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Solar Entertainment Corporation (also known as Solar Entertainment, and simply known as Solar or SEC) is a Filipino media company based in
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 ...
,
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. Founded and owned by the brothers, Wilson, William and Willy Tieng. Solar Entertainment operates four digital free-to-air channels and one
cable channel Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
. Solar also owns a film distribution company (Solar Pictures) and defunct
freemium Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium", is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical ( ...
digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using Digital signal, digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an ...
service ( Easy TV Home).


History


Film production and distribution

Solar Entertainment was founded and established by the brothers William Tieng, Wilson Tieng and Willy Tieng in 1976. Solar Films was then formed in 1988 (one of the first films that distributed by Solar Films is Rambo III of
Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...
), bringing international films (and later, local films since 2009) to the Philippines. Since 2012, Solar has collaborated with independent film director
Brillante Mendoza Brillante Mendoza (; born July 30, 1960), also known as Dante Mendoza, is a Filipino independent filmmaker. Mendoza is known one of the key members associated with the Philippine New Wave. Career Mendoza was born and raised in San Fernando, ...
for a multiple film contract. On March 18, 2015, Solar launched the Sinag Maynila film festival is, which featured five films from a talented group of directors, each with a different vision and approach. The films were shown in select SM Cinemas from March 18 to 24, 2015. The winners were announced at the “Gabi ng Parangal” on March 22. On April 2, 2004, Solar announced that they distribute films from
United International Pictures United International Pictures (UIP) is a joint venture of Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures that distributes their films outside the United States and Canada. UIP also had international distribution rights to certain Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M ...
(UIP, a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
of Viacom's
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
and
Vivendi Universal Vivendi SE (stylized in all lowercase) is a French investment company headquartered in Paris. It currently wholly-owns Gameloft as well as a number of investments in several companies, primarily involved in content, entertainment, media, and t ...
's
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
) in the Philippines starting with
DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...
's ''
Shrek 2 ''Shrek 2'' is a 2004 American animated fantasy comedy film loosely based on the 1990 children's picture book '' Shrek!'' by William Steig. Directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, and Conrad Vernon from a screenplay by Adamson, Joe Sti ...
'' in May 2004, until an temporary restraining order stopping UIP's operations in the country in March 2014.


Cable television

On January 1, 1994, Solar launched on cable television as the Solar Entertainment Channel. On December 22, 2000, Solar acquired Domestic Satellite Philippines Inc. (DOMSAT) from the Philippine government through
Presidential Commission on Good Government The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is a quasi-judicial government agency of the Philippines whose primary mandate is to recover the ill-gotten wealth accumulated by Ferdinand Marcos, his immediate family, relatives, subordi ...
after Solar won the bidding for the franchise and assets formerly owned by DOMSAT, making DOMSAT a 100% Solar subsidiary. As a result, DOMSAT’s teleport is being used by Solar to produce, originate, and distribute its various television program services. Its full service digital broadcast teleport features server technology facility located in Barangay Sta. Cruz, Sumulong Highway,
Antipolo Antipolo, officially the City of Antipolo (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Rizal (province), Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, ...
, Rizal. It is built around two encoder platforms, Scientific Atlanta Power Vu Classic(DVB) and Motorola Digicipher II(MPEG-@). Program origination is done on a SeaChange Media Cluster Server System. The facility includes a 500-square-meter studio and various linear and non-linear production bays. Solar Entertainment first launched its namesake entertainment cable channel in the early 2000s, one devoted to American programs. This channel was later known as Solar USA (the acronym stands for "Ultimate in Suspense and Action"), and then later simply as USA before it was replaced by two separate channels. In January 17, 2004, Solar launched on cable sports alternative channel as Sports Plus. On March 1, 2004, Solar Entertainment launched ETC or Entertainment Central, which is positioned as the country’s premier cable female entertainment channel. ETC is a platform that brings its audience closer to their aspirational lifestyle, as embodied by their idols. On April 5, 2005, it test launched delivering debuting service. Intended for a predominantly male audience, the company launched the country’s leading general entertainment cable channel,
Jack TV Jack TV (capitalized as JACK TV) is an online web portal owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation and based in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. It was known as a Philippine pay television network mainly offering multi-genre programming from the U ...
, in July. On October 15, 2005, Solar Entertainment launched a crime and action cable channel, Crime/Suspense or C/S. On December 15, 2005, Solar Entertainment launched a spin-off channel to ETC, ETC 2nd Avenue, a lifestyle and general entertainment channel. Started as a test broadcast on December 15, 2005, and had its full launch in 2006. The channel was later renamed as 2nd Avenue on January 17, 2007. On October 1, 2006, Sports Plus ceased broadcasting and replaced by the Basketball TV channel formed by Solar, while moving most of Sports Plus programs to
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 ...
.


