TV5 allots P6B for capex, will launch new shows

MANILA, Philippines - ABC Development Corp., owner and operator of TV5, is infusing P6 billion for its capital expenditures this year to boost its efforts to cut losses since dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) acquired the network in 2009.

PLDT chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan told reporters on the sidelines of TV5’s “Blast Off for 2013” that the country’s third largest network’s budget for capital expenditures this year would be at par with the amount spent by the company last year.

This year’s budget would be allocated to complete the network’s state-of-the-art media center in Mandaluyong City with the news part scheduled to be finished in the first quarter.

“The capex would be around P6 billion, approximately the same as last year. We are still building our entertainment studios in Mandaluyong and the news part will be finished within first quarter this year,” Pangilinan said.

He added that a portion of the amount would also be used to introduce new shows as the network goes full throttle towards being one of the country’s leading multimedia this year.

TV5 welcomed the new year with its biggest show of force as it launched its biggest offerings for the first quarter of the year.

The PLDT chief pointed out that the company’s reprogramming would redound to improved bottomline as TV5’s losses ballooned to about P2.8 billion in the first half of last year.

“We should be better this year with better programming, better talents, and revenues I think,” Pangilinan said.

He said the company is now in the process of trimming its operating and production costs.

“It is a learning process for us in terms the ability to control cost of mounting a production whether it is a teledrama or a comedy. We are learning how to control the cost of production,” he explained.

According to him, TV5 would be able to sustain its strong finish last year after overtaking GMA Network Inc. (GMA7) in the last quarter in six viewer rich cities in Metro Manila including Iloilo, Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, and General Santos City that has a total four million viewers based on Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

“Coming off our strong performance in the last quarter of 2012, specifically in Visayas and Mindanao, we are looking at a more competitive, more energetic, more innovative TV5 this year,” he said.