Need to evolve

For many subscribers of Sky Cable, the closure of its pay TV subscription as part of the sale to PLDT was going to be a blessing in disguise.

With the proliferation of video on demand services from Netflix, Amazon, DisneyPlus and even YouTube where you can now watch news programs live, who still needs cable tv subscription?

I had been a Sky Cable loyal subscriber for some time now. My Cignal subscription came in much later as part of my PLDT internet package and it happened to offer a better variety of shows. I especially like Cignal because it continued to offer the Korean channel TVN even on the basic package. Cignal also had more movie and sports channels.

There were so many reasons for me to terminate my Sky Cable subscription. The service was unavailable most of the time. Stolen and cut cables they say. Programs that I liked were being terminated. I was left with really boring channels inspite of the high cost of subscription and add-on channels that I have to be paid for every month.

When parent ABS-CBN closed shop, it probably became unsustainable for Sky Cable to continue. Sky was deep in debts amounting to P13 billion. The expected increase in the number of subscribers did not happen. In fact, many switched again because of the more popular new content providers.

But just like an old relationship, it was really hard to let go. Most of my time in front of the TV was spent watching on Netflix, Amazon, or Disney while 10 percent or maybe even less was on Sky. And yet I could not terminate my subscription.

And then the announcement.

In a P6.75-billion deal, PLDT was going to acquire, through the purchase of 100 percent of Sky Cable’s issued and outstanding capital stock, Sky Cable’s broadband business and assets related thereto. As a condition of the transaction, Sky Cable will terminate or cease its pay television and cable businesses.

I felt sad but at the same time relieved. I just had to find out how to have additional Cignal boxes for the second and third floors of my townhouse set up without new wires destroying the facade. Or maybe I can just make do with my streaming services.

Imagine my surprise when I received a text message from Sky saying that it will be continuing its service.

PLDT and ABS-CBN Corp. announced they are abandoning the sale and purchase agreement they signed last year, in a surprise turn.

Apparently, both parties could not agree up to the last minute on the terms related to the debt that the buyer had to absorb vis-a-vis the acquisition price of P6.75 billion.

Back in 2015, performance management company Nielsen said that Filipinos were embracing both traditional and digital platforms as access points, indicating a rise in consumer control and choice when it comes to watching content.

In examining the media landscape in the country, Nielsen said then that traditional TV viewing continued to enjoy its share of eyeballs while at the same time, digital video viewership among Filipinos has grown six fold in the last two years.

Nielsen’s TV Audience Measurement results show that in the last two years, television viewership remain strong with Filipino viewers tuning in to their TV sets 33 hours per week, while simultaneously, watching videos online among Filipinos who use the internet rose from 13 percent to 76 percent.

Nielsen’s study of consumer media behavior shows consumers are steadily watching traditional TV throughout the day, with its usual peak at evening prime time, while they access online video across the day and the late evening time slot.

But now everything has changed, probaby with digital media having the bigger share, especially in Metro Manila.

A 2022 study by Google and Ipsos has revealed that half of Filipinos consider YouTube as their “TV” when watching on any device, to the point that the platform recorded reaching over a whopping 50 million people aged 18 and above.

An article in Adobo Magazine revealed that thus is supported by the latest data from Nielsen’s Consumer & Media View from the second quarter of 2023. It reveals how digital usage has actually surpassed TV usage almost across all age demographics – from those aged 10 to 49 years old – helping break the myth that TV is still king.

It said that YouTube has now become the most-used channel for accessing digital video content in the Philippines for key audiences aged 20 to 49 years old.

The report further validates the digital shift, as the internet is more widely used than TV across all socioeconomic classes and major areas beyond Metro Manila, like the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

According to the Economy Report, Filipinos frequent and spend more time on YouTube compared to the rest of Southeast Asia.

The report added that this digital shift is projected to take over even more, especially with over 17 million people streaming YouTube on their TV in the Philippines as of 2023—the third-largest connected TV audience for the platform across Asia-Pacific.

This digital shift is projected to take over even more, especially with over 17 million people streaming YouTube on their TV in the Philippines as of 2023 – the third-largest connected TV audience for the platform across Asia-Pacific, it added.

Old habits die hard as they say. Whether Sky Cable service will remain or not is still uncertain but if it does, let us hope that it can find a better business model and proposition that can compete in the digital age.

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