As a broadcast company

On January 1, 2008, Solar Entertainment Corporation began to lease block airtime with terrestrial TV networks, RPN, SBN and RJTV. The move was a result of
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 ...
pulling out C/S, ETC, and 2nd Avenue from the cable company's lineup at their own right. Those three started carrying shows from Solar's, with C/S on RPN, ETC on SBN, and 2nd Avenue on RJTV. On May 22, 2009, a victory party for Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, who just became the new IBO (International Boxing Organization) and ''Ring Magazine'' Light Welterweight Champion, was held at the Renaissance Hotel in
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 ...
, in partnership with GMA Network Inc. Solar and GMA executives at that time signed for a partnership in TV coverage of Manny Pacquiao's upcoming boxing matches. The C/S cable channel was later rebranded as C/S Origin in September 2008, while the RPN network later changed its branding to C/S 9 the next month. On November 29, 2009, Solar rebranded C/S9 as
Solar TV Solar TV (stylized as SOLARtv) was the flagship television network of Solar Entertainment Corporation's television arm subsidiary Solar TV Network, Solar TV Network, Inc., which is the replacement of C/S 9. This was the revival of the former So ...
at 11:00 am with a slogan ''It's A Bright New World'' on RPN. On October 31, 2010, it changed some of its programming content to English/Tagalog with a new slogan ''Kung Saan Lahat Panalo!''. In mid-2010, GemCom sold all of its 97% equity share in SBN to Solar for Php 368.8 million. Since then, SBN became a fully owned subsidiary of Solar. On February 11, 2011, SEC partnered with
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 ...
to air
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
(NBA) games over free TV starting February 19, 2011. The games are aired on
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 ...
(later S+A, IZTV and now Aliw 23) and
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 ...
, but Solar still airs the games daily on BTV. On March 2, 2011, after SEC acquired 34 percent of RPN's shares from the Philippine government as part of RPN/IBC privatization in 2011, Solar TV finally ventured into news at the end of 2011. On that same day, ETC moved to RPN while TalkTV launched over SBN. TalkTV was formed by then Solar-owned Solar Television Network. The first programs that aired on the channel were ''
Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' (also known simply as ''Dateline'') is a weekly American television news magazine reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on ...
'', '' Today Show'', ''Today's Talk'', ''
NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network ...
'', ''
Inside Edition ''Inside Edition'' is an American tabloid television program that is distributed in Broadcast syndication, first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine progr ...
'', ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...
'' and ''
Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...
''. On April 8, 2011, Solar Entertainment Corporation launched The Game Channel on Destiny Cable. It conducted its initial test broadcast from April 8, 2011, until September 29. It then began airing on BEAM Channel 31 on August 15, 2011, after BEAM and Solar signed an affiliation deal, which gave the latter the use of the former's facilities. Full broadcast started on September 30, 2011. In May 2011, ETC launched the slogan "Young and Loving It". It also saw new programs such as the reality series '' The Rachel Zoe Project'' and ''Bachelor Pad'', drama series '' Nikita'', and '' The Secret Circle'', US reality series '' The Glee Project'', comedy shows like '' New Girl'' and ''
2 Broke Girls ''2 Broke Girls'' (stylized as ''2 Broke Girl$'') is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 19, 2011, to April 17, 2017. The series was produced for Warner Bros. Television and created by Michael Patrick King and Whitn ...
'', and local lifestyle show '' Etcetera''. In 2012, ETC includes the reality show ''
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
'', local programs like '' Project Runway Philippines'' (season 3), drama series '' The Lying Game'', '' Emily Owens MD'' and '' Beauty & the Beast'', and local infotainment show '' ETC HQ''. In 2013, ETC aired comedy-drama series '' The Carrie Diaries'', sitcom series '' Super Fun Night'', supernatural drama series '' Ravenswood'', horror fantasy drama series '' The Originals'' and among others. Solar News, known for its back-to-basics and unbiased journalism, was formed in January 2012 during the coverage of the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona. Post-EDSA revolution
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 ...
newsmen Pal Marquez, Jing Magsaysay and Pia Hontiveros together with former ANC anchors Claire Celdran, Mai Rodriguez and Nancy Irlanda, known as the pillars of Solar News. Most of its news reporters are from
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 ...
