TV-5 eyes stake in Salim-owned Indonesian television station

MANILA, Philippines - Associated Broadcasting Corp. (ABC), the Manuel V. Pangilinan-led network that operates the TV5 channel, is in talks to acquire a stake in Indosiar, a leading Indonesian television station owned by the Salim Group, paving the way for TV5’s bid to go regional.

This as TV5 president Ray Espinosa said they are spending around P10 billion this year and next largely to expand the network’s reach nationwide. From a current reach of around 85 percent of the national urban areas nationwide, TV5 aims to cover 95 percent by the middle of next year.

Espinosa said TV5 and Indosiar are still in the initial stages of negotiations Indosiar’s parent company PT Indosiar Karya Media Tbk is a member of the Salim conglomerate to which Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. also belongs.

First Pacific owns the single biggest shareholding in Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), both chaired by Pangilinan. Antoni Salim chairs First Pacific while Pangilinan is managing director and chief executive officer.

Espinosa explained that the amount of investment by TV5 into Indosiar as well as other details of the investment have yet to be threshed out. He said this venture will allow the Philippine network not only to have a presence in Indonesia but also the rest of the region as well.

He said they envision TV5 to become a pan-regional multimedia company with presence all over Asia Pacific.

In a statement, TV5 said yesterday that with Indonesia being the fourth most populous country in the world, the investment in Indosiar will surely fuel the organization’s aim to be a multimedia leader in Asia.

Aside from being a regional player, Espinosa emphasized that they are also going international, offering programs intended for overseas Filipinos.

He revealed that TV5 is forming an international company in joint venture with PLDT that will be responsible for marketing, distribution, and sale of content to other countries, whether through satellite, cable and IPTV or Web TV.

The new company will be offering a Filipino channel to countries with huge population of Filipinos such as the United States for North America, Japan, Europe and the Middle East.

Rivals ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. offers The Filipino Channel (TFC) while GMA Network has Pinoy TV and GMA Life.

Espinosa said their bid to go international will begin next year, starting with a launch scheduled in the first quarter in a yet unspecified country.

Also yesterday, TV5 announced it is set to make 2011 as the year Philippine television changes for good. “There is no turning back as the country’s fastest growing network embarks on the greatest expansions in business, infrastructure, and technology ever seen in the local broadcast landscape for the past decades,” it said.

Barely a year since TV5 was launched as the Kapatid Network under the ownership and management of PLDT subsidiary Mediaquest, officials said the network has shown unparalleled growth in programming content, signal strength, and overall popularity among an expanding viewership base all over the country and in other parts of the world.

Soon to symbolize TV5’s growth is the rise of its new studio complex in Mandaluyong, consisting of a nine-story corporate building and two five-story buildings for news and production. “Civil works alone will cost P2.5 billion. Fully fitted, it will cost us around P5 billion,” Espinosa revealed. To be located at the former PLDT/Smart warehouse in Pioneer corner Reliance St., TV5’s new home will include six studios as well as a leading edge digital video archiving system called media asset management as well as other highly advanced broadcast systems that will propel the network to the forefront of broadcast technology.

TV5 is also the first to bring all-digital TV viewing to the country. Ready with high-definition cameras and HD-ready equipment, TV5 can easily make the switch once the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) orders all networks to go digital.

TV5 HD will also be launched by the second quarter of next year initially through Cignal Digital TV, making TV5 the first local network to broadcast in high definition.

Officials said this will consummate the convergence of PLDT’s multimedia platforms as TV5 gears up to go mobile and online. The first local TV website to use adoptive rate streaming, TV5 online page visitors will enjoy less buffering and download time for videos and other content. Its news program will be online by the first quarter of 2011, with catch-up TV and video on demand (VOD) being uploaded on its website as well.

The network likewise announced that is the first in the country to utilize the news automation (NAS) system from Avid, which will give news writers and editors the digital flexibility and proficiency to have their news stories ready for airing at the quickest possible time. TV5 also acquired the latest equipment including two units of electronic news gathering (ENG) vans and one sports OB van with up to 16 multiple camera setup with super slow motion for sports coverage.

“When we started, people thought we were just blowing air in aiming to reach the number one or two spot. We have accelerated our momentum and we have completely dominated weekend primetime. We took the fight where the pie is biggest and that is primetime. Next year, it will be a different ballgame altogether and we will be attacking other timeslots,” Espinosa said.

TV5 also revealed that it will be more aggressive next year in the film production business and is entering into a number of co-production deals with companies like Viva, Unitel and other independent companies.