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Country | Philippines |
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Broadcast area | Defunct |
Headquarters | ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English (primary) Filipino (secondary) |
Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to 16:9 480i for the SDTV feed) |
Ownership | |
Owner | ABS-CBN Corporation |
Sister channels | ABS-CBN ANC CgeTV Cinema One Cine Mo! DZMM TeleRadyo Hero Jeepney TV Knowledge Channel Lifestyle Liga Maxxx Myx O Shopping S+A Velvet Studio 23 |
History | |
Launched | January 1, 2008 |
Closed | December 31, 2015 (7 years, 11 months and 30 days) |
Replaced by | ABS-CBN Sports+Action HD Liga |
Links | |
Website | Archived official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 2015-12-31) |
Balls was a Philippine pay television network based in Quezon City. It was notable for being the country's first local high-definition TV channel. It was owned and operated by ABS-CBN's subsidiary ABS-CBN Cable Channels. The network shows notable sports broadcasts from the Philippines and abroad, as well as other sports related programming. Its local programming were produced and licensed by ABS-CBN Sports.
Balls was officially launched on January 1, 2008, the same day that fellow ABS-CBN subsidiary Sky Cable dropped the channels of Solar Entertainment Corporation (including the sports channels Solar Sports and Basketball TV) from its lineup. These channels were replaced by a group of new channels owned by ABS-CBN's subsidiary Creative Programs Inc. (now ABS-CBN Cable Channels), which include Maxxx and Velvet. While SkyCable officials stated that the channels were being replaced to reduce redundancy in SkyCable's lineup and introduce new programming to the service, reports surfaced that the two companies had failed to reach a carriage deal since ABS-CBN had accused Solar of cannibalizing the revenue of its over-the-air networks. [1] Some reports says that the dispute has to do with Manny Pacquiao's exclusive contract with ABS-CBN's main competitor GMA Network, which Solar has partnered for free TV airing of its boxing matches.
Although Balls was intended to effectively replace it, Basketball TV was restored to the SkyCable lineup in time for the 2008–09 NBA season in October 2008, and other Solar channels also returned to the lineup afterward.
It was announced that Balls and Balls HD would cease their broadcast on December 31, 2015. Its HD channel, as well as the entire channel's content (except the Ultimate Fighting Championship which the broadcast rights was acquired by TV5's sports division, Sports5) was absorbed to the Sports + Action brand and renamed as ABS-CBN Sports + Action HD. [2]
The last program to air on this channel was a replay of UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor on December 31, 2015, before signing off at 12 midnight on January 1, 2016. Cable providers still receiving Balls would see an imaging card that reads "Balls is now signing off". Until the provider can replace it with another channel, while other providers like Sky Cable (in Metro Manila and in select metropolitan and large cities) have replaced this channel with a reserved channel or with another channel, with Sky Cable replacing it with ABS-CBN Sports+Action.
On July 11, 2009, the channel launched its own high-definition feed on Sky Cable, marking the Philippines' first ever local high-definition television channel. On the same day, Balls also televised the country's first locally produced programs in HD, which included a UAAP college basketball game, followed by an NCAA game the following Monday, all produced by ABS-CBN Sports using the recently acquired Sony high-definition professional video cameras and a state-of-the-art HD OB van with technologies developed by EVS Broadcast Equipment, Snell, and Avid Technology. [3] Balls HD was in hibernation from December 28, 2009 until 2013.
Balls' initial lineup focused on ball sports such as football, basketball, golf, tennis, and volleyball (as suggested by its name). Balls also aired 2 of 4 Tennis Grand Slam Tournament which is French Open (2008–2013; transferred to Fox Sports Asia) and US Open (2007–2015). Balls later expanded its lineup to include boxing, UFC MMA events, WWE programs, and the 2011 Southeast Asian Games. It also carries all the matches of FIFA World Cup which is exclusively licensed to ABS-CBN Sports. While originally airing only foreign events since its inception, Balls began to air domestic events produced by ABS-CBN Sports in 2009, beginning with NCAA Season 85 and UAAP Season 72.
TV5 is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network based in Mandaluyong, with alternate studios located in Novaliches, Quezon City. It is the flagship property of TV5 Network, Inc., which is owned by MediaQuest Holdings, the multimedia arm of telecommunications conglomerate PLDT. TV5 is commonly referred to as "The 'Kapatid' Network", using the Filipino term for "sibling", a branding introduced in 2010.
Hero was a 24-hour Philippine pay television channel created by ABS-CBN's narrowcast arm Creative Programs Inc. from 2005 to 2018. The programming was composed primarily of Filipino-dubbed Japanese anime series. It was dubbed as "The First and All Tagalog-dubbed Anime Channel in the Philippines."
Sky Cable is a cable television service of Sky Cable Corporation in the Philippines. It covers areas across the country with both digital and analog cable services, and it has 700,000 subscribers, controlling 45% of the cable TV market.
Solar Entertainment Corporation is a Filipino media company based in Makati, Philippines. Founded and owned by the brothers, Wilson, William and Willy Tieng. Solar Entertainment operates two digital free-to-air channels and two cable channels. Solar also owns a film distribution company and defunct freemium digital television service.
Creative Programs, Inc. (CPI) is a subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corporation that operates and distributes pay TV channels and provides pay-per-view services to direct-to-home satellite and cable television providers in the Philippines. Since 2019, CPI also engages in book and magazine publishing through its subsidiary ABS-CBN Publishing, following their merger.
