Privatize IBC 13 Now

December 24, 2014

In the 1970s, when Philippine president Ferdinand E. Marcos declares the Martial Law, and due to a constitutional limitation prohibiting the ownership of media by non-Filipinos or corporations not 100% Filipino owned, Inter-Island 13 split off from the Sorianos and the Canoys (the owners of RMN), and was renamed Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) and moved to Benedicto Group of Companies by the late Roberto S. Benedicto. With that, IBC-13 became the no.1 TV station in the Philippines due to its primetime lineup with the respected local and foreign shows that aired on that channel. Since then, IBC-13 became the home of the most successfully shows like Regal Family, Seiko TV Presents, Ula ang Batang Gubat (Judy Ann Santos’ first show), Pinoy Thriller, Iskul Bukol, Chicks to Chicks (starring Nova Villa and Freddie Webb), Eh Kasi Babae, Sitak ni Jack, Goin’ Bananas (before transferring to ABS-CBN), Hapi House, Sic O’Clock News, T.O.D.A.S., Seeing Stars with Joe Quirino, Maricel Live (by the Diamond Star, Ms. Maricel Soriano), The Sharon Cuneta Show (also transfers to ABS-CBN), Loveliness (starring Alma Moreno), and This is it!.

After the EDSA Revolution, IBC is also sequestered by the government thru the Presidential Commission on Good Governance (PCGG) under the order of its new president, Mrs. Corazon “Cory” Aquino. When BBC closed down, IBC absorbed majority of its displaced employees, thus doubled the operating expenses of the network. Cost of programs went up three-fold. Line-produced shows and co-production ventures with some big film companies like Viva, Regal, and Seiko were favored. The top rated shows of IBC were pirated by rival networks. Cost of programs, talent fees and TV rights increased tremendously. IBC could no longer afford to produce its own shows. In 1987, IBC 13 was named also E-13 for the first time and its slogan Life Begins at 13 noted for the butterfly logo in the form of the letter E and the number 13. In 1989, E13 renamed back to IBC 13. IBC took on a new image at the same year, Pusong Pinoy, Pusong Trese, to recapture the glory days it once had. But because of the sequestration, periodic change of management and the internal problems, the network started to lose the support from its advertisers.

In 1990, IBC 13 was renamed as Islands TV 13 and the corporate name was also renamed as Islands Broadcast Corporation, with Alfonso Denoga taking over this network (with the help of Tonyboy Cojuangco, son of PLDT’s Ramon Cojuangco, and Mrs. Cory’s nephew). It was in the later part of its operations that ratings and income suffered due to mismanagement which caused labor unrest. In March 1993, the Makati RTC issued the court order stopping Islands for being the marketing and sales agent of IBC due to unpaid financial obligations to the network as the contract of Islands expired in February 28, 1993.

In 1992, IBC return to air and became a 100% government owned station by virtue of a compromise agreement between PCGG and Roberto Benedicto, management and marketing were returned to the IBC Board of Directors. The programming remained at a standstill in preparation for the launching of a new image of the station. It was 1994 when IBC launched Pinoy Ang Dating with a Filipino-like visually enticing music video (with Grace Nono as the composer and singer of the same song), an innovation in terms of station identification. Despite limited resources, programming improved but the battle for audience share continued. Advertisers became more responsive to marketing efforts. The said ident won the Gawad CCP Award for Best Station Identification in the said year. The most memorable primetime block on IBC 13 was the Vintage Television or VTV, it enters this channel in 1996, with PBA (Philippine Basketball Association) as its major program with its major sponsors. VTV was sold to the Viva Entertainment in 2000, thus it became known as Viva TV. When VTV and Viva TV blocktiming IBC 13, IBC 13 also decided to rehabilitate its transmitter and other facilities. In 2003, IBC launched its new logo and the new slogan Ang Bagong Pilipino with a freestyle station ID. In 2007, IBC also enters blocktime with Makisig Network led by Hermie Esguerra, but its because of this, Makisig Network’s programs were not aired due to questions on the propriety of the terms and conditions of the agreement, and the signed deal was expired on October 2008.

After four decades of serving the network’s dominance and entertainment programming, IBC-13’s studios and facilities are abandoned due to negligence and their network’s mismanagement. Their studio equipment, cameras, lighting and props are useless, dilapidated and very old. Cash and budgets were cut short and they cannot afford to utilize radio-TV operations. Their programing and airtime were lost after suffering from a network war in the late 1980s and the 1990s and many employees lost their jobs. The management tried to revive the ill-fated network but it failed thereafter in the 2000s. There were many plans to sell and privatize IBC and its sister station RPN. TV network ABS-CBN was planning to buy the network’s blocktime to address signal problems and mimic the former’s programs. However, ABS-CBN could not join the privatization bid due to ownership regulations. IBC has entered into a joint venture agreement with Prime Realty, an affiliate of R-II Builders Group of Reghis Romero Jr. The agreement called for the development of 3.5 hectares of Broadcast City. With this joint venture agreement with a private business enterprise, the Aquino administration expressed its desire to privatize both RPN and IBC and retain the People’s Television (PTV) as a sole-mandated government TV network. It has been announced that conglomerate San Miguel Corporation will join the government-sponsored bidding for the privatization of RPN and IBC.

In 2011, IBC will return to a blocktime agreement with Viva Entertainment  to air a blocktime called Viva-TV (also airs sports live coverage, especially the PBA and NBA games). At the same day, IBC launched a new logo to reflect the change nd eventually becoming the number 3 station in the country. In 2013, also taught about the future of IBC 13 by dominaing the two major player. A year later, IBC signed a memorandum of agreement with the Asian Television Content Corporation under Engr. Reynaldo Sanchez as the major blocktimer of the station. ATC @ IBC primetime block with newest programs premiered last June 2, 2014. Currently, PBA D-League and Kawaii International under the ATC block.

IBC-13 also was the home of the sports coverages or sporting events in the Philippines and the rest of the world, and it was also loved and favorite by the Filipinos out there. Currently, the PBA and NBA basketball games, and ONE FC are the shows on IBC 13. The Windower will call out Presidential Communications Operations Office secretary Herminio “Sonny Coloma” to privatize IBC 13 now will not be sell the network, and the IBC 13 privatization is truly the main solution of the good programming and the continuous taunting the networks that was made by ABS-CBN, GMA, and TV5.

Now, IBC-13 is stands for Isang Bawat Channel 13 as the tagline and corporate slogan, still a sequestered to be privatized and eventually becoming the third giant multimedia network. IBC-13 becoming the number 3 position in the audience share and ratings than ABS-CBN and GMA attempts to bring in more viewers. Half of the country’s top 25 primetime weekly programs that year were local productions and original production.