SolarFlix (formerly Entertainment Central or ETC and visually rendered in its current logo in all

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) is a Philippine

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 ...

owned by the Southern Broadcasting Network subsidiary of Solar Entertainment Corporation. Its digital free-to-air broadcast is carried by SBN's flagship station, DWCP-DTV (channel 21) in

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

. The channel's analog broadcast is fed on its lone provincial TV station, DXSS-TV (channel 7) in Davao City (in which the station currently carries DepEd ALS TV programming). The channel is also carried by cable and satellite providers, including Sky Cable, Destiny Cable, Vision/FiberTV, Planet Cable, Cablelink, Binangonan Cable TV Corporation, Cignal, SatLite, and G Sat along with various provincial cable operators and through online streaming. SolarFlix operates daily from 8 a.m. to 12 midnight on Solar's digital free TV (under test broadcast), while it operates 24 hours daily on most pay TV and streaming service providers. However, starting Holy Week 2021, it continues to sign off from Maundy Thursday at midnight to Easter Sunday at 8:00 a.m. along with its sister channels

Solar Sports Solar Sports is a Philippines, Philippine Digital television, digital free-to-air television network based in Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong, Philippines. It serves as the flagship network of Southern Broadcasting Network, a subsidiary of Solar En ...

, Shop TV and

Solar Learning Solar Learning is a Philippine educational UHF television channel which broadcasts as a relay feed of the DepEd TV programming service. It is owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd). ...

. It formerly operated daily from 5:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight on free-to-air analog TV broadcast until September 2019, when SBN permanently closed its analog signal. SolarFlix broadcasts from Solar's master control facility and studios located on the Third Floor of the Worldwide Corporate Center, Epifanio de Los Santos corner Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong, while the Solar office is located at Solar Century Tower, 100 Tordesillas St., Corner H.V. Dela Costa St. Salcedo Village, Makati, SBN holds free-to-air broadcasts from its transmitter and tower site located at Nuestra Señora de la Paz Subdivision, Bo. Sta. Cruz, Antipolo, Rizal.

History

As ETC (2004–2022)

On March 1, 2004, ETC was launched as "Entertainment Central". But the test broadcast started on November 24, 2003. On January 1, 2008, ETC ceased to air over Sky Cable as a separate channel. As part of the Solar network's block time agreements with various terrestrial channels, the channel started airing over SBN 21, a terrestrial UHF TV station in the Philippines. On March 2, 2011, ETC moved to RPN after the channel is private, while Talk TV, a news-oriented channel airing local and US news shows, launched on SBN 21. But, ETC returned to SBN on November 30, 2013, as

Solar News Channel Solar News Channel (SNC) was a major commercial television network in the Philippines, owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation's arm television subsidiary of Solar Television Network lease with its owner by Radio Philippines Network. Its fl ...

moved to RPN on December 1 of 2013 to allow SNC's wider coverage. (SNC and RPN, however, were sold to the ALC Group of Companies chair, Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua, in August 2014, due to Tieng's loss of revenue after investing in RPN.) After its sister channel 2nd Avenue ended broadcasting on June 5, 2018, after 12 years of broadcasting, many of its programs moved to ETC. On November 21, 2018, ETC revealed its new station ID and on-air graphics. At the same time, the network also launched its new slogans, ''In Full Bloom'' and ''#IamETC''. On May 25, 2020, ETC began broadcasting in anamorphic 16:9 aspect ratio on free-to-air digital television. The change allowed for a widescreen presentation, optimizing the viewing experience for viewers with compatible widescreen televisions.

As SolarFlix (2022–present)

On June 7, 2022, a new channel was teased featuring a voice-over saying, ''"May bagong kakaaliwan ngayong July. Kaya tutok lang. Sagot ka namin!"'' (). On June 16, 2022, ETC unveiled the new channel which was relaunched as SolarFlix on July 11, 2022, at 6 pm (PST), a Tagalog movie channel that features classic and independent Filipino films (most of which came from Solar Films' archives), and documentaries from local movie festivals similar to

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

's '' I Heart Movies''. Following the rebrand, Solar Entertainment Corporation announced to some cable and satellite TV operators carrying ETC that the channel will be replaced by ''ScreamFlix'' of Jungo TV, which carries Front Row Channel and Hallypop (the latter is formerly broadcast as a digital subchannel on GMA Network) on June 20, 2022.

Programming

The channel targets the young adult demographics. SolarFlix's programming currently consists of Turkish dramas and Latin American telenovelas dubbed in Filipino under the ETCerye block, classic and independent Filipino films, and Hollywood and foreign-acquired movies.

Relay and affiliate stations

Ratings

According to National Urban Television Audience Measurement, ETC is the top-ranked female television channel with cable and free TV ratings combined (January 2012 - May 2012) with a 10.33% audience share.

References

External links

Media Ownership Monitor Philippines - Television
by VERA Files and

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{{Authority control Southern Broadcasting Network Radio Philippines Network Solar Entertainment Corporation channels Television networks in the Philippines Filipino-language television stations Movie channels in the Philippines Television channels and stations established in 2004 2003 establishments in the Philippines Television channels and stations established in 2022