and ANC, as well as from '' RPN NewsWatch''. On December 24, 2011, The Game Channel limited its broadcast on daytime sharing with a new programming service called CHASE which takes over the evening block. In February 2012, both services aired a promotion, announcing the split of CHASE and TGC to form themselves as separate channels. On February 15, 2012, The Game Channel finally shuts down on free TV and was relaunched as a cable channel; CHASE was also relaunched as a separate channel, now occupying the entire BEAM broadcast airtime on Free TV. On April 3, 2012, Solar transferred its former Salcedo Village facilities to their new facility in Worldwide Corporate Center in
Mandaluyong Mandaluyong ( ; ), officially the City of Mandaluyong (, ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly-urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popula ...
. It also featured a newly constructed set for Solar's then-news division, which would become fully functional three months later. On July 16, 2012, Solar News launched its first local newscast ''Solar Network News'', followed by ''Solar Nightly News'', an hourly Solar News Update, Solar Daybreak, and Solar Newsday. On September 7, 2012, Jack TV plugged their announcement through CHASE programs bearing the title "Another Jack TV is rising, coming soon on this channel" (BEAM Channel 31). This indicated that CHASE was being replaced; finally, on October 20, 2012, Jack City was then launched, marking October 19 as the end of CHASE's broadcasts.
Jack City Jack City (visually rendered in its logo all capital letters) was a Philippines, Filipino cable television, cable and Satellite television, satellite television network based in Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong. Formerly known as Chase (TV channel), ...
still does carry some of CHASE's programs however. In October 2012, it was found out that Solar News would replace the government-controlled RPN News, as a result of RPN's privatization, making Solar TV covering the entire network's airtime. More than 200 RPN employees, particularly those from the labor union and the NewsWatch staff, were retrenched and RPN News was closed down on October 29, effectively axing NewsWatch and NewsCap. Some retrenched government employees were relocated to either People's Television Network (PTV 4) or Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC 13) (both State-run broadcasters). On October 30, 2012, at 5:45 am, TalkTV was replaced as Solar News Channel on Channel 21 via SBN. The channel saw the relaunch of sports news program ''Solar Sports Desk'' (now known as '' CNN Philippines Sports Desk''), as well as the initial telecast of the Solar News and Current affairs block in November 2012 comprising five public affairs programs ('' Legal HD'', '' MedTalk'', '' News.PH'', '' Opposing Views'', ''Elections 2013'' and '' News Café''), ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
'', '' Top Gear'', '' Undercover Boss'' and the "Stories"
documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...
block. In January 2013, Solar News Cebuano (now known as
CNN Philippines Cebuano News ''CNN Philippines Cebuano News'' was the flagship Cebuano-language newscast of CNN Philippines. It aired weekdays at 1:00 p.m. before ''Kapampangan News''. It was the first regional newscast produced by CNN Philippines that premiered under i ...
) made history as the first national newscast delivered in a local dialect. In 2014, it also launched the Kapampangan national newscast, Kapampangan News and the public service program '' Serbisyo All Access'', which is shown in
Filipino language Filipino ( ; , ) is the national language of the Philippines, the main lingua franca, and one of the two official languages of the country, along with Philippine English, English. It is only a ''de facto'' and not a ''de jure'' standard langu ...
. Prior to the channel's transfer to RPN, SNC's flagship newscast (Solar Network News) simulcasted on RPN 9 (free TV only) from the SNC's launch. The news content for RPN (then affiliated with ETC), however, was switched to ''Solar Nightly News'' on January 14, 2013, onwards, to avoid backlash from free TV viewers, particularly Free TV viewers of ''
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
'' (in which the original plan was to replace the 6 pm via satellite broadcast to Free TV viewers by Network News, then airs the AI episodes at the 8 pm rerun in simulcast with cable and satellite viewers). Throughout the ''American Idol'' season, as the episodes are repeated at 8 PM on cable, Solar used the separate free TV-only feed, that contains reruns of selected ETC shows (but with advertisements replaced by ETC teasers and promotions) at 8 pm and ''Nightly News'' at 9 PM (with additional ETC programs, if necessary) to be used by RPN after each AI via satellite episode before RPN returns to the main ETC feed at 10 PM. This is to retain RPN's news content as it then has no newscast since the axing of NewsWatch. On January 3, 2013, SEC launched Blink Cinema (later renamed as My Movie Channel) with the full broadcast taking effect later that month. On April 14, 2013, TV5 Network Inc. and Solar Entertainment Corporation joined to broadcast the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship in Manila on Philippine television on August 1–11. Aside from TV5 and its sister channel ( AksyonTV), the games were also broadcast over Solar’s cable channel Basketball TV.


