she said.

THE PHILIPPINES AT A GLANCE

TV Outlets: ABS-CBN, ABC, PTV-4, RPN-9, GMA-7, SBN-21, RJTV-29, IBC-13, CTV-31 Population: 68 million TV HH: 10 million Cable TV HH: 300,000 Direct-to-Home: 5,000 No. of Movie Theaters: 1,300 TV Ad Spending (U.S.$): $220 million per year TV Standard: NTSC Program Acquisition (U.S.$): $22 million per year

AVERAGE PROGRAM PRICES (U.S.$)

One-Hour Dramas: $3,000 MOWs: $5,000 Mini-Series (Per Hour): $2,500 Children's Animation (Per Half Hour): $500