History of ABS-CBN
is a Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Formerly the Philippines' largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since evolved into a multi-platform content producer and distributor following the expiration and non-renewal of its broadcast franchise in 2020. The company currently syndicates its programming across various platforms, including partner networks, cable channels, streaming services, and digital platforms.
1946–1972: Beginnings
The company was founded on June 13, 1946, as Bolinao Electronics Corporation. BEC was established by James Lindenberg, one of the founding fathers of Philippine television, an American electronics engineer who went into radio equipment assembly and radio broadcasting.In November 1949, James Lindenberg shifted Bolinao to radio broadcasting with DZBC and masterminded the introduction of television to the country in 1953. Bolinao Electronics Corporation established its broadcast unit, Bolinao Broadcasting System ; its first studios were located at a rented barn in San Juan, Rizal.
In 1951, Lindenberg partnered with Antonio Quirino, brother of then-Philippine President Elpidio Quirino, in order to try their hand at television broadcasting. In 1952, BEC was renamed as Alto Broadcasting System or ABS. "Alto" was a contraction of Quirino's and his wife's first names, Tony and Aleli. Though they had little money and resources, ABS was able to put up its TV tower by July 1953 and import some 300 television sets. The initial test broadcasts began in September of the same year. The very first full-blown broadcast was on October 23, 1953, of a party in Tony Quirino's humble abode. The television station was known as DZAQ-TV. The first program to air was a garden party at the Quirino residence in Sitio Alto, San Juan. After the premiere telecast, the station followed a four-hour-a-day schedule, from six to ten in the evening.
On June 16, 1955, Republic Act No. 1343 signed by President Ramon Magsaysay granted the Manila Chronicle its broadcasting franchise, leading to the formation of the Chronicle Broadcasting Network.
The Chronicle Broadcasting Network was founded on September 24, 1956, by Eugenio López Sr. and the former Philippine Vice President Fernando Lopez. The network initially focused only on radio broadcasting. It launched its very own TV station, DZXL-TV 9, on April 19, 1958. On February 24, 1957, Don Eugenio acquired ABS from Quirino and Lindenberg. A month later, Don Eugenio also acquired Monserrat Broadcasting System.
In 1958, the network's new headquarters at Dewey Boulevard were inaugurated, and all radio and television operations were consolidated into its two buildings – the radio stations at the Chronicle Building at Aduana Street, Intramuros, Manila and the TV operations at the brand new Dewey Boulevard building in Pasay, Rizal.
The ABS-CBN brand was first used in 1961. However, it was only on February 1, 1967, that the corporate name was changed to ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation. Before it was named ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, the corporate name was Bolinao Electronics Corporation.
In the late 1950s, Don Eugenio's son Geny saw the potential of TV and radio to reach and link Filipinos across the archipelago. By the mid-1960s, the ABS-CBN network was leading the radio industry, with stations like DZXL and DZAQ Radyo Patrol in the Manila area, which featured journalists like Ernie Baron, Bong Lapira, Orly Mercado, Joe Taruc, Mario Garcia, Jun Ricafrente, Bobby Guanzon, and Rey Langit, and various other stations nationwide. ABS-CBN also made breakthroughs in the TV industry by achieving the country's first color TV broadcast, first satellite feed broadcasts, and first use of videotape, among others. It featured top shows then, such as Your Evening with Pilita and Tawag ng Tanghalan, the country's first comedy show Buhay Artista, first Philippine game show, What's My Living and the first noontime show Student Canteen, among others. It was also pioneering in marathon election coverage in 1967 when the TV & radio stations of the network aired election updates for 36 hours sharp – making it a national first.
On June 15, 1961, Geny officially opened the first provincial TV station in Cebu airing 4 hours with the tallest transmitter tower measuring. Within weeks, another TV station in Dagupan opened its doors followed by the first broadcasts in Negros Island in 1963. Panay had its first station in Iloilo City which opened in 1964, the Soccsksargen region then followed up with the opening of its own regional station in 1965 and Baguio and Davao both followed suit in 1967.
