Political ads quadruple GMA income to P800 million

MANILA, Philippines —  Broadcast giant GMA Network Inc. recovered to growth mode in the first quarter of the year as it booked higher profit from the deluge of political ads for the midterm elections.

Based on its financial report, GMA’s net income went up by four-fold to P800.84 million from January to March, from P203.35 million a year ago.

The network raised its revenue by 28 percent to P4.68 billion, neutralizing the five-percent hike in expenses to P3.65 billion.

GMA said advertising revenues grew by 29 percent to P4.34 billion to remain as the company’s largest source of income. GMA’s consumer sales also spiked by 18 percent to P345.85 million.

GMA said the revenue growth can be attributed to the volume of election placements made in the network for the midterm polls. Core channel GMA-7 turned in the best performance among all GMA units, with its sales up by double digits.

“Television and radio broadcasting both enjoyed upbeat sales, as they are buoyed by the influx of political advocacies and advertisements in view of the midterm elections this May,” GMA said.

Further, GMA saw an increase in ad posting from its regular customers, most of which are in the business of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).

Inflation, or the general increase in commodity prices, has declined since January’s 2.9 percent, reaching as low as 1.4 percent in April, stimulating demand for FMCG.

Further, GMA gained more revenues from its online channels, up by 32 percent from a year ago. To date, GMA’s YouTube channel has garnered more than 38 million subscribers, as Filipinos are becoming more inclined to watch shows online.

On the contrary, GMA’s production costs rose by seven percent to P2 billion in the first quarter. The network shelled out more for talent fees and production spending to cover the new shows it brought into its lineup, such as the Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) Celebrity Collab.

“The presence of PBB Celebrity Collab translated into an additional in-house produced program in the weekday primetime slot, thus entailing incremental cost this period,” GMA said.

GMA has become the leading network on free TV following the rejection of ABS-CBN Corp.’s franchise renewal in 2020.