GMA Network Inc., the second- largest broadcasting company in the Philippines, is set to reprogram Q-TV Channel 11 into an all-news channel starting early next year to compete with ANC Channel 27 of rival ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.
Newly-installed GMA Network president Jaime Duavit said the reprogramming of Q-TV would make it the first free-to-air all-news channel in the country. ABS-CBN’s ANC Channel is part of the programs offered by cable companies.
Duavit said the reprogramming of Q-TV 11 would also prevent the cannibalization of the Channel 7 programs and mean lesser cost to the company.
Unlike the ANC Channel which is a 24-hour news and current affairs program, however, Q-TV 11 will be available from 6 in the morning until 12 midnight.
GMA Network has been providing programming for Channel 11, which is women-skewed, with a grid primarily designed according to the sector’s schedules and needs, through a co-production or block time agreement signed with ZOE Broadcasting Network in 2005.
GMA Network chairman and chief executive Felipe Gozon said he expected Q-TV to at least break even after its reprogramming.
GMA Network, which airs Channel 7 on free TV, last week reported that net income in the third quarter of the year fell 26 percent to P583 million from P788 million in the same period last year due to higher advertising rates and lower ratings during the period.
Airtime revenues dropped 12 percent to P3.049 billion in the third quarter. They comprised 92 percent of the company’s total revenues.
Despite the disappointing third-quarter figures, officials of the broadcasting firm expect the company to reach if not surpass the P3-billion net income target for the year.
Net profit of GMA Network in the first three quarters rose 6 percent to P2.272 billion from P2.149 billion on year. Revenues grew 8 percent to P10.876 billion while expenses went up 11 percent to P6.181 billion.
Revenues of Channel 7 climbed 7 percent to P9.262 billion while those of Q TV Channel 11 rose 10 percent to P346 million. International revenues rose 10 percent to P700 million while radio’s surged 73 percent to P443 million.
2 Comments
another copycat idea by the claiming # 1 media company in the country. what’s the logic of copying loser idea.
huh?owww thats abs-cbn. the bias network. copycat network. threat kasi sa inyo mga kapams ang gma news channel ^_^. gma7 kasi tunay na world class base nyo sa international awards ^_^