May 5, 2020, will go down in history as the day the country’s largest television network was shut down for what seems to be the final time. ABS-CBN is no more—at least on free TV.
Seen by many in the media industry as a dark day—and made even darker by the pandemic the country is currently facing—people are understandably upset. Marred by controversies, the 12-day hearing and the decision that came after was viewed by many as an attack against the free press.
It has been more than 100 days since the network went off the air. With a retrenchment of most of its employees on the horizon, let’s look back at what has happened to the once-dominant Kapamilya network.
Cease-and-desist
While ABS-CBN’s battles did not start on May 5, this was when it reached its tipping point. The NTC issued a cease-and-desist order, telling ABS-CBN that their franchise expired the day prior (May 4, 2020). ABS-CBN signed off at 7:52 pm after TV Patrol, complying with the NTC order.
This sent waves of both worry and jubilation across the country. Senators condemned the cease-and-desist order, while the House Committee on Legislative Franchises said the NTC may be held in contempt for not issuing a provisional authority for ABS-CBN to continue its operations.
The move was seen as the fulfillment of President Rodrigo Duterte’s threats against the network’s franchise renewal, which stemmed from ABS-CBN not airing his political advertisements during the 2016 National Elections.
Calls for the network to be allowed to go back on air were all over social media, but the NTC stood its ground. Top Kapamilya artists expressed their disdain, with their statements going viral across all social media platforms.
Hearings at the House of Representatives
May 13 would see House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano look to grant ABS-CBN to operate on a provisional franchise until October 31, 2020. It went as far as the second reading but was shelved in favor of discussing the network’s renewal.
With the country still reeling from the effects of COVID-19 and the public clamor to discuss the renewal of ABS-CBN’s legislative franchise, the House Committee on Legislative Franchises got to work in what can only be described as a “last-minute effort” to salvage the situation.
Fourteen bills from 12 representatives and two senators would mark the start of the 12-day hearing that would uncover supposed franchise violations and other malpractices by the ABS-CBN Corporation. These hearings featured a lot of back-and-forth between members of the Committee and ABS-CBN’s top brass, all of which were shown on live TV and streamed on social media.
It culminated with the committee rejecting ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal on July 10, 2020, citing reasons such as the citizenship of ABS-CBN Corporation Chairman Eugenio Lopez III, tax evasion, issuance of PDRs to foreign nationals, and violating provisions of their franchise.
The dozen-day hearings would also see ABS-CBN stars and employees taking to the streets to the protest and push “No to ABS-CBN Shutdown”. Tears were eventually shed on July 10. Other means of renewing the franchise were tossed around on the internet, including the start of a people’s initiative.
Kapamilyas after closure and after denial
ABS-CBN, for its part, did not really stop being of service to the Filipino people. Its online presence saw a massive boost, with its loyal followers gravitating towards its social media accounts, hoping for live streams of their favorite programs.
On June 13, ABS-CBN made it back on the air with the launch of the Kapamilya Channel, a 24-hour cable and satellite channel that airs top-rated programs like FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, It’s Showtime, ASAP, and Magandang Umaga. Its primetime newscast TV Patrol continued to air on ANC, while its AM radio arm DZMM remains on-air both on the radio and on TV via DZMM Teleradyo.
The Kapamilya Channel, for its part, aired two new programs from ABS-CBN’s top stars. Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo (Paano Kita Mapapasalamatan) and Angel Locsin (Iba Yan).
After the House of Representatives rejected their franchise, though, things started to look grim for ABS-CBN and its subsidiaries. Five days after the House Committee rejected their renewal, ABS-CBN announced that it would be retrenching some of its employees—with those affected coming out immediately after.
Two of the biggest names to take a hit were broadcast journalists Ces Drilon and Korina Sanchez. ABS-CBN’s FM radio station MOR 101.9, and ABS-CBN’s regional stations were casualties of the shutdown. ABS-CBN Entertainment employees started announcing their fate on social media—with one, in particular, making headlines days after the announcement.
It wasn’t all bad, though. Former ABS-CBN employees have been briefed and some have been working behind the scenes to continue despite the trying times.
Star Magic, its in-house training and talent management subsidiary, is now working the interwebs to keep ABS-CBN talents “in shape”. A quick glance at their socials (@starmagicphils on FB, IG, and Twitter) sees their artists going live on popular streaming app Kumu, producing shows that seek to entertain their fans despite quarantine restrictions.
Vice Ganda, in particular, has launched his own online channel, aptly called the Vice Ganda Network. It’s a joint venture with Viva Entertainment, it looks to satisfy the clamor from his fanbase to see more of Vice Ganda despite the COVID-19 pandemic. It had hiccups, but the launch of Vice Ganda Network on viceganda.com.ph was still a success.
Kapamilya actresses Pokwang and Jessy Mendiola will also be seeing airtime quite soon on TV5 subsidiary Cignal Entertainment. Jessy will be hosting her own fitness show while Pokwang will be hosting a morning talk and magazine show with Pauleen Luna-Sotto and fellow Kapamilya Ria Atayde.
There haven’t been other big moves yet for ABS-CBN Entertainment, but the future isn’t clear at this point. With the pandemic still dominating the airwaves and the internet being more important than ever, who knows where we will see ABS-CBN next.
