ABS-CBN Corp. partners with billionaire Manuel Villar’s ALLTV channel. The media company lost its free-to-air broadcast license in 2020. Now, it airs top shows on ALLTV to boost revenue.
The deal starts Friday. ABS-CBN’s popular programs replace content from ABC 5, which ended its agreement with ABS-CBN over unpaid fees. ABS-CBN settled the debt quickly.
ABS-CBN once led Philippine TV. Congress rejected its franchise renewal under President Duterte. The company cut over half its 10,000 employees and sold assets. It posted net losses of 45 billion pesos ($765 million) from 2020 to September 2025. Shares fell more than 70%.
Analysts call the partnership a lifeline. “ABS-CBN needs revenue,” said Roberto Galang, dean at Ateneo de Manila University. “Bankruptcy means we lose a key storyteller of Filipino life.”
John Gatmaytan of Luna Securities noted past tensions. ABS-CBN criticized Villar during his 2010 presidential run. Villar lost to Benigno Aquino III. “They make strange bedfellows,” Gatmaytan said. “ABS-CBN has nothing to lose.”
ABS-CBN grows online. Its iWantTFC platform has 2.5 million users and 600,000 paying subscribers. It supplies content to Netflix, Prime Video, and Viu. In 2024, ads brought 6.7 billion pesos, one-third of sales.
Losses narrow. The firm reported an operating loss of 1.8 billion pesos in the first nine months of 2025, down from 3.1 billion a year earlier. Capital dropped to 1.6 billion pesos from 31 billion in 2019.
Challenges remain. “Free TV is a sunset industry,” said Regina Capital analyst Linncon Lahip. “Profitability takes two to three years. Streaming grows faster.”
The deal fits ABS-CBN’s plan. It includes blocktime agreements with rivals like GMA Network. This helps reclaim free TV viewers and ad money.
