MediaQuest keen on IBC-13

MANILA, Philippines - MediaQuest Holdings Inc., the media outfit owned by the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund, may after all bid for the government-owned TV network International Broadcasting Corp. (IBC-13).

Sources said that while Mediaquest had clinched a one-year airtime block agreement with IBC-13, management of the company that owns ABC Broadcasting Corp. or TV5, is now reportedly keen on acquiring the sequestered TV outfit.

“I think the plan now is to acquire IBC-13 to allow Mediaquest to air as many sports programs as it can since TV5 can no longer air sports events given a full program lineup,” the source said.

“Acquiring IBC-13 would be a logical thing to do for Mediaquest since they would be spending for the improvement of the government station’s facilities,” the same source said.

MediaQuest will upgrade the coverage of IBC-13 nationwide as part of a deal giving them a six-hour block time from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week,beginning June. To be aired are sports events such as the Professional Basketball Association league tournaments.

Last month, the government announced it would put IBC 13 and another sequestered TV outfit, RPN 9, on the auction block.

Diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp. earlier said it was interested in bidding for government-sequestered channels IBC 13 and RPN9.

The government has been trying to sell the two assets for several years but had failed to attract a good price from interested parties.

Earlier reports said IBC-13’s assets and franchise were valued at P1.2 billion while and RPN-9’s franchise was estimated at P800 million.

TV5, which commenced operation under the management of MediaQuest in March last year, is carving its place in the media industry as a strong third player, grabbing ratings and revenues from media giants ABS-CBN and GMA Network.

CitisecOnline said that in just a year, TV5 has managed to increase its ratings to 7.6 points from 3.9 points in Mega Manila and to 6.3 points from 3 in NUTAM. This gave TV5 revenues of P1 billion, which comprises around 3 percent of total advertising revenues.

By 2015, TV5 is hoping to grab a third of the total ad spending. To achieve this, the network continues to expand its reach and improve facilities. For this year, the TV firm has allocated P8 billion for capital expenditures.