ABS-CBN is down to its last three months before its broadcast rights expire on March 30, 2020. But instead of softening his stance on the network, President Rodrigo Duterte said ABS-CBN should just sell the network.
Duterte told ABS-CBN, “Itong ABS, mag-expire ang contract ninyo. Mag-renew kayo, ewan ko lang kung may mangyari diyan. Kung ako sa inyo ipagbili niyo na ‘yan. Kasi ang mga Pilipino ngayon lang makaganti sa inyong kalokohan. And I will make sure that you will remember this episode of our times forever.”
There are speculations that Duterte’s close friend, businessman Dennis Uy, might be the savior that Lopezes are waiting for to save the network.
The Davao-based businessman Uy formed the Udenna Communications Media and Entertainment Holdings Corp. who also happens to be one of the partners of Lopez in SkyCable.
If ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal will be denied, the network is ready to make the full shift to its digital app iWant.
iWant has successfully obtained 12 million registered users, 2 million active monthly users, while their YouTube channel has garnered 15 million subscribers just for the entertainment and 5.6 million for news.
