ABS-CBN Corporation facts for kids
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Logo since 2014
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The ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center in Diliman, Quezon City
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Trade name
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ABS-CBN |
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Formerly
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| Traded as | PSE: ABS |
| Industry | Radio broadcasting Mass media Entertainment |
| Founded | June 13, 1946 |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center, Sgt. Esguerra Avenue corner Mother Ignacia Street, Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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| Products | Films Music Television program Web portal |
| Brands | Kapamilya Channel Kapamilya Online Live A2Z ABS-CBN TV Plus DWPM/TeleRadyo Serbisyo ANC Cine Mo! Jeepney TV Cinema One Myx Metro Channel TFC iWantTFC |
| Services | Broadcasting Motion pictures TV production Cable television Internet Streaming service Broadcast syndication Record label Telecommunications Satellite television Film distribution |
| Revenue |  ₱18.51 billion (2023) |
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Operating income
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 ₱−12.59 billion (2023) |
| ₱−12.83 billion (2023) |
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| Total assets |  ₱53.10 billion (2023) |
| Total equity | ₱9.23 billion (2023) |
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Number of employees
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5,279 (2023) |
| Parent | Lopez Holdings Corporation |
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| Subsidiaries | List of subsidiaries |
ABS-CBN Corporation (also known alternatively and secondarily since 2008, and formerly primarily from 1967 to 1972 and from 1986 to 2008 as ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation) is a Filipino media company based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the largest radio broadcaster, entertainment television production, program syndication provider and media conglomerate in the Philippines. It is a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation, which is owned by the López family. ABS-CBN was formed by the merger of Alto Broadcasting System (ABS) and Chronicle Broadcasting Network (CBN).
ABS was founded in 1946 by American electronics engineer James Lindenberg as Bolinao Electronics Corporation (BEC). In 1952, BEC was renamed Alto Broadcasting System (ABS) with its corporate name, Alto Sales Corporation after Judge Antonio Quirino, brother of President Elpidio Quirino, purchased the company and later launched the first TV station in the country, DZAQ-TV on October 23, 1953. The company that would later be merged with ABS to form ABS-CBN was founded in 1956 as Chronicle Broadcasting Network, Inc. (CBN) by Eugenio Lopez Sr. and his brother Fernando Lopez, who was the sitting Vice President of the Philippines. A year later, the Lopezes acquired ABS. The ABS-CBN brand was first used on television in 1961.
The conglomerate became known as ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation on February 1, 1967. It then changed its primary name to simply ABS-CBN Corporation on October 1, 2008 during the 55th anniversary of the television network of the same name dropping the word "Broadcasting" on primary uses, to signify its diversification. Due to the change in the conglomerate's primary name, the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation name is now used as the company's alternative and secondary name in certain contexts. The common shares of ABS-CBN were first traded on the Philippine Stock Exchange in July 1992 under the ticker symbol ABS.
Due to being denied for another 25-year free-to-air broadcasting franchise by the Philippine Congress, the conglomerate now mainly focuses on working as a content company, which includes producing television programs, films and other entertainment contents and distributions.
History
The company was founded on June 13, 1946, as Bolinao Electronics Corporation (BEC). BEC was established by James Lindenberg, one of the founding fathers of Philippine television, an American electronics engineer who went into radio equipment assembly and radio broadcasting. In 1949, James Lindenberg shifted Bolinao to radio broadcasting with DZBC and masterminded the introduction of television to the country in 1953.
In 1951, Lindenberg partnered with Antonio Quirino, brother of then-Philippine President Elpidio Quirino, in order to try their hand at television broadcasting. In 1952, BEC was renamed as Alto Broadcasting System or ABS (with Alto Sales Corporation as its corporate name). "Alto" was a contraction of Quirino's and his wife's first names, Tony and Aleli. Though they had little money and resources, ABS was able to put up its TV tower by July 1953 and import some 300 television sets. The initial test broadcasts began in September of the same year. The very first full-blown broadcast was on October 23, 1953, of a party in Tony Quirino's humble abode. The television station was known as DZAQ-TV.
On June 16, 1955, Republic Act No. 1343 signed by President Ramon Magsaysay granted the Manila Chronicle its broadcasting franchise, leading to the formation of the Chronicle Broadcasting Network.
The Chronicle Broadcasting Network (CBN) was founded on September 24, 1956, by Eugenio Lopez Sr. and the then-Philippine Vice President Fernando Lopez. The network initially focused only on radio broadcasting. It launched its very own TV station, DZXL-TV 9, on April 19 (or July), 1958. On February 24, 1957, Don Eugenio acquired ABS from Quirino and Lindenberg. A month later, Don Eugenio also acquired Monserrat Broadcasting System.