Two years later, the network's first color test broadcasts began with the help of the Radio Corporation of America. Color broadcasts started in June 1966, the first in the Philippines and Southeast Asia as the network was tagged as the "First in Color Television", with full-color broadcasting beginning in 1971 in all national television stations.
On December 18, 1968, ABS-CBN opened its new Broadcast Center on Bohol Avenue, Quezon City, where it still stands today. At the time, it was the most advanced broadcast facility in Asia. The station again made breakthroughs by using the first live satellite transmissions from abroad, foremost of which was the 168-hour coverage of the first Moon landing in 1969 and the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico the year before. The network enjoyed a big portion of the ratings and won various awards and recognitions from different organizations. The network pioneered the first all-national news simulcasts also in the same year as well.
By 1972, the ABS-CBN network owned and operated two television stations and seven radio stations in Manila and 14 radio stations and three originating television stations in the provinces. In the mid 60s, ABS-CBN launched its iconic "The Philippines' Largest Network" signature jingle — which is known for its now-familiar six-note leitmotif — composed by Dominic Salustiano.
1972–1981: Martial law era
The network suffered its first setback with the declaration of martial law by president then dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. On September 23, 1972, two days after the signing of Proclamation No. 1081, ABS-CBN and its affiliate stations were seized. Almost 10,000 employees lost their jobs as a result of the takeover and shutdown of ABS-CBN.ABS-CBN president Geny López was arrested in November 1972, imprisoned and held without trial for five years until he and his cellmate Sergio Osmeña III launched a daring jailbreak on October 1, 1977. They fled into exile in the United States together with their families.
ABS-CBN general manager Jake Almeda Lopez was also jailed for a year for his protest activities. After his daring and successful escape from Fort Bonifacio, he joined López in exile in the United States and kept himself busy protesting the Marcos Sr. dictatorship from abroad. He was a key figure in the protest over the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
The network was taken over by Roberto Benedicto, a crony of Ferdinand Marcos, then-Philippines ambassador to Japan, and sugar plantation owner, who used the Broadcasting Center at Bohol Avenue, then renamed "Broadcast Plaza", as the home of Government Television/Maharlika Broadcasting System and Kanlaon Broadcasting System/Radio Philippines Network. DZAQ-TV Channel 2 was relaunched under Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation on November 4, 1973, with a new call sign, logo, slogan and a theme song. In July 1978, BBC moved to new headquarters in Broadcast City. DZXL-TV Channel 4 was taken over by the government agency National Media Production Center for the launch of Government Television as DWGT-TV on February 2, 1974. The network's radio stations were also affected with BBC and KBS/RPN operating several of the stations. BBC and RPNs would pioneer the country's first true computer-generated imagery animations for station identifications in the early 1980s.
1986: Capture of Broadcast Plaza
At the height of the People Power Revolution in 1986, the operations of the Benedicto networks were halted after reformist soldiers disabled the transmitter that was broadcasting Marcos' inauguration from Malacañang Palace. Upon Corazón C. Aquino's subsequent accession to the presidency, BBC, RPN, IBC and the Broadcast City complex were sequestered by the new government and placed under the management of a Board of Administrators tasked to operate and manage its business and affairs subject to the control and supervision of Presidential Commission on Good Government.1986–2007: Rebirth and growth
On March 1, 1986, after the People Power Revolution, Geny Lopez returned to the country after self-exile in the United States and started rebuilding the station from the rubbles after the revolution. Recovery was difficult and resources were low; former ABS-CBN employees Freddie García, Ben Aniceto and Rolly Cruz were brought in to rework the station's programming.BBC shut down its operations on March 20, 1986, due to the sequestration of the facilities. BBC returned its operation in April 1986. The Presidential Commission on Good Government approved the return of the network's flagship station Channel 2 and a portion of the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center to the Lopezes in June 1986. The Lopez family continued to own ABS-CBN during the Marcos regime and all lease arrangements it entered into with the Philippine government and the Benedicto group for the use of its frequencies and facilities were never entirely recovered. Despite the handover of ownership, DWWX-TV continued to be used as the callsign of the network's flagship station in Metro Manila. BBC shut down its radio operations on July 15, 1986. Later, BBC shut down its television operations on September 7, 1986. After 7 days, ABS-CBN was reopened on September 14, 1986.
