iWant, formerly known as iWanTV! and iWant TV, is a Philippine over-the-top content platform and production companyowned and operated by ABS-CBN. It allows users who registered to the service to watch live video streaming or on-demand contents of ABS-CBN on any screen and device. iWant users can watch the live video streamings of Kapamilya Channel, ANC, TeleRadyo, O Shopping, and Pinoy Big Brother, as well as on-demand contents from ABS-CBN, ANC, ABS-CBN Regional Channel, ABS-CBN Sports, KBO, Pinoy Big Brother, selected local films and TV series, specials, and other exclusive and premium contents including exclusive behind-the-scenes video clips, interviews, documentaries, bloopers, and Pinoy Big Brother 360° videos. The original name iWanTV! is a portmanteau of either the sentence I want TV!, or the Tagalog word iwan and TV, pertaining to the service helping viewers being able to catch up show episodes they had left behind. Users can access the contents of iWant through either the website interface or through the iWant app available in iOS, Android, Windows and LG Smart TV.
History
From its launch until 2015, iWant TV had foreign contents from many pan-regional television channels such as NatGeo, the Food Network, E!, CNN, and Cartoon Network. These particular contents are now diverted into a new service called Sky On Demand which is exclusive to Sky subscribers. On August 31, 2015, iWant TV, together with StarFlix and Wattpad, released Must Date the Playboy, starring Kim Chiu, Xian Lim and directed by Mae Cruz Alviar, the first movie to be released exclusively through iWant TV and ABS-CBN Mobile service. On September 26, 2016, a partnership with PLDT and its subsidiary Smart Communications was announced during a signing ceremony attended by Eugenio Lopez III, Carlo Katigbak, Manny Pangilinan and other ABS-CBN, PLDT and Smart executives. The partnership will enable PLDT and Smart customers to access the iWant TV website and mobile apps. In 2018, iWant TV began streaming Filipino-dubbed Japanese animé programs that aired on ABS-CBN's main channel, starting with the hit animé movie Your Name. On November 16, 2018, the service officially relaunched as iWant, which now emphasizes on adding original content similar to Netflix and Iflix, featuring Spirits: Reawaken, Quezon's Game, and Alamat ng Ano. Glorious and MA were the first two iWant original movies. In May 2019, the service adds the 2005 version of the Japanese animé series Doraemon, becoming the second animé title to be streamed on iWant. A television special called iWant Originals premiered on ABS-CBN's Yes Weekend! Sunday evening block on August 11, 2019, replacing the 14-year-old comedy gag show Goin' Bulilit. Some scenes were edited for the TV version due to strict guidelines of the MTRCB. On August 18, Call Me Tita was the first original series to premiere simultaneously on both iWant and ABS-CBN. iWant Originals was cancelled on September 22, 2019 to give way for the Kapamilya Super Blockbusters movie block. On March 16, 2020, iWant Originals returned on ABS-CBN's Primetime Bida as part of the special TV programming due to the Enhanced community quarantine in Luzon caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. iWant Originals showcased some of their fresh, most-watched programs. In the list are; Julia Barretto's mystery-thriller I Am U, making it the lead miniseries, followed by Jodi Sta. Maria's My Single Lady and Joseph Marco's Uncoupling. Various iWant Originals series airs weekdays on The Filipino Channel owned and operated by ABS-CBN, a global subscription television network. Each series will be replaced by another iWant Originals series. Beginning with “Past, Present, Perfect?” which airs on May 4,2020; “Taiwan That You Love” on May 12,2020; “My Single Lady” on May 20, 2020; “Uncoupling” on May 28,2020; “The End:Balikbayan” on June 5,2020; “Spirits: Reawaken” on June 8,2020; "The End:Accidental Friend" on June 26,2020; "Bagman" on June 29,2020; "Touchscreen:It's A Match"; "Bagman:New Season"; "The End:Third Wheel" on July 30,2020 as part of the special TV programming due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the weekends, TNT Boys: Journey to the World Stage, a documentary series airing on June 6, 2020. Also, another documentary series "Unlisted," airing July 2020. iWant also streamed on March 22, 2020 together with ABS-CBN, S+A, ANC, Jeepney TV, DZMM Radyo Patrol 630, DZMM Teleradyo, Metro Channel, Asianovela Channel, and TFC. The concert was aimed to help the people who were in need because of the community quarantine in Luzon and the COVID-19 pandemic.
