TV5 Network Inc. said it is on track to break even by 2019, after significantly reducing losses last year.
“We had a very good 2017. Our business improved by 43 percent over 2016. So, if we go on the same kind of pace, I think we are going to be able to achieve our target [to break even by 2019],” TV5 president Vincent Reyes told reporters in a news briefing.
Reyes said for 2018, he was expecting a 50-percent reduction in net losses.
“I think our partnership with ESPN only enhances our ability to achieve those targets,” he said.
TV5 earlier signed a long-term agreement with ESPN to reposition itself into a sports and news network.
Under the partnership, TV5’s “Sports 5” will be rebranded as “ESPN5,” encompassing all sports coverage on TV5. In addition, ESPN will license to TV5 more than 2,500 hours additional programming per year form its portfolio of sports rights, original programming and studio programs.
ESPN is 80-percent owned by ABC Inc., an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, while Hearst Corp. holds a 20-percent interest in the US-based global cable and satellite sports television channel.
TV5 ended in 2016 its partnership with Viva Communications which used to handle the network’s entertainment programs. The network also terminated 200 employees in 2015.
MediaQuest Holdings Inc. bought TV5 in 2009 from the Cojuangco family for P4 billion, and acquired MPB Primedia of Malaysia, a TV5 major block-timer, for $16 million.
MediaQuest’s investments in TV5 was in line with its strategy of developing media, content and production resources to complement its other media assets and platforms such as Cignal, a direct-to-home satellite service launched in 2010.
Media Quest is owned by the Beneficial Trust Fund of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., which has interests in Nation Broadcasting Corp., Philippine Star, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Business World and Unitel Group.
