ABS-CBN Sports and Action (stylized as ABS-CBN Sports+Action or simply S+A or S and A), was a

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid ...

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 ...

. It was owned by

ABS-CBN Corporation ABS-CBN Corporation is a Filipino media company based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the largest entertainment and media conglomerate in the Philippines. It is a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation which is owned b ...

with some of its programs produced and licensed by

ABS-CBN Sports ABS-CBN Sports was a sports division of the Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN, which aired some of the notable sporting events in the Philippines. ABS-CBN Sports began in 1998 as the main broadcaster for the network-backed basketball leagu ...

. In Metro Manila, Sports + Action broadcast terrestrially and through DTT through

DWAC-TV DWAC-TV, Channel 23, was the flagship UHF station of Philippine all-sports television network ABS-CBN Sports and Action (S+A), a fully owned subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corporation. Its studios and transmitter are located at ABS-CBN Broadcasting C ...

(UHF channel 23), the frequency once used by the defunct national television network

Studio 23 Studio 23 (officially Studio 23, Inc. and previously AMCARA Broadcasting Network) was a Filipino television network owned by ABS-CBN Corporation. The network was named for its flagship station in Metro Manila, DWAC-TV and carried on UHF cha ...

until its closure on January 16, 2014, with most of its UHF affiliate stations in the provinces owned by

AMCARA Broadcasting Network AMCARA Broadcasting Network is a Philippine television broadcast company. The company is located in Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City. The company is majority-owned by the heirs of Arcadio M. Carandang, one of the pioneers of Phi ...

. It began its operations on January 18, 2014, yet it did not become the company's sole channel for sports until the shutdown of subscription-based counterpart Balls by the end of 2015. Its simulcast high-definition channel was exclusively available on

Sky Cable Sky Cable (stylized as SKYcable) is a cable television service of Sky Cable Corporation in the Philippines. It covers areas across the country with both digital and analog cable services, and it has 700,000 subscribers, controlling 45% of ...

Destiny Cable Destiny Cable (formerly Global Destiny Cable and stylized as DESTINY CABLE) was a direct-to-home cable television subscription service based in Quezon City. Destiny Cable was the 2nd largest cable TV provider in the Philippines. It was owned b ...

and

Sky Direct Sky Direct was a direct-broadcast satellite subscription television service in the Philippines owned and operated by Sky, a subsidiary of ABS-CBN. Sky Cable had been eyeing for a DBS service and considered on acquiring Dream Satellite TV from A ...

since 2016, while its international feed (carried with the same channel name) carried worldwide through

The Filipino Channel The Filipino Channel, commonly known as TFC, is a 24-hour global subscription television network based in Daly City, California with studios in Redwood City, California and offices in Africa, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, UAE, Ethi ...

. Sports + Action's programming is composed primarily of sports coverage such as

MPBL The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines. History Manny Pacquiao launched the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League on August 29, 2017, starting off as a semi-professional lea ...

, ABL, UAAP,

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

, Pinoy Pride fights,

BVR A beyond-visual-range missile (BVR) is an air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) that is capable of engaging at ranges of or beyond. This range has been achieved using dual pulse rocket motors or booster rocket motor and ramjet sustainer motor. In additio ...

, PVL and

ONE Championship ONE Championship (formerly ONE Fighting Championship) is a Singaporean combat sports promotion. Founded on 14 July 2011 by entrepreneur Chatri Sityodtong and former ESPN Star Sports senior executive Victor Cui, its events have featured mixed ...

. The program line up of Sports + Action included other sports-related programming, news coverages and blocktimers. S+A broadcast Mondays to Saturdays from 5:00 am to 1:00 am and Sundays from 4:00 am to 1:00 am. On May 5, 2020, the station's broadcasting activities, together with that of its sister television and radio stations

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Philippine commercial broadcast network that serves as the flagship property of ABS-CBN Corporation, a company unde ...

DZMM DZMM (630 AM) Radyo Patrol was a commercial news/talk radio station broadcasting from Quezon City, Philippines, serving the Mega Manila market. It was the flagship station of the Radyo Patrol Network owned by ABS-CBN. The station's studio w ...

, and

MOR Philippines MOR Entertainment is a national brand of new media radio station owned and operated by media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation. As a broadcast radio network, MOR stations primarily played contemporary middle-of-the-road and original Pinoy musi ...

, were suspended indefinitely starting at 7:52 pm following the cease-and-desist order (CDO) issued by the National Telecommunications Commission due to the expiration of ABS-CBN's legislative license to operate. S+A continued to air internationally through The Filipino Channel until December 2, 2020. On January 5, 2022, its former UHF frequencies (channel 23 and 43) were assigned by the NTC to

Aliw Broadcasting Corporation Aliw Broadcasting Corporation is one of the major commercial broadcasting companies in the Philippines, which operates a number of radio stations under the Home Radio & DWIZ brands, as well as its only digital television station, IZTV. Its cor ...

(for channel 23) and Swara Sug Media Corporation (for channel 43).

History

According to ABS-CBN Narrowcast Head March Ventosa, the division started developing the concept of a sports channel of free television for a year. Also with its launching, the management decided to drop the strong

branding for it is well associated with entertainment programs of which the former channel only carries 30 percent of sports related / male-dominant content.