New management

On May 22, 2013, Solar Entertainment Corporation appointed two officers to manage its broadcasting and cable businesses: Manuel “Meckoy” Quiogue as chief commercial officer and Maria Theresa “Mitos” Borromeo as chief operating officer (COO). Quiogue, however, suddenly died on May 31, 2013, prior to assuming his position. On June 28, 2013,
Jack City Jack City (visually rendered in its logo all capital letters) was a Philippines, Filipino cable television, cable and Satellite television, satellite television network based in Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong. Formerly known as Chase (TV channel), ...
reduced its free TV broadcast to 18 hours a day on BEAM in compliance with 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 ...
's guidelines. However, it still continues to air as a cable channel 24 hours a day. On November 9, 2013, San Miguel Corporation's president and COO, Ramon Ang, explored the possibility of acquiring a controlling stake in Solar Entertainment Corporation in his personal capacity. However, no further announcements were made after this and Ang subsequently reached an agreement to acquire a minority stake.
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 ...
and its partnership moved to RPN 9 on December 1, 2013, while ETC returned to SBN Channel 21 a day before. (ETC was aired on SBN-21 from 2008 to 2011 then to RPN-9 from 2011 to 2013), as well as the launch of Solar's video-on-demand website Blink. As a result of the channel swap (on RPN's part), Network News and Nightly News became newscasts on its own right. In 2014, Solar Entertainment's Solar One Boracay happened during the Labor Day weekend to showcase its channels (ETC, 2nd Avenue, JackTV, JackCITY, My Movie Channel, The Game Channel, Solar Sports, BTV and NBA Premium TV) through various summer activities all over the island. On August 20, 2014, Solar Entertainment Corporation chief Wilson Tieng announced that he ceded his entire share on Solar TV Network, Inc., including its 34% majority share on RPN, to Antonio Cabangon-Chua, owner of business daily BusinessMirror and Aliw Broadcasting Corporation. Tieng sold Solar TV because they were losing money for operations after purchasing RPN. As a result of this ownership change, STVNI, Solar News Channel and RPN's majority stake were separated from the Tiengs; while ETC, 2nd Avenue, and Jack City reverted to Solar Entertainment's ownership. On September 1, 2014,
Jack City Jack City (visually rendered in its logo all capital letters) was a Philippines, Filipino cable television, cable and Satellite television, satellite television network based in Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong. Formerly known as Chase (TV channel), ...
ended its run on free TV due to the preparations being made by BEAM 31 for the incoming transition to ISDB-T digital television, though it continues to be broadcast as a separate cable channel. However, Jack City continued to broadcast on cable networks until March 21, 2015. After Jack City's closure to free TV, BEAM aired under blocktime programs from various local production and religious companies. On November 15, 2014, BEAM began being carried 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 ...
and Destiny Cable subscribers (per compliance with NTC's "must-carry" basis). This move resulted of Jack City in a change of its channel assignment for SkyCable and Destiny Cable subscribers, as well as several pay TV companies. In 2015, Solar Entertainment Corporation launched the #1stonPHTV brand of Solar channels for ETC, 2nd Avenue,
Jack TV Jack TV (capitalized as JACK TV) is an online web portal owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation and based in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. It was known as a Philippine pay television network mainly offering multi-genre programming from the U ...
, Jack City and My Movie Channel, with the brand implemented on January 6, 2015. Since then, all SEC channels broadcast first-run foreign television programs with the hashtag #1stonPHTV (First on Philippine TV), which was formerly known as "Match Airing" (ETC), "Playing 1st" (Jack TV), "The Newest in the US" and "FastCast" (2nd Avenue) and "See It First" (Jack City). The Game Channel, after almost three years on broadcasting, selling or ceased on February 28, 2015. The channel space was taken over by My Movie Channel on March 1. On March 22, 2015, Jack City was replaced by CT, thus becoming independent from its parent network. Upon launch, the channel broadened its programming focus by adding talk shows, sitcoms and men's lifestyle programs to its roster. On March 26, 2015, Solar Entertainment announced its broadcast of the "Fight Of The Century" between
Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. ( ; ; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician, businessman, and professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He previously serv ...
and
Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. (né Sinclair; born February 24, 1977) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed between 1996 and 2017. He list of undefeated boxing world champions, retired with an undefeated record a ...
on May 3, 2015. As stated in a press conference that day, it was broadcast on May 3 via delayed broadcast in three major television stations in the Philippines,
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 ...
, TV5, and
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), ...
(who waived its exclusive contract with Solar to allow its multi-network coverage, but maintained its exclusive live broadcast on its radio division), with
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 ...
as its main content provider for this historic event in boxing. On July 1, 2015, My Movie Channel ceased broadcasting. The closure or selling was announced by Solar a day before.


