TV5 expects turnaround with new strategic plan

MANILA, Philippines — TV5 Network Inc. expects a turn around in its business in the near term with the implementation of a new strategic plan, its top executive said.

“I’ve always been transparent that it still continues to struggle, but what I’m most proud of is recently, I’ve just secured approval for the strategic plan and hopefully in the next coming years, I’ll be able to turn around the business,” TV5 president and chief executive officer Jane Basas told reporters.

“There are other major announcements that will happen in the next months, but we’re not at liberty to say yet. When we’re ready to say it, we’ll make the announcement,” she added.

The Star reported last month that Basas was pushing for the maximization of the network’s airtime by putting in more shows, particularly in the entertainment segment, apart from its sports offerings.

“The majority of the Filipino viewing public still prefer to watch entertainment over sports. So we will do that overtime because there’s a lot of investments when it comes to entertainment content,” she earlier said.

In 2017, TV5 partnered with multimedia sports giant ESPN to reposition itself as a sports and news channel. Prior to that, the network was producing its own entertainment programs and tapping big name celebrities with high talent fees.

Meanwhile, Basas said the company would also push for the shift to digital next year, as bulk of its capex will be used to build its digital terrestrial television (DTT) network.

“I cannot say the exact amount, but capex will really mostly go to the building of DTT and for (cable affiliate) Cignal to really fund our new businesses,” Basas said.

“The beauty with DTT is that you don’t need to actually distribute the units. All you need to do is make the signal available and whoever has digital boxes will actually be able to access the signal. You don’t need to have your own box,” she said.

Basas, however, said this doesn’t mean the network would not release its own digital boxes.

Moreover, the TV5 official expressed optimism in its coverage of this year’s Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), as it is seen to rake in profit for the company.

“For TV5, this is going to be a profit-generating initiative for us because the services we are providing to the government in terms of coverage is actually not free. It’s paid for. And you see the sponsors there. Those are the air time sponsors and there will be more coming,” Basas said.

On Monday, TV5 and Cignal launched the “Sama-Sama sa SEA Games” campaign that covers the official broadcast of multi-sport event, which is supported by Smart Communications.

This provides a comprehensive, up-to-date, and in-depth coverage on of the event on free-to-air, pay TV, and digital from November 30 to December 11.

Free-to-air can be viewed on Channels 5 and 5 Plus, while pay TV or Cignal subscribers can catch the broadcast on One Sports plus three new channels: SEA Games Channel, Team Pilipinas, and SEA Games News Channel.

For the digital digital broadcast, this can be viewed on ESPN5.com, the Cignal Play app plus three SEA Games-dedicated YouTube channels that will be available 24/7.