ABS-CBN Corporation is a Filipino media company based in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

, Metro Manila,

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is the largest entertainment and

media conglomerate A media conglomerate, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as music, television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, theme parks, or the Internet. According t ...

in the Philippines. It is a subsidiary of

Lopez Holdings Corporation Lopez Holdings Corporation (formerly Benpres Holdings Corporation until July 5, 2010) is a Filipino conglomerate founded by the brothers Eugenio Lopez, Sr. and Fernando Lopez, Sr. It has substantial holdings in the public service and utilitie ...

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 James Lindenberg (December 20, 1921 – April 28, 2009) was an American-born Filipino engineer and businessman. He moved to the Philippines in the 1940s. He is credited for his founding of Bolinao Electronics Corporation (BEC), the precursor of ...

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 DWWX-TV, Channel 2, was the flagship VHF station of Philippine television network ABS-CBN. The station was owned and operated by ABS-CBN Corporation with its studio and transmitter located at the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center, Sgt. Esguerra Ave ...

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. Eugenio is an Italian and Spanish masculine given name deriving from the Greek ' Eugene'. The name is Eugénio in Portuguese and Eugênio in Brazilian Portuguese. The name's translated literal meaning is well born, or of noble status. Similar de ...

and his brother

Fernando Lopez Fernando Hofileña Lopez Sr. (April 13, 1904May 26, 1993) was a Filipino statesman. A member of the influential Lopez family of Iloilo, he served as vice president of the Philippines for three terms – under Elpidio Quirino (1949– ...

, 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 company became known as ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation on February 1, 1967. The conglomerate started to adapt the ABS-CBN Corporation name on May 27, 2010 to reflect the company's diversification, although the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation name is still used alternatively on some uses. The common shares of ABS-CBN were first traded on the

Philippine Stock Exchange The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc. ( fil, Pamilihang Sapi ng Pilipinas; ) is the national stock exchange of the Philippines. The exchange was created in 1992 from the merger of the Manila Stock Exchange and the Makati Stock Exchange. Includin ...

in July 1992 under the ticker symbol ABS. The conglomerate mainly focus 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. At that time, the largest media company was

Manila Broadcasting Company Manila Broadcasting Company (MBC) is a radio and television network in the Philippines. MBC is currently owned by the FJE Group of Companies of Fred J. Elizalde, which also operates hotels and Pasay-based amusement park Star City. Its AM fl ...

(MBC), with

DZRH DZRH (666 AM) is a radio station owned and operated by Manila Broadcasting Company, which serves as the flagship station. The station's studio is located at the MBC Building, Star City, Vicente Sotto St., CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, Pas ...

as the leading radio station. 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 Elpidio Rivera Quirino (born Elpidio Quirino y Rivera; ; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the sixth president of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino ente ...

, 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

. 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

and the then-Philippine Vice President

. 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 Intramuros (Latin for "inside the walls") is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila. Present-day ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

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).

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 television and radio broadcast, satellite and cable, broadcast syndication,

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...

s, publishing, content production and program and film distributor, television production, film production, new media and digital platforms, talent agencies,

pay TV Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

and broadband internet provider, consumer sales and merchandise, music label and recording, and

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

. The group owns and operates

Kapamilya Channel Kapamilya Channel (stylized as Kapamilya channel) is a 24-hour Philippine pay television network formerly known as ABS-CBN Corporation, a company under Lopez Holdings Corporation owned by the López family. The network is headquartered at t ...

and

ABS-CBN News Channel ABS-CBN News Channel, commonly known as ANC, is a 24/7 Philippine pay television news channel. It was launched in 1996 as the first all-news network in English language. The majority of its programs are produced by ABS-CBN News. The channel is ...

under ABS-CBN as well as the Teleradyo and MOR Entertainment digital radio networks. 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 with A2Z and TV5 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 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 ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc. (doing business as Star Cinema or ABS-CBN Films) is a Filipino film studio and film and television production company and film distributor headquartered in Quezon City. It is one of the major film studios in t ...

, such as

Star Cinema ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc. (doing business as Star Cinema or ABS-CBN Films) is a Filipino film studio and film and television production company and film distributor headquartered in Quezon City. It is one of the major film studios in t ...

Cinema One Originals The Cinema One Originals Film Festival, a division of ABS-CBN Films commonly known as Cinema One Originals, is an independent film festival in the Philippines held annually in the month of November in Quezon City. Its primary goal is to show ...

, Cine Bro and Black Sheep Productions, television production companies ABS-CBN Entertainment, Dreamscape Entertainment,

Star Creatives ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc. (doing business as Star Cinema or ABS-CBN Films) is a Filipino film studio and film and television production company and film distributor headquartered in Quezon City. It is one of the major film studios in t ...

, 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 Korea Train eXpress (), often known as KTX (), is South Korea's high-speed rail system, operated by Korail. Construction began on the high-speed line from Seoul to Busan in 1992. KTX services were launched on April 1, 2004. From Seoul Station the ...

, they also operate music recording labels under ABS-CBN Music, such as

Star Music Star Music (stylized in lowercase as starmusic; formerly known as Star Records), is a record label in the Philippines owned and operated by media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation. It was formerly a separate company operating as a wholly owned ...

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. 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 The ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra is a Filipino radio orchestra based in Manila. It was founded in 2012 with financial support from ABS-CBN and First Philippine Holdings. It is composed of 40 instrumentalists. The orchestra's musical director ...

. It also owns ABS-CBN Studios, Inc. which operates its production facilities nationwide, including the

ABS-CBN Soundstage The ABS-CBN Soundstage at the Horizon IT Park, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, is the main production facility of ABS-CBN. It is owned by ABS-CBN Corporation, operated and managed by ABS-CBN Studios, Inc. Although the original plan is to have a t ...

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.

Notes

References

External links