Rebranding of the four flagship networks

On October 16, 2016, Solar relaunched its flagship channels ETC, 2nd Avenue, Basketball TV and Solar Sports. The four networks unveiled their new logos, on-air graphics and station IDs, which took effect on that day. CT, Jack TV, Shop TV and NBA Premium TV on the other hand remains unchanged. Also that day, Solar launched its corporate campaign slogan ''...There's More To Come'', which evolved in 2017 as ''We go for More''. In 2017, Solar Entertainment became the official Philippine broadcaster of the 65th edition of the
Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...
in Manila. This led to another deal with
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 ...
, TV5 and GMA (the second time that such deal happened between Solar and the Big 3 networks). According to some sources, a directive from President Duterte ordered that the major networks must cover the prestige pageant as it happens live in the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. Alongside the Big Three, Solar Entertainment channels ETC, 2nd Avenue,
Jack TV Jack TV (capitalized as JACK TV) is an online web portal owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation and based in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. It was known as a Philippine pay television network mainly offering multi-genre programming from the U ...
and CT aired the pageant simultaneously. It was also in the same year when Solar Entertainment forged a joint venture with the Bermuda-based communications satellite company
Asia Broadcast Satellite ABS is a global satellite operator and has offices in United Arab Emirates, Asia and United States. Operating 5 Communications satellite, communication satellites, the satellite fleet currently covers 93% of the world's population including the ...
to launch the first nationwide free-to-air direct-to-home satellite television services using the C-band, which is set to launch on the 3rd quarter of the year.


Carriage disputes


Sky Cable


2008

Solar's channels have ceased airing 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 ...
, the Philippines' largest cable television provider. An insider claims that these troubles with Sky Cable started when boxer
Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. ( ; ; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician, businessman, and professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He previously serv ...
, whose fights Solar Entertainment has the exclusive right to air and distribute to, moved from
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 ...
, the flagship television network 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 the primary owner of
Sky Cable Corporation Sky Cable Corporation, doing business as Sky, is a Telecommunications in the Philippines, Filipino telecommunications company based in Diliman, Quezon City. A subsidiary of the media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation, the company offers broadba ...
, to rival
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), ...
. Another insider claims that SkyCable wanted to remove ETC and
Jack TV Jack TV (capitalized as JACK TV) is an online web portal owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation and based in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. It was known as a Philippine pay television network mainly offering multi-genre programming from the U ...
to make room for their own channels,
Velvet Velvet is a type of woven fabric with a dense, even pile (textile), pile that gives it a distinctive soft feel. Historically, velvet was typically made from silk. Modern velvet can be made from silk, linen, cotton, wool, synthetic fibers, silk ...
(now defunct) and Maxxx (now defunct). Sky Cable wanted to retain C/S, 2nd Avenue,
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 ...
and Basketball TV, but Solar made a decision that they would only renew their contract if Sky Cable carried all six channels. Thus, Solar decided to pull out all their channels rather than remove ETC and Jack TV. However, Solar has signed a deal with local terrestrial channels ABC, RPN, SBN and RJTV for block-time programming. C/S, ETC and 2nd Avenue programming are seen on terrestrial TV channels RPN, SBN and RJTV, respectively, while
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
and WWE programming were seen on TV5, now moved to RPN (WWE programming are currently being broadcast thru TV5, while its terrestrial NBA coverage were moved to ABS-CBN Sports under Solar). Most of its channels were later returned to Sky Cable, while Jack TV would eventually return to its lineup on October 1, 2010, replacing Maxxx. Meanwhile, Pacquiao's boxing promotion, Top Rank, signed a non-guaranteed contract with ABS-CBN Sports to exclusively air fights promoted by Top Rank, with the exception of Pacquiao fights which are still signed exclusively through Solar Entertainment.