In January 1987, the network was forced to share space in the building that was rightfully their own with the government TV station Channel 4. At the time, money had been scarce while resources were limited; offices were used as dressing rooms and other equipment such as chairs, tables, and phones were in short supply. Aniceto, who worked as the program director for radio and television of the network and station manager of Channel 2 in the 1970s, was served as the first vice president and general manager of ABS-CBN upon the network's reopening from 1986 to 1987 and its radio stations re-opened in July 1986.
On March 1, 1987, Channel 2 was relaunched with the live musical special, The Star Network: Ang Pagbabalík Ng Bituin which noted for the then-brand-new numerical white tri-ribbon channel 2 logo with a white rhomboidal star as a centerpiece of the network's revival. It was also when Peter Musñgi returned to ABS-CBN to serve as its voiceover or announcer. By 1988, ABS-CBN had regained its foothold in the Philippine TV ratings from being a cellar dweller to being number 1 again nationally - as a result of the rebranding.
Within the year, ABS-CBN also beefed up its news programs with TV Patrol, anchored by a team of newsreaders composed of Noli de Castro, Mel Tiangco, Frankie Evangelista, and Angelique Lazo, with the late Ernie Baron telling the daily weather forecast. Other reputable news programmes followed, such as Magandang Gabi... Bayan and Probe as well as the cultural magazine show Tatak Pilipino hosted by the former anchor Gel Santos-Relos and former APO Hiking Society member Jim Paredes, and Hoy Gising!. The entertainment programs of ABS-CBN were also revamped with series that previously aired on RPN and IBC, which included Eat Bulaga!, Okay Ka, Fairy Ko!, The Sharon Cuneta Show, Chika Chika Chicks, Goin' Bananas, Loveliness, Kapag May Katwiran, Ipaglaban Mo!, and Coney Reyes on Camera, while producing original content, which included The Maricel Soriano Drama Special, Ryan Ryan Musikahan, Ang TV, Sa Linggo nAPO Sila, Showbiz Lingo, Oki Doki Doc, Mara Clara, Maalaala Mo Kaya, Palibhasa Lalake, Teysi ng Tahanan, Home Along Da Riles, and Wansapanataym.
Another feature of its return to the top of the ratings is the introduction of the live-action sentai and tokusatsu show formats from Japan, with Bioman, Goggle V, Gavan, and Shaider, the latter the first ever tokusatsu program to be aired in English and Filipino to Philippine television full-time. Filipino-dubbed anime programmes, another network and Philippine television first, would only begin in the transition to the 1990s, and 1987's Hikari Sentai Maskman, aired by the network, was the first ever sentai program to dub in Filipino.
Within months after the relaunch in Manila, the revived network also restarted regional programs and broadcasting starting in Baguio, Cebu, Bacolod and Davao. Within the 1990s, the network also helped open new stations in other parts of the country, while reopening stations that were used before.
On December 11, 1988, with the first marathon broadcast of the Australian produced television miniseries A Dangerous Life, ABS-CBN began shifting to satellite broadcast, enabling the entire country to watch the same programs simultaneously. This was also the very year when the network began international broadcasts to Guam and Saipan, in the Northern Marianas, also via satellite, yet another first for Philippine and Asian television. At the same time, the network began to increase the number of local TV programs being aired and produced.
Slowly, the station inched its way to financial recovery, which it achieved by 1990, regularly garnering around 70% of the market and that year, the company was listed to the Manila Stock Exchange before its merger with Makati Stock Exchange to form the Philippine Stock Exchange. In 1992, ABS-CBN Talent Center was formed and in 1993, ABS-CBN launched Star Cinema as the company began to diversify. In 1995, Star Music was launched originally as Star Records with the latter name used until 2014. In that year, ABS-CBN also launched their own website, ABS-CBN.com, the first Filipino television network in the World Wide Web. It was created by its IT department, Internet Media Group..
On March 30, 1998, ABS-CBN Holdings Corporation was incorporated as Worldtech Holdings Corporation, for the primary purpose of issuance of the Philippine Depository Receipt and the acquisition and holding of shares of ABS-CBN Corporation. Its Philippine depository receipt is traded in the Philippine Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ABSP.
