Expansion and the birth of Cignal TV
In 2008, after its stake in the Sky Cable business was sold to the Lopez Group of Companies, [6] PLDT announced its intention of entering the direct-to-home satellite service industry using the franchise of GV (which in turn, was renamed to Mediascape, Inc.), with the result forming a new DTH satellite brand called Cignal which was launched a year later in 2009. [7] [8]
In 2012, Cignal TV launched its first satellite television networks: lifestyle channel Colours, sports channel Hyper, and Weather Information Network (now defunct). The channels were launched on April 14, 2012. [9]
On March 25, 2015, TV5 Network and Cignal TV announced its partnership with Bloomberg L.P. to establish a local Bloomberg service in the Philippines. It will provide up-to-date business information to aid in their decision-making in an aim to place the country as the "next financial capital of Southeast Asia." The service was formally unveiled on August 13, and it started airing on October 5, 2015. [10] [11] [12]
On August 3, 2015, TV5 Network through its sister company Cignal, ties up with Viva Communications to form an entertainment network the Sari-Sari Channel that will air programs and movies from both the Viva portfolio and TV5. SSN will also handle the production of all the entertainment programs of TV5. [13] Instead of this, the network has appointed Viva head honcho Vic del Rosario, Jr. as its chief entertainment strategist in October 2015. [14]
In 2016, Cignal made a partnership with the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) to launch PBA Rush, a 24-hour channel featuring content from the PBA as well as live games. [15]
In 2017, Cignal began its new venture outside of the DTH service with the launch of its own entertainment unit Cignal Entertainment. [16] [17]
In 2018, Cignal TV formally launched One News, an English-language news and public affairs channel which features content from the news divisions of the MediaQuest group (News5, The Philippine Star and BusinessWorld ). [18] [19]
In 2019, Cignal launched two new channels under the "One" brand, namely: One Sports, a sports channel replacing Hyper; and One PH, an all-Filipino language news and public affairs channel featuring a mix of content from Radyo5 and its own produced programming. [20] In November 2019, Cignal TV made a 5-year content partnership with APT Entertainment for BuKo Channel (Buhay Komedya), the first all-local comedy channel to be launched supposedly in the 2nd quarter of 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines until the channel would be pushed through on August 2, 2021. [21]
On July 27, 2020, Cignal TV announced the multi-year partnership deal with the NBA, on the announcement it was also mentioned that the provider will launch an NBA-dedicated pay TV channel, NBA TV Philippines along with the airing of games through its free-to-air channels (TV5 and One Sports). [22]
On August 15, 2020, following the resignation of Chot Reyes as TV5 Network president and CEO in June 2019 and the denial of ABS-CBN's franchise by 70 congressmen in July 2020, sister company, TV5 Network announced its partnership with Cignal TV to become as TV5's main content provider to handle the network's blocktime entertainment programming in order to bring back the glory days of TV5 to compete again with GMA Network, TV5's longtime rival and other TV networks in the Philippines, blocktiming with other production companies such as Regal Entertainment, Viva Television, Brightlight Productions and APT Entertainment to air new programs, mostly featuring stars and retrenched creatives from ABS-CBN as well as few stars from GMA. [23] [24] [25] [26]
In October 2020, Cignal TV formally signed a broadcast agreement with the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) for the coverage rights of every UAAP varsity sporting events through 2026 on TV5 and One Sports in addition of the upcoming dedicated channel on the Cignal service. [27]
On November 16, 2020, Cignal TV began venturing into the fiber broadband business with the launch of Red Broadband. It is a partnership with Meralco's telco unit Radius Telecoms. [28]
On March 29, 2022, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11668 which renewed Cignal TV's legislative franchise for another 25 years. The law granted Cignal TV a franchise to construct, install, operate, and maintain, for commercial purposes, radio broadcasting stations and television stations, including digital television system, with the corresponding facilities such as relay stations, throughout the Philippines. [29] [30] [31]
On August 10, 2022, it was announced that Cignal Cable Corporation (formerly Dakila Cable TV Corporation), Cignal TV's affiliate and corporate partner, would acquire a 38.88% minority stake of ABS-CBN Corporation's cable TV arm, Sky Cable Corporation. Also announced was the investment of ABS-CBN into Cignal's sister company TV5 Network through a "debt instruments agreement". The proposed investment by Cignal Cable will have an option to acquire an additional 61.12% of Sky Cable shares within the next eight years. [32] [33] [34] [35] On September 1, 2022, both parties announced the termination of the proposed investment due to alleged political pressure. [36]
On January 31, 2023, Guido R. Zaballero as president and chief executive officer of TV5 Network, effective February 1, 2023. He will assume the position following the retirement of Robert P. Galang, who headed Cignal TV and TV5 since 2020. Meanwhile, Jane J. Basas has assumed the post of president and CEO of Cignal TV, concurrently with her role as the president and CEO of MediaQuest, the holding company of TV5 and Cignal TV. [37]
