TV5, Salim TV firm may work together

TV5, Salim TV firm may work together
By Lenie Lectura, Business Mirror
Posted at 05/04/2010 1:42 AM | Updated as of 05/04/2010 1:45 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Collaborative works by the two television companies controlled by conglomerate First Pacific may soon be in the offing.

This as Anthoni Salim, chairman of First Pacific, is said to be interested in a proposal made by Manuel V. Pangilinan, the Hong Kong conglomerate’s managing director and chief executive officer, to put their respective television networks together.

In an interview, Pangilinan, who is the chairman of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), said they are in discussion over the possibility that Indosiar, a publicly listed national television station in Indonesia majority owned by Salim and TV5, could work something out like an exchange of the networks’ talents between the Philippines and Indonesia. After all, Pangilinan said, there would be synergies between the two TV outfits.

“We’re talking. Well, yes,” said Pangilinan when asked if Salim was interested, “because it's part of the group.”

Indosiar’s parent company, PT Indosiar Karya Media Tbk, is a member of the Salim Group. PLDT, meanwhile, is owned by First Pacific and Japan’s NTT Communications and NTT DoCoMo. TV5 is owned and operated by MediaQuest Holdings Inc., the media holding company of PLDT Retirement Fund.

The talks are “very preliminary,” Pangilinan pointed out.

“I have talked to [Salim]. I told him that we can just put the two together so we can share each others’ talents. Our journalists are the best in the region. It’s very easy to learn Bahasa Indonesia,” added the telco executive.

The partnership between their respective TV networks may involve the purchase of a stake by MediaQuest in Indosiar, Pangilinan earlier said. “We have been talking about it and I told him that we are interested to help you. Maybe put the two stations together or MediaQuest [can] invest [in Indonesia].”

He also said the tie-up will eventually lead to more jobs for Filipinos,” Pangilinan added.

MediaQuest holds a 100% stake in TV5, the television network of former PLDT chairman Antonio “TonyBoy” Cojuangco, and Primedia Inc., the broadcasting firm’s block airtimer. Both acquisitions cost MediaQuest less than P5 billion.

MediaQuest’s investments in TV5 and Primedia, its fifth and sixth media ventures, are in line with its strategy to develop media, content and production resources to complement its other media assets and platforms such as Cignal, a direct-to-home satellite service launched in July last year. By investing in both TV5 and Primedia, MediaQuest expects to further enhance TV5’s programming, ratings and sales as well as improve the broadcast network’s coverage and signal strength throughout the country.

MediaQuest will continue to invest in expanding TV5 to be able to achieve its target of being the number one leading broadcasting network in the country in the next three years. The capital expenditure (capex) budget for broadcast transmission, network and operations—including new studios and offices—for the year will be about P7 billion. Another P5 billion for capex will be allotted next year.

MediaQuest earlier said TV5 has significantly increased its viewership ratings and has established its position as a strong No. 3 in the Philippine television industry. This is evidenced by the rise of its shows, “Talentadong Pilipino” and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” as the top-rating programs for primetime weekends.

Mediaquest is also looking at acquiring radio stations to complement TV5’s broadcasting business, as well as developing the network’s international business.

credit to: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/05/03/10/tv5-salim-tv-firm-may-work-together and the logo credit to: TV5 and Indosiar