2017–2019

On April 10, 2017, 3 days before the 2017 NBA playoffs was scheduled to begin (and coincided with the final day of the 2016–17 NBA regular season), Basketball TV, NBA Premium TV, Solar Sports, Jack TV and CT (now defunct) were removed by Solar from Sky Cable (including Sky Direct, Destiny Cable & Sky On Demand thru video on demand) without any prior announcement from Solar. Initially, both Basketball TV and NBA Premium TV were replaced by airing a simulcast of ABS-CBN Sports and Action with a ticker announcing the unavailability of the channels, with Solar Sports, Jack TV and CT (now defunct) also doing the latter albeit with a black screen. Later, almost all of the pulled-out Solar channels were replaced by an imaging card, initially detailing the unavailability of the channels and then later, announcing that they will discuss with Solar on returning the aforementioned channels; while for BTV and NBA Premium TV, a schedule of the NBA games that will air on
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 ...
, ABS-CBN Sports and Action and
Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...
within the week and a loop of an NBA promo. Solar did not comment on the situation for the removal of the channels, but sources and some netizens pointed out a carriage dispute between the two parties for not paying an undisclosed price to continue broadcasting these channels, which was later proven true by an article published by the ''
Philippine Daily Inquirer The ''Philippine Daily Inquirer'' (''PDI''), or simply the ''Inquirer'', is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines. Founded in 1985, it is often regarded as the Philippines' newspaper of record. The newspaper is the most awarded broad ...
''. As the dispute continued, some media enthusiasts and netizens raised concerns of whether these Solar channels will return to Sky and/or Destiny. Others pointed that inaction between the two parties could affect the next long-term local broadcast franchise with the NBA, slated to begin at the Association's 2019-2020 regular season. (Solar and Sky's parent, ABS-CBN, would share the airing of NBA games on pay and terrestrial television. Rumours circulated that both networks may bid separately, if they could not reach renewal, and use their respective infrastructure to broadcast adequate NBA coverage. Otherwise, rival networks with a functioning sports department like The 5 Network may also seek their own bidding to take over the 2019 contract from both Solar and ABS-CBN.) Netizens and viewers were dismayed and frustrated by the removal of the said channels by Sky Cable, most notably for BTV and NBA Premium due to the importance of the Playoffs. Some netizens were angered by the removal of the said channels and asked Sky Cable to return the channels before the scheduled Playoffs would begin, however Sky Cable would respond to angered netizens on social media that they are "fixing the situation with Solar". Other netizens and viewers would otherwise switch providers from Sky Cable to other cable companies that carried these channels or to other satellite providers like Cignal. On October 16, 2018, Basketball TV and NBA Premium TV returned to Sky Cable, Sky Direct, & Sky On Demand after an 18 month absence; however it was removed on October 28, 2018, for unknown reasons. The carriage dispute officially ended on January 1, 2019, when all Solar channels: Basketball TV, NBA Premium TV, Solar Sports, and Jack TV were restored on Sky (including Sky On Demand & Sky Direct). Ironically, MTVph, which is a Solar channel, ended its operations on the same day at that time Sky resumed the affected Solar channels. As of 2019, Sky's sister company Destiny Cable still did not carry all the aforementioned Solar channels despite its aforementioned return on Sky Cable. During the aforementioned period, Shop TV, ETC and 2nd Avenue (now defunct) were kept on-the-air, due to the "must-carry" rules by the NTC. MTVph was also kept on the air (until it was discontinued on January 1, 2019) since it was carried in a separate programming agreement outside of the affected channels despite its ownership.


