GMA Affordabox sales breach 1 million in 7 months

MANILA, Philippines — GMA Network Inc.’s digital TV receiver has breached the one million sales mark in just seven months after its launch.

GMA in June last year launched its digital TV recevier called GMA Affordabox, the network’s answer to ABS-CBN’s TVplus box.

“We, at GMA Network, express our gratitude to our Kapuso viewers for their continued trust and for wholeheartedly welcoming GMA Affordabox into their homes. Rest assured that we always aim to provide superior quality content across all platforms and improve our digital TV products that are accessible to many Filipinos,” GMA chairman and CEO Felipe Gozon said.

GMA said it continues to expand its digital broadcast coverage to allow more customers to use GMA Affordabox.

It said Misamis Oriental and Camiguin were added recently to its coverage areas. The service is also available in selected towns/cities within Metro Manila, Benguet, La Union, Pangasinan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, Rizal, Bohol, Cebu, Leyte, Davao de Oro, Davao del Sur, and Davao del Norte.

“We believe that every Filipino home should be able to enjoy digital viewing, which is why GMA endeavored to bring GMA Affordabox to our market,” GMA senior vice president for corporate strategic planning and business development, chief risk officer, and head for program support Regie Bautista said.

“Quality digital TV viewing is now made accessible to the majority of Filipino homes. It’s exciting to hit the one million mark only months into its launch and we are very grateful for the support of our Kapuso viewers,” Bautista said.

GMA Affordabox, which is priced at P888 with no monthly fees, is a plug-and-play device that can easily be connected to an analog TV in order to receive digital television broadcast.

As part of its digital expansion, GMA said it is also set to launch this year a digital TV mobile receiver called GMA Now, which will allow users to watch TV on the go for free.

GMA has earmarked more than P20 billion for its capital expenditures and content cost in the next three years as it goes full blast on content production and digital TV expansion.

A huge portion of capex budget is allocated for content production and post-production.

The company will also construct a new building and state-of-the-art studios inside the GMA Network complex in Quezon City.

The three-year budget likewise covers the continuing expansion of its digital terrestrial television reach and various projects in the regions to further strengthen the network’s presence nationwide.