Dream Broadcasting for sale at right price, says 'Tonyboy' Cojuangco

MANILA, Philippines - Dream Broadcasting System, the direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service owned by businessman Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangco, is willing to sell the company at the right price.

“We are open to selling it or welcoming new investors if there is a good price for it,” he said in an interview.

Philippine Multi-Media System Inc. (PMSI) operates Dream. PMSI is under corporate rehabilitation with outstanding liabilities amounting to P1.15 billion.

Cojuangco also said they are looking for strategic partners that can help the company upgrade its systems and reach in order to keep its subscribers and compete in the present digital age.

Despite competition posed by cable television, Cojuangco said DTH will remain a viable proposition in the country. “We are an island nation and it is very expensive to operate a cable system and lay out all those cables to provide service to remote islands. Therefore, satellite TV is the only way to go,” he pointed out.

He said Dream has 300,000 installed DTH service, of which 110,000 are regularly paying subscribers. The rest are those who activate their service only when they need it, especially those who subscribe to the service for their second home.

Dream, the country’s first DTH service, is facing competition from Cignal, the DTH company of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT). Cojuangco, however, said they still have the biggest share of the market.