TV5 partners with ESPN

MANILA, Philippines — TV5 Network Inc. is eyeing to capture a bigger share of the advertising revenue following its partnership with American sports network ESPN that would bring a more comprehensive sports coverage to Filipino viewers.

TV5 president Vincent “Chot” Reyes is optimistic TV5 could get a bigger share of advertising revenue from sports due to its partnership with ESPN.

“Our hope is with our positioning and with ESPN’s entry, we not only increase the pie but also our share of the advertising pie,” he said.

At present, about three to four percent of all advertising money spent by brands goes to sports in the Philippines.

“From three to four percent, hopefully it gets to six to seven percent and we get the lion’s share of that,” Reyes said.

TV5, ABS-CBN Corp. and GMA Network Inc. each have a one-third share of the advertising money for sports.

TV5’s collaboration with ESPN, which will run for at least four years, involves the rebranding of Sports 5 as ESPN 5 to encompass all the sports coverage of TV5.

The partnership also gives TV5 more than 2,500 hours of additional programming per year from ESPN’s portfolio of sports rights, original programming and studio programs.

Under the partnership, the two companies would also produce a daily Philippine edition of the iconic SportsCenter to air on TV5.

ESPN 5 and the SportsCenter Philippine Edition will air on TV5’s free-to-air television channels TV5 and Aksyon41.

Reyes said there would also be an over-the-top platform and website under the partnership to serve as the go-to for sports fans under the partnership.

“Our partnership with ESPN, long recognized as the worldwide leader in sports, gives us tremendous upside in the quality of sports programming that we bring to the market. ESPN strengthens our current position as the country’s sports authority,” he said.

Reyes said TV5 is repositioning itself as a sports and news network, where the network could be the leader.

“What I learned is being number three network does not make business sense. It is not a profitable proposition. So we’re looking for a way, an arena where we can be number one and I think sports is the genre where we can be number one,” he said.

While TV5 is being positioned as a sports and news network, he said the network would still continue airing other content such as Filipino-dubbed US series, but would put more focus on sports and news.

 “Primetime evening is local sports and morning is international sports,” he said.

Mike Morrison, vice president and general manager for ESPN Asia-Pacific said the long-term collaboration would enable the firm to serve sports fans in the Philippines.