Solar Sports is a Filipino 24-hour cable TV sports channel, which serves as the flagship channel of Solar Entertainment Corporation, and based in Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The channel was launched on October 30, 2002, and is available for Sky Cable, Cablelink, G Sat, and contact for local cable operators in the Philippines and via livestreaming.
One Sports, currently rebranding to Sports5, is the sports division of TV5 Network, Inc. and jointly-operated with sister company Cignal TV. One Sports supplies and airs major sporting events in the Philippines and the world for free-to-air TV channels TV5, RPTV, One Sports channel, Cignal-exclusive channels One Sports+, PBA Rush, NBA TV Philippines and UAAP Varsity Channel, and online esports streaming channel GG Network.
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TeleRadyo Serbisyo is a Philippine pay television channel owned by Media Serbisyo Production Corporation, a joint venture between Prime Media Holdings and ABS-CBN Corporation, with ABS-CBN News as its main content provider, and is available on cable providers throughout the Philippines. TeleRadyo Serbisyo is also simulcasted via The Filipino Channel (TFC) and it can be heard and viewed online via its YouTube channel and iWantTFC. TeleRadyo was also included as a digital subchannel on digital terrestrial television seen via the ABS-CBN TVplus digital TV receivers and other digital TV boxes, until its discontinuation on November 1, 2022. However, on May 27, 2024, the channel resumed its digital free-to-air broadcast via Prime TV's feed. The channel was previously used to simulcast the programs of ABS-CBN's flagship AM radio station, DZMM 630 before the latter went off the air on May 5, 2020 due to a cease and desist order of the National Telecommunications Commission together with ABS-CBN, S+A, and MOR Philippines. The channel went back on-air and online on May 8, 2020 as TeleRadyo, resuming the programming of the former DZMM. On June 28, 2021, TeleRadyo started to broadcast in high-definition feed on YouTube and Facebook while selected shows are being broadcast on Kapamilya Channel and The Filipino Channel in HD. The channel rebranded to TeleRadyo Serbisyo on June 30, 2023 coinciding with the launch of its radio counterpart Radyo 630 under the joint venture of Prime Media and ABS-CBN.
Television in the Philippines was introduced in October 1953 upon the first commercial broadcast made by Alto Broadcasting System, making the Philippines the first Southeast Asian country and the second in Asia to do so. Even before that, during the late 1940s, several academic experiments had been done and replicated by Filipino engineers and students.
Maxxx was a general entertainment channel for men owned by Creative Programs, Inc., an ABS-CBN Corporation subsidiary. It eventually shutdown due to lack of ratings of the channel.
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UAAP Season 72 was the 2009–2010 season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. It was hosted by Far Eastern University, with opening rites on July 11, 2009 at the Araneta Coliseum. The men's basketball tournament and the women's volleyball tournament were aired by ABS-CBN's UHF Studio 23 for the tenth consecutive year.
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ABS-CBN Sports and Action, was a free-to-air television network based in Quezon City. It was owned by ABS-CBN Corporation with some of its programs produced and licensed by ABS-CBN Sports. In Metro Manila, Sports + Action broadcast terrestrially and through DTT through DWAC-TV, the frequency once used by the defunct national television network Studio 23 until its closure on January 16, 2014, with most of its UHF affiliate stations in the provinces owned by AMCARA Broadcasting Network. It began its operations on January 18, 2014, yet it did not become the company's sole channel for sports until the shutdown of subscription-based counterpart Balls by the end of 2015. Its simulcast high-definition channel was exclusively available on Sky Cable, Destiny Cable and Sky Direct since 2016, while its international feed carried worldwide through The Filipino Channel. Sports + Action's programming is composed primarily of sports coverage such as MPBL, ABL, UAAP, NCAA, Pinoy Pride fights, BVR, PVL and ONE Championship. The program line up of Sports + Action included other sports-related programming, news coverages and blocktimers. S+A broadcast Mondays to Saturdays from 5:00 am to 1:00 am and Sundays from 4:00 am to 1:00 am.
Liga (transl. League) was a Philippine pay television channel owned by Creative Programs, Inc. and ABS-CBN Sports as a content provider. It was the sister channel of ABS-CBN Sports and Action (S+A), it began on January 1, 2018 as test broadcast and officially launched on January 16, as the permanent replacement of three CPI-owned channels, ABS-CBN Regional Channel, Tag TV, and Hero TV.
One Sports is a Philippine free-to-air television network owned by Nation Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and jointly operated by TV5 Network, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. media arm of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund. One Sports is currently carried through analog via DWNB UHF TV Channel 41 in Metro Manila and other relay and affiliate stations nationwide, and as a digital television subchannel in select areas of the country. It operates Mondays to Saturdays from 6:00 AM to 12:00 MN and Sundays from 6:00 AM to 1:00 AM. as well as on truncated hours during the Paschal Triduum. However, starting Holy Week 2024, it continues to sign off from Maundy Thursday from 12:00 mn to Easter Sunday at 6:00 am.
Cignal TV, Inc., also known by its legal trading name Mediascape Inc., is a Filipino media and telecommunications firm in the Philippines. A wholly owned subsidiary of the media company MediaQuest Holdings under the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund, the firm operates its pay television services, subscription television networks, television and film entertainment production, and fiber broadband internet.
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