In 1958, the network's new headquarters at Dewey Boulevard were inaugurated, and all radio and television operations were consolidated into its two buildings – the radio stations at the Chronicle Building at Aduana Street, Intramuros, Manila and the TV operations at the brand new Dewey Boulevard building in Pasay, Rizal.
The ABS-CBN brand was first used in 1961. However, it was only on February 1, 1967, that the corporate name was changed to ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation. Before it was named ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, the corporate name was Bolinao Electronics Corporation (BEC).
On October 1, 2008 during the 55th anniversary of the television network of the same name, the conglomerate's primary name and network's corporate name was changed to simply ABS-CBN Corporation to reflect the former's diversification. According to the conglomerate's chairman Gabby Lopez during its annual stockholders' meeting in May 2010, the change in the name was "a response to the changes in the media landscape brought about by technology. The media business has gone beyond merely broadcasting to encompass other platforms."
YouTube hacking incident
On November 3, 2020, the YouTube channels of ABS-CBN News and ANC 24/7 were terminated for several hours, allegedly due to a "violation of YouTube's Terms of Service." It is unclear what the violation was, however, it was later confirmed by YouTube that the channels were targeted by hackers instead. Both channels were reinstated on the same day, at around at 3:58 P.M (PHT).
Assets and subsidiaries
ABS-CBN Corporation owns major of media and entertainment companies in the Philippines, and offers services and products such as radio broadcast, satellite and cable television broadcast, broadcast syndication, telecommunications, publishing, content production and program and film distributor, television production, film production, new media and digital platforms, talent agencies, pay TV and broadband internet provider, consumer sales and merchandise, music label and recording, and theater. The group owns and operates general entertainment broadcaster Kapamilya Channel and English-language news service ABS-CBN News Channel under ABS-CBN, AM radio station DWPM and Filipino-language cable and online news channel TeleRadyo Serbisyo (through a joint venture with Prime Media Holdings), and digital radio platform MOR Entertainment. The Kapamilya Channel, in particular, is the largest contributor to the group's revenue mainly from selling airtime to advertisers. The remaining revenue is generated from block-timing and other networks and platforms as well as from consumer sales, mainly from ABS-CBN Global Ltd. and ABS-CBN International, which distributes international television channels such as TFC HD, ANC Global, Cinema One Global, Cine Mo! Global, Teleradyo Serbisyo Global and Myx Global and also from pay TV and broadband internet provider Sky Cable Corporation.
Other companies which operate under the ABS-CBN group are motion picture companies under ABS-CBN Film Productions, such as Star Cinema, Cinema One Originals, Cine Bro and Black Sheep Productions, television production companies ABS-CBN Studios, Dreamscape Entertainment, Star Creatives, RCD Narratives, JRB Creative Production and RGE Drama Unit under RSB Scripted Format, entertainment and film production Star Magic Studio (under Star Magic), online ticketing and streaming site KTX, they also operate music recording labels under ABS-CBN Music, such as Star Music and its subsidiaries, Tarsier Records, and MYX Global, publishing firm ABS-CBN Publishing and ABS-CBN Books, pay TV content provider and distributor Creative Programs, telecommunications company ABS-CBN Convergence which owned by the company with 68% co-owned with Globe Telecom, and talent agencies Star Magic, its divisions such as Star Hunt, Polaris, and Rise Artists Studio. They also operate the main entertainment and production division of ABS-CBN, Star Creatives Group. Among the pay TV networks and channels under the ABS-CBN group are ANC, Cinema One, Cine Mo!, Jeepney TV, Kapamilya Channel, Knowledge Channel, Metro Channel, Myx and TeleRadyo Serbisyo. In recent years, ABS-CBN has ventured and diversified in other businesses such as over-the-top platform iWant TFC, TFC IPTV and web-based channel Kapamilya Online Live. Both iWant TFC and Kapamilya Online Live are under ABS-CBN Digital Media, a new media and digital division under ABS-CBN which also handles news.ABS-CBN.com and ABS-CBN.com. ABS-CBN is also the principal owner of the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra. It also owns ABS-CBN Studios, Inc. which operates its production facilities nationwide, including the ABS-CBN Soundstage located in Bulacan and Regional production facilities. And the newly relaunched theater arm of ABS-CBN, Teatro Kapamilya. Aside from the ABS-CBN Soundstage, ABS-CBN also has other real estate properties for the company's operations.
