GMA-7 goes to City of Cerritos in LA

GMA Broadcasting Corp. has further spread its wings with the addition of the City of Cerritos in Los Angeles to the growing subscriber base of GMA Pinoy TV, its international channel.

Last March 9, Wave Broadband, a new cable tv and broadband company serving the City of Cerritors, started airing GMA Pinoy TV on Channel 505, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Cerritos is considered a major Filipino hub in Los Angeles County, with a Filipino population of over 6,000.

Among the major Filipino companies that have established a presence in Cerrritos are Jollibee, ChowKing, Goldilocks, Red Ribbon Bakeshop, LBC and PNB Remittance.

GMA has telecasting in the United States since July last year and has been steadily expanding its coverage across the country.

Craig Heiting, president of the California Division for Wave, said: "We are delighted to add GMA Pinoy TV to our Cerritos System. We recognize the quality of GMA Pinoy TV’s programming, and the importance they play in the Filipino community in Cerritos and in Southern California."

GMA chairman and president Felipe Gozon, for his part, said "We are very pleased that GMA Pinoy TV will be carried by Wave Broadband throughout the City of Cerritos. I hope the Filipino-American audience there is as excited as we are about this new development."

"We at GMA reiterate our commitment to provide our growing subscriber base with the best Filipino entertainment and responsible news and public affairs programs that they will enjoy," Gozon added.

For only $12 a month, Filipino households in Cerritos can now enjoy the top rating entertainment and news and public affairs programs of GMA.

Aside from the US, GMA Pinoy TV can also be seen in Japan, Guam and the Middle East.

As of end-December last year, GMA Pinoy TV already had more than 57,000 subscribers.

To further boost its coffers, GMA is hoping to penetrate Europe, Rome, England, Australia and Hong Kong this year to tap the huge market of overseas Filipino workers in these areas.

GMA achieved its net income target for last year of P2 billion, mainly driven by the strong performance of its international operations and the successful launch of its UHF channel.

The 2005 figure is 33 percent higher than the previous years.

Revenues amounted to P9.4 billion last year, up 20.5 percent from the year earlier’s P7.8 billion.

To ensure long-term growth, GMA is spending around P1 billion this year for the continued expansion of its regional operations and the establishment of two state-of-the-art studios to house more programs.

The network aims to broaden its presence nationwide as it gears towards dominating provincial programming after unanimously leading in TV viewership ratings across Mega-Manila.

GMA has also lined up at least four movies for this year to capitalize on the success of its telenovelas.