Nine Media Corporation


Nine Media Corporation is a Philippine-based media company. Formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of Solar Entertainment Corporation, a multimedia television and film company owned by Tieng family, it is now solely owned by the ALC Group of Companies through its indirect parent Broadreach Media Holdings, Inc. Its headquarters are located at the ground floor of Worldwide Corporate Center, EDSA corner Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong.
NMC owns and operates its sole television property RPTV and also a 34% controlling share in the Radio Philippines Network.

History

TV channel

Solar Entertainment launched Solar TV in the early 2000s, which was later renamed to Solar USA and then to USA. In 2005, USA was split into two channels, Jack TV and Crime/Suspense.
Solar TV was relaunched on November 29, 2009, on Radio Philippines Network, then owned by the Philippine Government Communications Group. Its programming grid primarily included American programs, local sports, and lifestyle content. On October 31, 2010, it changed some of its programming content to English and Tagalog.

Broadcast company

Solar TV ventured as Solar Television Network, Inc. on January 5, 2010, becoming the Solar Entertainment's corporate television arm. The new company launched an all talk and news channel, Talk TV, on March 2, 2011, co-owned by Solar TV and Southern Broadcasting Network. At the end of 2011, Solar TV launched its own news division called Solar News. The programs produced by the new division were staffed by former ANC personalities such as Jing Magsaysay, Pia Hontiveros, Nancy Irlanda, Claire Celdran and Mai Rodriguez.
STVNI later represented Solar Entertainment's acquisition to Radio Philippines Network from the Philippine Government as a part of RPN/IBC privatization in 2011.
In November 2013, President and COO of San Miguel Corporation, Ramon Ang, attempted to acquire the majority stake of STVNI from the Tieng family, who controlled the company. He settled for a minority share of STVNI in September 2014.
In the third quarter of 2014, Solar Entertainment chair Wilson Tieng announced that the ALC Group of Companies, owned by late former Ambassador Antonio Cabangon-Chua, had acquired STVNI and its 34% majority stake on RPN. The sale of STVNI was caused by Solar Entertainment's revenue losses after its investment in RPN. After the sale, Wilson Tieng and Robert Rivera resigned from their respective positions as chairman and president of RPN. Solar TV reflected the change in ownership by removing the Solar branding from all Solar News Channel programs; SNC was rebranded as 9TV on August 23, 2014.
On October 14, 2014, Solar TV Network was renamed as Nine Media Corporation, following the brand licensing agreement between the latter and the Turner Broadcasting System to use the CNN brand for RPN's free TV assets and 9TV rebranded as CNN Philippines, which was considered as a transitional brand. It was launched on March 16, 2015.
In September 2015, Nine Media President and CEO Reggie Galura stepped down from his position and was replaced by Jorge San Agustin as Officer-in-Charge of the network. On October 9, 2016, CNN Philippines Managing Editor Armie Jarin-Bennett was appointed as president and CEO of Nine Media, replacing San Agustin.
On January 25, 2024, Nine Media and CNN mutually agreed to shut down CNN Philippines due to financial losses, poor ratings, and loss of advertiser support. Four days later, CNN Philippines confirmed that it had ceased live news production and was to be dissolved on January 31, citing financial losses. Broadreach Media Holdings Inc. took over the assets and properties of CNN Philippines following its closure. Broadreach later launched digital news media service NewsWatch Plus, which was independently managed by the remaining staff of CNN Philippines.
On January 31, 2024, TV5 Network formed a partnership with Nine Media and RPN to carry selected programming alongside classic RPN shows under the channel's new branding, RPTV, which was launched the following day. Selected programs from One PH and True FM also began airing on RPTV, marking its return to analog free-to-air television after five years since AksyonTV's closure. On February 6, 2024, Nine Media, TV5 and its parent company MediaQuest Holdings formalized their partnership for the new channel.

Corporate structure

As Solar TV Network

Prior to ALC Group of Companies' acquisition in 2014, Solar Entertainment Corporation and Solar TV operated as two separate business entities:

As Nine Media

Since 2014, Nine Media Corporation has been owned by ALC Group of Companies through its investment unit, JRLT-JHI Corporation, by way of an intermediary holding company, Broadreach Media Holdings. JRLT-JHI was owned by former Ambassador Antonio Cabangon-Chua which serves as chairman of the company from 2014 until his death in 2016; since then, his family members Ferdinand Chua, Rowena Lumague, Candy Co, Jose Wingkee Jr., and Aida Anora owns 20% equal shares of the company.
While Businessman Ramon Ang reportedly owns a minority share in Nine Media, SEC documents does not show any shares registered under his name. Instead, Ang makes investments through advertisements and paid programming from the San Miguel Group to Nine Media's sole property, CNN Philippines.

Broadcast assets

Subsidiaries

TV channels

Former subsidiaries, divisions and broadcast assets

Affiliate networks and blocktimers

TV channels (operations reverted back to SEC)

Divisions

Previous or changed ownership television channels

RPN Stations

Since Nine Media doesn't need a congressional franchise to operate, the company controls 7 RPN stations nationwide. The company also serves as the content provider for RPN's affiliate RPTV together with TV5 Network.