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

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 ...

, and dubbed as the Father of Philippine Television.

Career in the Philippines

ABS-CBN

On July 11, 1946, he began assembling transmitters and established

Bolinao Bolinao, officially the Municipality of Bolinao ( Bolinao: ''Babali nin Bolinao;'' ; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 83,979 people. Sea urchins are regula ...

Electronics Corporation (BEC). The company was named after his wife's hometown of

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan (, ; ; ), is a coastal Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capital is Lingayen, Pangasinan, Lingayen while San Carlos, Pangasi ...

. He was the first to applied to the Philippine Congress for a license to open a television station three years later. His wish was fulfilled on June 14, 1950, one year later. Instead, he had to get into radio broadcasting because of the tight import controls (since 1948) and lack of raw materials.Geocities: The Philippine TV History
Accessed January 23, 2009. His attempt to put up a television station did not go to waste.

Antonio Quirino Antonio Rivera Quirino Sr. (January 20, 1906 – January 3, 1992) was a Filipino judge, entrepreneur, and politician. He was the youngest brother of President Elpidio Quirino. He helped develop Alto Broadcasting System (ABS) before it was absorbe ...

, a judge and brother of then-

Philippine President The president of the Philippines (, sometimes referred to as ) is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of the Philippine government and is the commander-in- ...

Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Philippine nationality law, Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 6th President of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered p ...

, had been trying to get a license from Congress that would allow him to put up a television station. The

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, however, denied him from getting such a license for the fear that he might use it as a vehicle for propaganda for his brother who was then running for a second term in the presidential elections of 1953. Because of this, Antonio Quirino bought a 70% share in BEC, which earned him indirect control of a television franchise. He changed the name of BEC to Alto Broadcasting System (ABS). Lindenberg continued to be a co-owner and served as the general manager, and in November 1955 directed hands-on the first televised coverage of an election in the Philippines with the cooperation of the

Commission on Elections An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

(Comelec) and the

National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections The National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections or NAMFREL is an election watchdog in the Philippines. It was the first and one of the most famous election watch campaigns. It is known to have introduced non-partisan national election monitori ...

(NAMFREL). On February 24, 1957,

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...

Eugenio Lopez, Sr. acquired ABS from Quirino and Lindenberg.

RPN

After co-founding ABS-CBN, Lindenberg founded the

Radio Philippines Network Radio Philippines Network, Inc. (RPN) is a Philippine Media of the Philippines, television and radio company based in Quezon City. It is currently owned through majority share by Nine Media Corporation of the ALC Group of Companies; along wi ...

on February 25, 1960. RPN was formed as the

Congress of the Philippines The Congress of the Philippines () is the legislature of the national government of the Philippines. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of an upper body, the Senate of the Philippines, Senate, and a lower body, the House of Representatives ...

approved its franchise in June 19, 1960.

References

1921 births 2009 deaths ABS-CBN executives American emigrants to the Philippines American television company founders Filipino television company founders Radio Philippines Network people {{US-CEO-stub

Career in the Philippines

ABS-CBN

RPN

See also

References