GMA Network firms up plans to tap int’l market

GMA Network Inc. is firming up plans to tap the international market early next year with the US as its first test market.

"We’re fast-tracking our international plans. Hopefully by early 2004, we should have our presence in the US, " GMA senior vice-president for corporate finance Felipe Yalong said yesterday.

Yalong said the company is in talks with two of the biggest direct-to-home operators in the US to jumpstart its planned expansion. "If we can do direct-to-home and cable at the same time then good," he said.

For his part, GMA president and chief executive officer Felipe Gozon said the company will launch its international channel initially in North America where there is a large concentration of Filipinos.

This is expected to compete with ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.’s The Filipino Channel, which has 120,000 subscribers as of end-December 2002.

GMA-7 is also planning to re-launch its UHF channel 27 to compete head-on with ABS-CBN’s Studio 23, which has undergone a major facelift to attract more investors.

In addition to this, GMA-7 is planning to beef up its radio operations and programs.

Gozon said GMA-7’s gap in ratings with ABS-CBN has been narrowing since last year as a result of the cost-efficiency of many of its programs.

Based on data released by AGB Philippines as of the second quarter of 2003 covering April 1 to May 17, GMA is tied in total day household ratings with ABS-CBN at 14 percent.

Gozon said the company, aware of the Meteor Garden phenomena, will be introducing new and innovative programs to satisfy the public’s ever-changing tastes.

To sustain the upward trend in its ratings, GMA has earmarked P204 million for its capital expenditures this year to improve the loading of its programs and refurbish its existing facilities to better serve the viewing public.

The TV network intends to develop a regional station to further broaden its presence nationwide.

GMA-7 has already strengthened its presence in Davao and is looking into further expanding its services to other provinces to increase its audience share.

Backed by a robust growth in advertising spending, GMA-7 registered a 77-percent increase in gross revenues for the first five months this year to P2.4 billion. Company officials said GMA-7' s profits have already exceeded the 2002 level.

The TV network is also studying the feasibility of going public next year or as soon as the market improves to further beef up its programming.

It has a network of 45 VHF and two affiliate stations nationwide, and can be seen in a number of households in Asia, Australia and Hawaii via satellite. It can also be heard on the airwaves through dzBB-AM and dwLS-FM in Manila; dySS-AM and dyRT-FM in Cebu; and in 27 RGMA radio stations throughout the country.

The network is owned by the management triumvirate composed of Felipe Gozon, Gilberto Duavit, and Menardo Jimenez who introduced a programming concept catering to the new audience.