Nine Media Corporation (NMC, formerly known as Solar Television Network, Inc. or STVNI) is a Philippine-based media company. Formerly a subsidiary of multimedia television and film company Solar Entertainment Corporation (SEC), it is now solely owned by the ALC Group of Companies through Broadreach Media Holdings, Inc.[2] The headquarters of Nine Media Corporation are located at the Worldwide Corporate Center in Mandaluyong.
Solar Entertainment launched Solar TV in the early 2000s, which was later renamed to Solar USA and then to USA. In 2005, USA was split into two channels, Jack TV and Crime/Suspense.[citation needed]
Solar TV was rebranded as Solar Television Network, Inc. (STVNI) on January 5, 2011, becoming the corporate television arm of Solar Entertainment.[citation needed] The new company launched an all talk and news channel, Talk TV, on March 2, 2011, co-owned by Solar TV and Southern Broadcasting Network. (Talk TV would later change its name to Solar News Channel on October 30, 2012.)[citation needed] At the end of 2011, Solar TV launched its own news division called Solar News. The programs produced by the new division were staffed by former ANC personalities such as Jing Magsaysay, Pia Hontiveros, Nancy Irlanda, Claire Celdran and Mai Rodriguez.[3]
In 2011, STVNI acquired a 34% stake in the Radio Philippines Network, on which it was broadcast, as part of the privatization of RPN/IBC from the Philippine government.[citation needed]
In November 2013, President and COO of San Miguel Corporation, Ramon Ang, attempted to acquire the majority stake of STVNI from the Tieng family, who controlled the company. He settled for a minority share of STVNI in September 2014.[4]
In the third quarter of 2014, Solar Entertainment chair Wilson Tieng announced that the ALC Group of Companies, owned by former Ambassador Antonio Cabangon-Chua, had taken over STVNI and its majority stake on RPN. The sale of STVNI was caused by Solar Entertainment's revenue losses after its investment in RPN.[5][6] After the sale, Wilson Tieng and Robert Rivera resigned from their respective positions as chairman and president of RPN.[7] Solar TV reflected the change in ownership by removing the Solar branding from all Solar News Channel programs; SNC was rebranded as 9TV on August 23, 2014, which was intended as a transitional brand.[8][9]
On October 14, 2014, Solar TV Network was renamed Nine Media Corporation, and 9TV and RPN's free TV assets were rebranded as CNN Philippines, following an agreement with the Turner Broadcasting System to use the CNN brand. CNN Philippines was launched on March 16, 2015.[citation needed] In September 2015, Nine Media Corporation President and CEO Reggie Galura stepped down from his position and was replaced by Jorge San Agustin as Officer-in-Charge of the network. On October 9, 2016, CNN Philippines Managing Editor Armie Jarin-Bennett was appointed as president and CEO of Nine Media Corporation, replacing San Agustin.[citation needed]
On January 25, 2024, Nine Media Corporation and CNN mutually agreed to shut down CNN Philippines due to financial losses, poor ratings, and loss of advertiser support.[10] Four days later, CNN Philippines confirmed that it had ceased live news production and was to be dissolved on January 31, citing financial losses.[11][12] Broadreach Media Holdings Inc. took over the assets and properties of CNN Philippines following its closure. Broadreach later launched digital news media service NewsWatch Plus, which was independently managed by the remaining staff of CNN Philippines.[13]
On January 31, 2024, TV5 Network partnered with Nine Media and RPN to carry selected programming (including Eat Bulaga! and Philippine Basketball Association games) alongside classic RPN shows under the channel's new branding, RPTV, which was slated to launch the following day. Selected programs from One PH and Radyo5 also began airing on RPTV, marking its return to analog free-to-air television after five years since the closer of AksyonTV.[14]
Corporate structure
As Solar TV Network
Prior to 2014, Solar Entertainment Corporation (SEC) and Solar TV (STV) operated as two separate business entities:
SEC was exclusively owned by the Tieng brothers. SEC operated ten TV networks, including: ETC, 2nd Avenue, JackTV, JackCITY, Solar Sports, Basketball TV, NBA Premium, Shop TV, The Game Channel, and My Movie Channel. It was also involved in film distribution.[citation needed]
STV, which operated Solar News Channel, was a corporation in which both William Tieng and Wilson Tieng were members of the board of directors.[citation needed]
As Nine Media
Since 2014, Nine Media Corporation has been owned by ALC Group of Companies through its investment unit, JRLT-JHI Corporation, by way of an intermediary holding company, Broadreach Media Holdings. [15]. JRLT-JHI was owned by former-Ambassador Antonio Cabangon-Chua from 2014 until his death in 2016; since then, his family members Ferdinand Chua, Rowena Lumague, Candy Co, Jose Wingkee Jr., and Aida Anora own equal shares of the company.[citation needed]
Businessman Ramon Ang reportedly owns a minority share in Nine Media, but SEC documents does not show any shares registered under his name. Instead, Ang makes investments through advertisements and paid programming from the San Miguel Group to Nine Media's sole property, CNN Philippines.[16]
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