ABS-CBN is not dead. It has migrated to digital media, much to the chagrin of the politicians who have grievance against the oldest television network in the Philippines.
On July 31, ABS-CBN Corp. launched Kapamilya Online Live in Facebook and YouTube. Sans a broadcast franchise, ABS-CBN continues to operate, having a huge collection of films, features and television shows to fill the gap for quality, if not entertaining materials for the Filipino audience, both domestic and overseas.
You can only admire the foresight of the Lopezes, having established its digital media and internet division in 1999. That is just two years from the founding of Netflix Inc. in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in California. Acknowledged as the leading subscription-based streaming service, Netflix had over 193 million paid subscriptions worldwide as of April 2020. ABS-CBN, on the other hand, has more than 50 million followers combined in Facebook and Youtube.
There are two options for ABS-CBN in the digital platform, either to make this free or seek subscription fee. For now, the company is opting for the former, stating that, “By livestreaming our shows on our Facebook and YouTube accounts for free without any subscription fees, we hope to be able to reach more Filipinos and stay true to our promise to continue to serve Filipinos in whatever way we can.” If that is the case, the challenge for the company is to convince advertisers that there are as many viewers as there were when it operated in free TV broadcast.
When Netflix adopted its subscription streaming platform, there were naysayers predicting the company to close shop early on, as it had limited materials. But the company bet on original materials beginning with “House of Cards” in 2013. It has not stopped since then, attracting some of the best directors (such as Martin Scorsese, Alfonso Cuaron and Spike Lee) and the biggest stars (including Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock). It has packed its features with as much material in as many genres possible.
ABS-CBN can definitely succeed in the streaming platform with more than enough content to satisfy the Filipino audience. What distinguishes ABS-CBN from Netflix is that it has news programs on Facebook and on YouTube and that is another advantage it has against prospective competitors.
As the saying goes, “The show must go on!” And that is what ABS-CBN is doing.