ABS-CBN willing to strike partnerships to stay alive

MANILA, Philippines — ABS-CBN Corp. said they were keen on striking more partnerships to expand content reach in a bid to secure its financial future.

The statement came on Thursday, two days after the broadcaster took TeleRadyo off the airwaves. The move came amid a slow recovery from losses arising from the previous Duterte administration's decision to shut down its broadcasting franchise in 2020.

“We’re willing to work with any partner, whether in free, pay TV or online streaming,” Carlo Katigbak, president and CEO of ABS-CBN Corp, said in the company’s annual stakeholder meeting.

This has been the broadcaster’s playbook since the franchise denial. They’ve taken on partnerships here and abroad, having worked with Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Prime Video to syndicate a TV series and a distribution deal with India’s MX Player. The other partnerships included Netflix, Hong Kong-based Viu, and Youtube.

“We decided to shed off all assets not relevant to storytelling…The new ABS-CBN is learning to partner with other platforms,” Katigbak added.

Katigbak said the company is keen on increasing their viewership base, higher compared to “what we had before.”

Partnerships on the domestic front included  a milestone deal with its media rival, GMA Network, Inc. The two signed on to produce a teleserye and the latter secured a deal to use ABS-CBN’s iWantTFC streaming platform to widen its international reach.

ABS-CBN also inked content partnerships with Pangilinan-owned TV5, PIE Channel, AMBS, and A2Z, founded by Bro. Eddie Villanueva.

The broadcaster managed to trim its net loss in 2022, now at P2.63 billion after posting P5.67 billion losses in the preceding year.