GMA Network and ABS-CBN went in the opposite direction in terms of profit for the first three quarters of the year.
In a recent disclosure of their financial reports, the GMA Network reported an increase of 79% or 3.9 billion in profit which they attributed to the shutdown of rival ABS-CBN.
In a statement, GMA Network said the closure of ABS-CBN has contributed largely to their sales increase because of the shift in advertising placements.
“The closure of biggest rival, ABS-CBN, due to the expiration of their broadcast franchise last May 5 and the subsequent denial last July 10 by the House Committee on Legislative Franchises of ABS-CBN’s new application also contributed to the increase in sales due to the shift in some advertising placements,” said GMA said.
According to their financial reports, the Kapuso network’s advertising revenue went up by 2% at 11.7 billion from January to September of this year compared to the same months in 2019.
Its total revenue which includes sales from their digital TV devices like Affordabox meanwhile climbed by 4% to P12.66 billion compared to the same period last year.
Another contribution to their increase in profit is the cutting of operating expenses by 23% to P7 billion which was the result of lesser production costs brought about by the pandemic lockdown.
While GMA went upward, its erstwhile rival ABS-CBN on the other hand continues to dive as it reported a loss of 7.3 billion for the first nine months of 2020.
The Kapamilya network’s revenue meanwhile dropped by almost 50% at 17.03 billion.
The major contributor to it is their 65.8% drop in advertising sales to 5.85 billion and 25% slash on their consumer sales to 11.8 billion,
While the company also cut down on its operating expenses, it still wasn’t able to cover the loss of its revenues.
“These events in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic that the country is facing, drove down both the advertising and consumer revenues of the company,” said ABS-CBN said in its third quarter disclosure.
ABS-CBN has been financially bleeding since its free TV shutdown in May and the subsequent franchise application rejection by the Congress in July.
ABS-CBN has been concentrating on its digital presence through its Kapamilya Online Live channel in YouTube and Facebook. They’ve also taken refuge in cable TV via the Kapamilya Channel.
And most recently ABS-CBN is slowly gaining a foothold with free TV audience via its block time agreement with Zoe Broadcasting which gave birth to the A2Z Channel 11.