On September 24, 1994, ABS-CBN signed a historic deal with PanAmSat to bring the first trans-Pacific Asian programming to some two million Filipino immigrants in the United States. This deal would later gave birth to The Filipino Channel which is now available globally.
The network has also syndicated its programs for international audience through its ABS-CBN International Distribution division. Among the programs that gained popularity abroad are Pangako Sa 'Yo, Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay, Lobo, Sana Maulit Muli, Kahit Isang Saglit, and Be Careful with My Heart.
Nine years after the revival on March 30, 1995, Republic Act No. 7966 signed by President Fidel Ramos granted ABS-CBN its legislative franchise for the second time.
Geny Lopez died of cancer on June 29, 1999, in the United States. This happened six months before the network celebrated the millennium and unveiled its new logo on December 1999, and inaugurating its Millennium Transmitter on the company grounds on March 7, 2000. This resulted in a clearer signal for its television and radio stations in Mega Manila.
In 2002, Finance Asia ranked ABS-CBN as the 8th best-managed company in the Philippines in its "Asia's Best Companies 2002" survey. The survey covers the performance of the top companies in 10 countries in Asia. Finance Asia polled institutional investors and equity analysts for this survey. In the same year, the network was started to broadcast in full stereo.
File:Abscbn broadcast center.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center in Diliman, Quezon City, the headquarters of ABS-CBN
In 2003, during the 50th anniversary of Philippine television, ABS-CBN launched its present brand name, "Kapamilya". The network celebrated its golden anniversary in 2003. It also launched a promo called "Treasure Hunt", where the people were invited to bring their oldest television, radio sets, microphones, and posters. The network also celebrated its 16-year reign in the TV ratings, with 13 of their shows included in the Top 15 daily programs in TV. ABS-CBN also launched several new shows including Final Fantasy: Unlimited, Crush Gear, Rave, and Yu-Gi-Oh!. The company also did a nationwide caravan, showcasing the network's talents.
In October 2003, the network held a month-long celebration of ABS-CBN and Philippine TV's 50th year. The station produced two commemorative documentaries about the station's contribution in news and entertainment. Sa Mata ng Balita encapsulated some of the most unforgettable, most remarkable, and most celebrated landmarks of the last 50 years, as captured by television news. 50 Taong Ligawan: The Pinoy TV History, on the other hand, was the first extensive television documentary done about the history of Philippine television and the evolution of Philippine entertainment.
In 2004, the network launched a series of new programs including Naruto, Ragnarok the Animation, Marina, Sarah the Teen Princess, At Home Ka Dito, Nginiiig!, Yes, Yes Show!, Mangarap Ka, Art Jam, Salamat Dok, Rated K, and a televised search for the network's new set of young talent entitled Star Circle Quest. During the last quarter of that same year, ABS-CBN lost its position as the leading network in Mega Manila to GMA Network following the success of the rival network's fantaserye Mulawin which caused Charo Santos-Concio to almost resign from the network whereas it still dominated the TV ratings in Visayas and Mindanao.
In 2005, the network launched another set of new programs in their bid to regain lost audience share through a campaign entitled Iba Magmahal ang Kapamilya. These programs include Homeboy, Goin' Bulilit, Wowowee, Bora, Search for the Star in a Million and Quizon Avenue. In March of that same year, responding to Perceptions Inc.'s Tara Na, Biyahe Tayo, ABS-CBN and Star Music teamed up with the Philippine Tourism Authority for an all-star version of their Pilipino Sa Turismo'y Aktibo tourism anthem which featured selected contract artists such as Gary Valenciano, Kris Aquino, Ai-Ai delas Alas, Vhong Navarro, Piolo Pascual, Jericho Rosales, Claudine Barretto, Erik Santos, Gloc-9, Sheryn Regis and Heart Evangelista. However, the song's lack of extensive support by the mother network led to its obscurity.
The network later ventured into franchised reality shows with the launch of Pinoy Big Brother which proved to be a smashing success and helped them regain their lost position as the leading network in Mega Manila.