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 subscri ...

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

based in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

. It was owned by

ABS-CBN Corporation ABS-CBN Corporation is a Mass media in the Philippines, Filipino Media conglomerate, media company based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the largest entertainment television and film production, Broadcast syndication, progra ...

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 Corporation, 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 bas ...

. 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 Ce ...

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

Studio 23 Studio 23 (officially Studio 23, Inc. and stylized in all uppercase as STUDIO 23) was a Tagalog television network owned by ABS-CBN Corporation. The network was named for its flagship station in Metro Manila, DWAC-TV and carried on UHF chan ...

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 was 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 Ph ...

. 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 th ...

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 by ...

and

Sky Direct Sky Direct (stylized as SKYdirect) is a direct-broadcast satellite subscription television service in the Philippines. From its founding in 2016, it was owned and operated by Sky, a subsidiary of ABS-CBN Corporation. Sky Cable had been eyeing ...

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 global subscription television network owned and operated by the Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation. Its programming is composed primarily of imported programs produced and distri ...

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

MPBL The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's regional professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of 30 teams. Founded in 2017 by eight-division boxing world champion and then-Senator Manny Pacquiao, the MPBL is ...

ABL ABL may refer to: Aviation * Airborne Laser, a weapons system designed for use by the United States military * Air Busan of South Korea (ICAO airline code) * IATA airport code for Ambler Airport in State of Alaska, USA Companies, groups, organiz ...

UAAP The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), established in 1938, is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines. The eight-member schools are Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila Univer ...

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

, Pinoy Pride fights, BVR, PVL and

ONE Championship ONE Championship, formerly ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) until January 2015, is a Multinational corporation, multinational combat sports Promoter (entertainment), promotion founded on 14 July 2011 by Chatri Sityodtong and Victor Cui. Origi ...

. 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 is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

DZMM DZMM (630 AM) Radyo Patrol is a radio station owned by Philippine Collective Media Corporation and operated conjointly with ABS-CBN Corporation under Media Serbisyo Production Corporation. The station's studios is located at the ABS-CBN Broad ...

, and

MOR Philippines MOR Entertainment is a new media radio network, radio service owned and operated by ABS-CBN Corporation. MOR started in 2001 as the FM brand of ABS-CBN Regional and terrestrially operated 15 radio broadcasting, radio stations in the Philippines. ...

, were signed off the air at 7:52 pm following the cease-and-desist order (CDO) issued by the

National Telecommunications Commission The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC; ) is the telecommunications regulator of the Philippines. It is an attached agency of the Department of Information and Communications Technology responsible for the supervision, adjudication ...

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. On January 5, 2022, its former UHF frequencies (channel 23 and 43) were assigned by the NTC to

Aliw Broadcasting Corporation Aliw Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is a Philippine broadcasting company. Its corporate office and studios are located at the 20th floor of Citystate Centre, 709 Shaw Blvd., Brgy. Oranbo, Pasig. It is one of the broadcast media assets of the A ...

(for channel 23) and

Swara Sug Media Corporation Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), also known by its legal name Swara Sug Media Corporation (SSMC), is a Tagalog broadcast media arm of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) led by the Tagalog televangelist Apollo Quiboloy. Based in Dava ...

(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 content.

Launching

The channel was officially launched in Glorietta 3,

Ayala Center The Ayala Center is a mixed-use major commercial development operated by Ayala Land located in Barangay San Lorenzo within the Makati Central Business District in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines. The complex comprises three shopping malls ...

Makati Makati ( ; ), officially the City of Makati (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, known for being one of the leading financial centers in the country. As of 2013, the city has the highest concent ...

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

Donnie Nietes Donnie Liboon Nietes (born May 12, 1982) is a Filipino professional boxer who has won world titles in four weight-classes, having previously held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) mini-flyweight title from 2007 to 2011; the WBO and ''The Ri ...

, the

Philippines national football team The Philippines national football team () represents the Philippines in men's international association football, football, governed by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and has been playing internationally since 1913. Prior to World W ...

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

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

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 M ...

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 that spearheaded the 1990s Philippine alternative rock explosion. Rivermaya is currently composed of original members Mark Escueta and Nathan Azar ...

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 an 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 an HD feed simulcast channel of S+A Channel 23, similar to

ABS-CBN HD ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) was a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial Broadcasting, broadcast broadcast network, net ...

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. It 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 every nat ...

, 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

issued a cease and desist order against

, forcing all of its television stations, including S+A, to stop 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 (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Ame ...

as ad interim. ''

TV Patrol ''TV Patrol'' is a Philippine television news broadcasting show broadcast by ABS-CBN, Kapamilya Channel, A2Z and All TV. Originally anchored by Noli de Castro, Mel Tiangco and Robert Arevalo, it premiered on March 2, 1987, on the netw ...

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 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

{{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 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