Launching

The channel was officially launched in Glorietta 3,

Ayala Center The Ayala Center is a major commercial development operated by Ayala Land located in the Makati Central Business District in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. About the Center The Ayala Center is a recreational, shopping, dining, and enter ...

Makati Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...

on January 16, 2014. The event was attended by several well known Filipino athletes including Marlon Stockinger, Donnie Nietes, the

Philippines national football team The Philippines national football team ( Filipino/ tl, Pambansang koponan ng futbol ng Pilipinas, lit=) represents the Philippines in international football, governed by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and has been playing internatio ...

Jeron Teng Jeron Alvin Uy Teng (born March 21, 1994) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Converge FiberXers of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). As a PBA player, he usually starts at the swingman position but occasionally plays ...

, and some ABS-CBN executives and personalities. The event also provided a glimpse of its program lineup which includes sports coverage of UAAP,

Top Rank Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including Muh ...

and Pinoy Pride boxing bouts, and the Philippines national football team matches. A test broadcast was done a day prior to its official launching on January 18, 2014. The network's newest Station ID featuring the dedication and spirit of the Filipino athletes was launched during '' It's Showtime'' in 2014. The song "Ito ang Ating Sandali", composed and performed by former

Rivermaya Rivermaya is a Filipino alternative rock band. Formed in 1994, it is one of the several bands who spearheaded the 1990s Philippine alternative rock explosion. Rivermaya is currently composed of original members Mark Escueta and Nathan Azarc ...

vocalist

Rico Blanco Rico Rene Granados Blanco (born March 17, 1973) is a Filipino singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, actor, endorser and entrepreneur. He began his career as one of the founding members, and served as the chief songwriter, ...

was used for the station identification.

International feed

ABS-CBN Sports+Action was launched internationally in June 2015 via TFC, as the replacement of the BRO channel, the channel broadcast several sports coverages, programs which also aired on Channel 23 and carry-up shows including leisure, comedy and action-packed movies.

High-definition channel

On January 1, 2016, the channel launched its own high-definition feed (formerly known as Balls HD) on Sky Cable and Destiny Cable. Its program line-up included HD sports coverages of the UAAP, NCAA, Pinoy Pride, US Open, UEFA and FIVB matches. Unlike ABS-CBN HD, which was a HD simulcast feed from ABS-CBN, ABS-CBN Sports+Action HD initially was a separate channel from S+A which aired exclusive live events and other programs. In April 2017, S+A HD converted into a HD feed simulcast channel of S+A Channel 23, similar to ABS-CBN HD.

2016 relaunch

On August 29, 2016, in time with the National Heroes Day celebration, S+A debuted its new logo and station ID campaign entitled "Sumasaludo sa Pusong Palaban ng Lahing Pilipino" or "Salute to the Defiant Heart of Filipino Generation", in line with the network's continuous advocacy on promoting sports development and supporting the Filipino athletes and sporting teams that made pride and glory to the Filipino sporting community and its values and hardwork. The song "Tibay", performed by singer/songwriter

Quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of e ...

, was used in the station ID, which featured athletes from the sports coverages covered by ABS-CBN Sports+Action, such as UAAP, NCAA, boxing and MMA events. Beginning August 2018, S+A began to broadcast 24 hours of sports coverage a day similar to the national ABS-CBN, in which however, only for selected sports programs that aired on early mornings.

2020 franchise renewal issue

On May 5, 2020, the

National Telecommunications Commission The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC; fil, Pambansang Komisyon sa Telekomunikasyon) is an attached agency of the Department of Information and Communications Technology responsible for the supervision, adjudication and control over a ...

issued a cease and desist order against ABS-CBN Corporation, forcing all of its television stations, including S+A, to suspend their operations immediately due to the expiration of its legislative franchise. But some S+A Programs were moved through its cable and satellite channel

Liga Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Lig ...

as ad interim.

TV Patrol ''TV Patrol'' is a Philippine television newscast produced by ABS-CBN News. It premiered on March 2, 1987, at the former ABS-CBN television network, replacing ''Balita Ngayon''. ''TV Patrol'' is the flagship national newscast of the network a ...

's special episode dedicated to the cease-and-desist order of

's free TV and radio stations was the final show to be aired on S+A before the network signed off indefinitely.

S+A Global closure

After five years, S+A Global ceased its broadcast operations internationally through

on December 2, 2020, due to implementation of a retrenchment program covering its business company from August 7, following the House of Representatives' 70–11 vote denying the company a fresh congressional franchise on July 10, 2020 and the dissolution of

to close its business effective August 31, 2020.

Programming

According to '' Sports Interactive Network'', S+A's programming line-up comprised by 70 percent of its contents will be about sports, with the remaining of it covering Filipino action films, news updates, and other entertainment, informative & religious programs such as blocktimers. Several programming of the now-defunct Balls channel (which ended transmission on December 31, 2015) were absorbed by S+A. However, all movie blocks, news updates and other action-related programs including US drama series were phased out in April 2017 in favor of additional sports coverages.

References

External links

* {{Philippine cable channels ABS-CBN Sports and Action Defunct television networks in the Philippines Sports television networks in the Philippines Television channels and stations established in 2014 Assets owned by ABS-CBN Corporation Filipino-language television stations 2014 establishments in the Philippines Television channels and stations disestablished in 2020 2020 disestablishments in the Philippines ABS-CBN Corporation channels