Dream Satellite TV

Dream Satellite TV ceased carrying three Solar Channels, namely
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 ...
, ETC (which was at that time a cable channel prior to its move to free TV and cable) and 2nd Avenue (now defunct) (except C/S 9) effective February 1, 2009. Dream's carriage contract with Solar Entertainment, which expired on December 31, 2008, was not renewed by Dream, citing financial constraints as its main reason. The three Solar channels were replaced by A&E's The History Channel, Biography Channel and Crime and Investigation Channel. As of 2017, ETC and 2nd Avenue remained on its lineup due to the "must-carry" rules of the NTC. Unfortunately, Dream Satellite ended its operations on December 31, 2017, due to bankruptcy and its competition with other satellite providers.


Divisions and subsidiaries

* ETC Productions * Blink * Solar Pictures * Domestic Satellite Philippines, Inc. (DOMSAT) * Southern Broadcasting Network (acquired in 2010 from Lucio Co's Gem Communications Holdings Corporation) * Solar Digital Media Holdings (operator of Solar's digital television service Easy TV Home)


Filmography of Solar Pictures


Notable local films released or distributed by Solar Pictures

* ''Syota ng Bayan'' (2001) * '' Batas Militar'' (2006) * '' Pacquiao: The Movie'' (2006) - with Star Cinema * ''Anak Ng Kumander'' (2007) * '' Ang Tanging Pamilya'' (2009) - with Star Cinema * '' Kimmy Dora: Kambal sa Kiyeme'' (2009) - with Star Cinema * ''
Wapakman ''Wapakman'' is a Philippine superhero film directed by Topel Lee and starring eight-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao. It was released on December 25, 2009, as an entry to the 2009 Metro Manila Film Festival. Cast *Manny Pacquiao a ...
'' (2009) * ''Flames of Love'' (2012) * ''Sapi'' (2013) * ''Mumbai Love'' (2014) * '' Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo'' (2014) * '' Kid Kulafu'' (2015) - with Star Cinema * '' Ma' Rosa'' (2016) * ''Mulat'' (2016) * ''Apocalypse Child'' (2016) * ''
Ang Larawan ''Ang Larawan'', internationally released as ''The Portrait'', is a 2017 Philippine musical film directed by Loy Arcenas. Based on the 1997 stage play, ''Larawan'' which in turn was based on the 1950 literary play ''A Portrait of the Artist as F ...
'' (2017, 43rd Metro Manila Film Festival's Best Picture) * '' Siargao'' (2017, 43rd Metro Manila Film Festival's 2nd Best Picture) * '' Citizen Jake'' (2018) * '' Mary, Marry Me'' (2018) * '' Rainbow's Sunset'' (2018) * ''
GomBurZa Gomburza, alternatively stylized as GOMBURZA or GomBurZa ("Gom" for Gómes, "Bur" for Burgos, and "Za" for Zamora), refers to three Filipino Catholic priests, Mariano Gómes, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, who were executed by a garrot ...
'' (2023, 49th Metro Manila Film Festival's 2nd Best Picture) - with Jesuit Communications, MQuest Ventures/ Cignal Entertainment, and CMB Film Services


Broadcast assets


Free-to-air and Pay TV channels

* '' Shop TV'' (2005–present, digital platform only) * '' Solar Flix'' ( SBN: 2022–present) * ''
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 ...
'' (1994–present, digital platform only, formerly Solar Entertainment Channel)


Former subsidiary, divisions and broadcast assets

* ''
Nine Media Corporation Nine Media Corporation (NMC, formerly known as Solar Television Network, Inc. or STVNI) is a Media in the Philippines, Philippine-based media company. Formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of Solar Entertainment Corporation (SEC), a multimedia t ...
'' (formerly, Solar Television Network, Inc.; sold to ALC Group of Companies) ** ''
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 ...
'' (2012–2014) ** ''
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 ...
'' (34%) * ''
Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network based in Quezon City. It is a state broadcaster owned by the Government Communications Group under the Presidential Communications Of ...
'' (For ''
NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
'', '' Shop TV'' & '' Jai-Alai Games'') * '' Rajah Broadcasting Network''


