As the country is about to witness the TV comeback of Darna, the media companies that will broadcast the much-anticipated series announce a landmark partnership deal that received positive response from stock market analysts and a private think tank group.
Mars Ravelo’s Darna, which stars Jane De Leon, Joshua Garcia, and Janella Salvador, is poised to fly high on primetime starting Monday on TV5 and Kapamilya Channel, among others, replacing FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano that has ruled the country’s primetime for seven years.
On Wednesday (August 11), ABS-CBN and TV5 announced the landmark deal wherein ABS-CBN will have a minority stake of 34.99% in MediaQuest’s TV5 that will enable both media entities to collaborate and produce quality content for more Filipinos to enjoy on free TV.
Stock market analysts weighed in on the partnership, saying that the investment deal is a win-win situation for both companies.
“I believe it should be positive (for both ABS-CBN and the MVP Group invested in TV5). Two things here going with this deal – we are giving consumers (TV audience) choices, and advertisers too,” ICCP president Manny Ocampo said in a statement on TV Patrol.
AAA Equities president Matthew Cabangon also remarked positively saying, “The deal leverages both companies’ strengths, with ABS-CBN providing their once-market leading content, and TV5 bringing their distribution infrastructure via their franchise.”
Meanwhile, private think tank group Infrawatch PH convenor Terry Ridon believes that ABS-CBN and TV5’s partnership has no impact on competition.
“We don’t see any basis for PCC (Philippine Competition Commission) to strike the deal, as this does not involve a transaction which will reduce or limit competition. In fact, when ABS-CBN lost its franchise in 2020, it ceased to be the dominant player in the broadcast segment. TV5 has not yet attained the dominant status in the same sector,” Ridon shared in an interview with The Philippine Star.
Ridon added that ABS-CBN and TV5 does not need to submit transactions to the PCC for review as the deal is below the mandatory threshold of P50 billion.
“However, given the size of the transaction and entities involved, they may opt to undertake the voluntary review with the PCC. This is not compulsory though, as the transaction does not meet the current P50 billion threshold for compulsory review,” Ridon said.
