Television viewing in the Philippines went down in 2020 after ABS-CBN got forced to shut down its operations.
According to The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2021, TV viewing in the Philippines dropped by 5% to 61% during the lockdown year of 2020, an opposite trend to the global’s increased TV usage.
Based on the report, one of the main reasons for the drop in TV viewing was the ABS-CBN shutdown in May 2020.
“The decline in TV viewing may have been partly influenced by the closure of ABS-CBN’s free-to-air stations after the House of Representatives refused to renew its franchise to operate.”
ABS-CBN stopped its free-to-air broadcast in May 2020 following the NTC’s cease-and-desist order and the subsequent denial of its franchise application by the 70-Cayetano-led congressmen.
Meanwhile, in the same report, it said that more Filipinos have moved to online viewing as 72% chose social media as their source of news and information.
Facebook remains to be the top social media source of the latest news at 73%, followed by YouTube at 53%.
“Dependence on smartphones to access online news, including on social media, has grown among Filipinos during what was one of the world’s longest lockdowns due to COVID-19. Not surprisingly, consumption of traditional media, particularly print, has gone down,” the study said.
ABS-CBN has concentrated on its digital platforms following the shutdown of its free-to-air broadcast. Currently, most Kapamilya shows are live-streamed over Kapamilya Online Live on YouTube and its facebook pages.
Meanwhile, in another survey, 75% of Filipinos agreed that Congress should give ABS-CBN another 25-year franchise.
In a July 2020 SWS survey, 75% of Filipinos surveyed believed that ABS-CBN should be given a fresh franchise to operate.
