TV5 seen to break even by 2019

MANILA, Philippines — TV5 Network Inc. is holding on to the target to break even by 2019 as it expects to cut losses this year.

TV5 president Vincent “Chot” Reyes told reporters the network is hopeful it could achieve the 2019 target to break even as it expects to reduce losses this year.

“I told you before that we are looking for a 66 percent improvement in our bottomline from last year to this year. We’re not going to hit that target. We are going to fall a little bit short, which is about 50 percent. Still a great performance by any stretch of the imagination…We’re still in the red, but that loss from this year to last year has been cut in half,” he said.

For next year, Reyes said the company intends to continue trimming its losses.

“Next year, again, we’re looking at cutting that. The target is another 66 percent. That paves the way for hopefully being break even by 2019,” he said.

TV5 is reducing losses this year by managing its costs.

“The losses were cut because we controlled the program costs and also the opex, the operational expenses,” Reyes said.

In the past, TV5 produced its own entertainment programs and tapped big name celebrities with high talent fees.

As part of TV5’s strategy to achieve break even, the network is repositioning itself as a sports and news channel.

In line with the repositioning, TV5 last week announced its four-year partnership with ESPN.

The partnership, which would involve the rebranding of Sports 5 to ESPN 5 to air TV5’s sports coverage, as well as more than 2,500 hours of additional programming per year from ESPN’s portfolio of sports rights, original programming and studio programs, is expected to help increase the company’s share in advertising revenue from sports.

Apart from modifying its program lineup, TV5 has also implemented a manpower reduction program.

At present, TV5 has about 700 employees from around 1,400 three years ago.

Asked if there would be further reductions in the workforce, Reyes said it was an option available for the company.

“It’s hard to say, but anything is possible. It is not off the table. It’s a continuing effort. We don’t know but we have to make sure that our costs structure is such that it gives us a chance to break even in 2019,” he said.