Cignal TV set to launch Bloomberg TV Philippines

MANILA, Philippines - The pay TV arm of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) Cignal TV Inc. has partnered with business and financial news network Bloomberg TV to launch Bloomberg TV Philippines this year.

“This partnership with Bloomberg Television heralds a new era in Philippine television, in which business information is set to be in the front and center of a rising Philippine economy,” PLDT Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said during the signing of the contract for the partnership yesterday.

Emmanuel Lorenzana, president and chief executive officer of MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. said Bloomberg TV Philippines would be the country’s first 24-hour business news channel to be distributed exclusively via Cignal Digital TV.

Cignal TV is a subsidiary of MediaQuest, which in turn is wholly owned by the Beneficial Trust Fund of PLDT.

The target is to make the channel available to Cignal Digital TV subscribers by June.

While the channel will be available exclusively to Cignal Digital TV subscribers, there are plans to show a portion of Bloomberg TV Philippines for about 30 to 45 minutes to free TV viewers through TV5 Network Inc., which is also owned by MediaQuest.

Presented in English, Bloomberg TV Philippines will focus on Philippine businesses and their concerns.

Lorenzana said the partnership with Bloomberg TV is timely as the country’s financial markets are growing.

“The purpose is to push business literacy, creating focus on Philippine companies  and business. We think it is high time we do that,” he said.

He also said the partnership is seen to be instrumental in making the Philippines the next business capital in Southeast Asia.

Gary Groenheim, commercial director of Bloomberg Television for Asia-Pacific said the partnership was forged as the Philippines is fast becoming a premier broadcast destination because of it strong subscriber growth. 

“MediaQuest’s substantial media footprint and stellar reputation make them an ideal partner for us as we expand our brand in Asia. Being in the third largest English-speaking country in the world will help us reach a vast new audience by combining elements of our daily global broadcast material with unique, tailor-made local content.”

For his part, Parry Ravindranathan,  managing director of Bloomberg Media for Asia Pacific said the partnership is in line with the network’s move to establish local partner channels.

“We have 11 localized channels. We are opening quite consistently. This (Philippines) is number 11,” he said noting that local channels have been launched in other markets in the region including India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Mongolia.

The launch of Bloomberg TV Philippines comes as Cignal TV is aiming to become the country’s biggest Pay TV service provider with more than one million subscribers by the end of this year from around 844,000 at present.

Bloomberg Television, a multi-platform 24-hour business and financial news network, provides continuous coverage of the people, companies and ideas that move global markets.