GMA Network posts 99% increase in gross revenues

Backed by a robust growth in advertising spending, GMA Network Inc. registered a 99-percent increase in gross revenues last month to P650 million from P327 million the previous level.

GMA-7 said the reported revenues do not include earnings from blocktime programs, particularly from its top-rating daily noontime show and is limited to TV advertising revenues only.

This boosted the company’s cumulative revenues to P2.36 billion, 75 percent higher than the year ago figure.

GMA marketing president and chief operating officer Manuel Quiogue said the network has surpassed the P500-million monthly revenue mark thrice this year. "We have broken another record in sales and we accomplished the phenomenal improvement without increasing our advertising rates, while our competitor implemented increased rates last February," Quioge said.

The network is competing neck-to-neck with the Lopez-controlled ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., which also reported a significant increase in its revenues in May this year.

Quioge said the company expects its sales to improve for the rest of the year especially with its planned advertising rate increase next month.

With the record-breaking performance in sales, Felipe Yalong, GMA senior vice-president for corporate services, is optimistic that the network can surpass its 2002 net income in just five months this year.

"We are very happy with the network’s continuous and massive improvement in sales. Previously, our revenues were only about one-third that of ABS-CBN’s. Now we have increased our sales to more than half of their earnings in a short period of time," Yalong said.

Media giant ABS-CBN announced earlier that it was looking at revenues of P1.4 billion to P1.5 billion for the month of May. This would bring year-to-date sales to P5 billion or 20 percent higher than the year ago level.

GMA management attributed the success to the cost-efficiency of many of the network’s programs. Based on data released by AGB Philippines as of the second quarter of 2003 covering April 1 to May 17, GMA is tied in total day household ratings with ABS-CBN at 14 percent.