Defunct cable, terrestrial channels and former digital TV distribution

* ''2nd Avenue'' (Cable TV: 2005–2018, RJTV 29: 2008–2018, formerly ETC 2nd Avenue) * '' 9TV'' (34%)1 * '' Aniplus Asia'' (2018–2019) * '' BTV'' (2006–2019) * ''Boo'' (2018–2019) * ''Cinemundo Pinoy'' * '' C/S Origin'' (2008–2009) * '' C/S 9'' (Cable TV: 2005–2007, RPN 9: 2008–2009) * ''CT'' (2015–2017) * '' Chase'' ( BEAM TV 31: 2011–2012) * '' Hallmark Channel/Diva Universal Philippines'' (2009–2013)2 * '' eGG Network'' (2020–2022, channel distribution only) * '' ETC'' (Cable TV: 2004–2022, SBN 21: 2008–2011, 2013–2022, RPN 9: 2011–2013) * '' Front Row Channel'' (2020–2024, joint venture with Jungo TV) * '' Gone Viral TV'' (2018–2019) * ''
Jack City Jack City (visually rendered in its logo all capital letters) was a Philippines, Filipino cable television, cable and Satellite television, satellite television network based in Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong. Formerly known as Chase (TV channel), ...
'' ( BEAM TV 31: 2012–2014, Cable TV: 2014–2015) * ''
Jack TV Jack TV (capitalized as JACK TV) is an online web portal owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation and based in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. It was known as a Philippine pay television network mainly offering multi-genre programming from the U ...
'' (2005–2020, now on web portal) * ''Jungo TV Pinoy'' * '' K-Plus'' (2018–2019) * '' Living Asia Channel'' (2019) * ''
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
'' (2018–2019) * '' MTVph'' (2017–2018)3 * '' Blink Cinema/My Movie Channel'' (2013–2015) * ''
NBA League Pass NBA League Pass is the National Basketball Association's direct-to-consumer subscription-based product that provides live and on-demand NBA games. It is available to those in the United States and also as an international package for all other co ...
'' * '' NBA Premium TV'' (2010–2019) * ''
Outdoor Channel Outdoor Channel is an American pay television, pay television channel focused on the outdoors, offering programming that includes hunting, fishing, western lifestyle, off-road motorsports and adventure. It was launched on April Fool's Day (April ...
'' (2018–2019) * ''
Playboy TV Playboy TV (originally The Playboy Channel) is a pay television channel based in the United States. History The adult-oriented, commercial-free premium channel Bravo! launched in the summer of 1979. Bravo! aired two PG or R-rated B movies t ...
'' (2001–2005) * ''Scream Flix'' (2022–2024) * '' Solar All Access'' (2002–2016, formerly Solar Sports PPV) * ''
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). ...
'' (2020–2024) * ''
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 ...
'' (34%)4 * ''Sports Plus'' (2004–2006) * ''
Solar TV Solar TV (stylized as SOLARtv) was the flagship television network of Solar Entertainment Corporation's television arm subsidiary Solar TV Network, Solar TV Network, Inc., which is the replacement of C/S 9. This was the revival of the former So ...
'' ( RPN 9: 2009–2011) * '' Solar USA'' (2001–2005, merged to
Jack TV Jack TV (capitalized as JACK TV) is an online web portal owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation and based in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. It was known as a Philippine pay television network mainly offering multi-genre programming from the U ...
) * '' Talk TV'' ( SBN 21: 2011–2012) * '' Telenovela Channel'' (2019) * '' TGC'' ( BEAM TV 31: 2011–2012, Cable TV: 2011, 2012–2015) * ''Toro TV'' * ''SciFi/Universal Channel Philippines'' (2009–2012)2 * '' Zee Sine'' (2018–2019) * '' ZooMoo'' (2018–2019)


See also

*
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). ...


References


External links

*
Media Ownership Monitor Philippines – Media Companies: A Duopoly Rules
by VERA Files and
Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...
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