The news seeped out Thursday evening, past the deadline of most major newspapers: the NCAA has selected GMA Network as its new broadcast partner. After three weeks of delays to clarify bidding rules and allow tweaks in the bids, the country’s oldest collegiate league chose the network that offered better airtime. The offer apparently included airing basketball finals on the mother channel GMA 7 itself. The abundance of available sports properties was obviously a result of the closure of ABS-CBN Sports. Originally, TV5 and CNN also expressed interest in acquiring the broadcast rights to the league; then it became a two-horse race between GMA and TV5, which has already acquired the rights to the UAAP.
For more than a decade, the NCAA has been seeking a broadcast partner who would place it on equal footing with the UAAP. Now, it sees an opportunity to get that. In the final virtual presentation of sealed bids three weeks ago, GMA chairman and CEO Felipe Gozon made an appearance, underscoring the network’s seriousness in helping collegiate basketball while reviving its long-dormant sports group. This appears to have made an impression on the NCAA Policy Board. TV5 is already the dominant force in sports broadcasting in the country, and has contributed much to uplift the state of the industry. By sheer volume of sports content, it has become the most formidable rival.
There is also, however, a third force which is coming into play. After RPN 9 pioneered with its coverage of the 1976 Olympics, People’s Television became the trailblazer for televised sports in the Philippines. The government network has the largest library of multi-sports competitions such as the Olympic Games, the Asian Games, Southeast Asian Games, even other events like the World Cup. For almost two decades until the 1990’s, PTV (known for years as NBN) was also the home of the PBA. It has consistently covered the SEA Games, either on its own or in partnership with other networks. This writer has been to several SEA Games and other events with the network since 1991, and even covered the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta with them.
With its new management, PTV has shown renewed interest in strengthening its sports group. Its team performed well in broadcasting the 2017 and 2019 SEA Games, and there is room for more growth. With the full entry of GMA into sports, the market will be stimulated, and advertisers will have more options to support amateur and professional sports. In addition, PTV is building new studios in the southern part of the Philippines, and is boosting its radio network. It is currently finishing a state-of-the-art broadcast facility in Mindanao and building studios in new provincial locations. This will give it a much wider reach and makes it more appealing to advertisers, and shows how valuable news and other content from the Visayas and Mindanao are in nation-building.
Next year will be a singular season for sport, as both the Tokyo Olympics (in July) and Vietnam SEA Games (in November) will occur in the same calendar year. A welcome and joyful happenstance after the depressing events of 2020. This will encourage even more competition among broadcast networks, and give employment to many of those who were displaced by the closure of ABS-CBN. More good news.