Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation
Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation is a Philippine-based media company and VHF television network of the Government Communications Group under the Presidential Communications Operations Office. IBC TV, along with sister media companies People's Television Network and Philippine Broadcasting Service, forms the media arm of the PCOO. Its studios, offices and broadcast facilities are located at the IBC TV Compound, Lot 3-B, Capitol Hills Drive cor. Zuzuarregui Street, Barangay Matandang Balara, Diliman, Quezon City, while its analog transmitter is located at Roosevelt Avenue, San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City near Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines sales office.
History
The beginnings
Inter-Island Broadcasting Corporation was established in October 1959 when DZTV Channel 13 in Manila went its test broadcast. On March 1, 1960 at 6:30pm, DZTV-TV 13 was finally launched and it became as the third television station in the country after the monopoly of DZAQ-TV of ABS and DZXL-TV of CBN owned by the Lopez family's Bolinao Electronics Corporation. Its original location was at the corner of P. Guevara St. in San Juan City from 1960 to 1978. American businessman Dick Baldwin was the station's first owner and programming consisted of mostly foreign programs from American television network CBS and a few local shows. Andrés Soriano, Sr. of San Miguel Corporation, would acquire the network in 1962. Soriano was also a majority owner of the Radio Mindanao Network and The Philippine Herald newspaper. Soriano's combined media interests formed the first tri-media organization in the Philippines. As the television arm of the RMN, it partnered with the RMN radio stations for coverages of the general elections of 1969 and 1971. The station had relay transmitters to bring its programs to viewers in Cebu and Davao, with plans to open more in other cities.In between 1970 and 1972, IBC launched its color transmission system named "Vinta Color" named after the vintas from Zamboanga, becoming the third network in the Philippines to convert to all-color broadcasts, after ABS-CBN and KBS. In September 1972, then-President Ferdinand Marcos declared a martial law at the entire country, resulting IBC and other television networks were forced to shutdown by the government. However a few months later, IBC allowed by the government to return on the air.
ABS-CBN veteran Ben Aniceto became the station manager of DZTV Channel 13 from 1973 to 1976.
Relaunch and the glory years
On February 1, 1975, during the martial law era and the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, due to a constitutional limitation prohibiting the ownership of media by non-Filipinos or corporations not 100% Filipino owned, the network was acquired by a Marcos crony named Roberto Benedicto and was renamed Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation. IBC would launch an FM station DWKB-FM the same year. Marking the relaunch, the network debuted its vinta logo. In 1976, IBC metamorphosed into one of the country's most viewed TV network with its primetime lineup and full length local and foreign films aired on this channel. This catapulted IBC in the number one slot among the four rival networks and also emphasized itself as the birthplace of the golden age of Philippine television, with many top series headlined by hit stars on radio, TV and film. Among its top-rated shows were Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film series of Tarzan that starred Johnny Weissmuller, showbiz talk shows See-True and Seeing Stars hosted by Inday Badiday and Joe Quirino respectively, and comedy shows Iskul Bukol, Chicks to Chicks, and .Through the blood and sweat of its employees and the income generated from its programs, the network built and finally moved to its present home at the modern Broadcast City, together with its sister networks RPN and BBC in July 1978. The complex was a 55,000 square metre tract located at Capitol Hills, Diliman, Quezon City. At the same time, IBC moved its transmitter to San Francisco Del Monte, Quezon City to replace the old transmitter in San Juan. By 1985, however, IBC would become second to RPN, albeit with many great local and foreign programs that were popular among viewers.
Post-EDSA Revolution, sequestration, E13, and ''Pusong Pinoy, Pusong Trese''
After the People Power Revolution which ousted the dictatorial president Ferdinand Marcos and install Corazon Aquino as the new president of the Philippines, IBC, with 20 television stations that time, together with RPN and BBC was sequestered by the Presidential Commission on Good Government for allegedly being part of the crony capitalism under the Marcos regime. A board of administrators was created to run the station.When it became a state channel a new logo debuted featuring IBC and 13 on separate circles, a revamp of an earlier logo which debuted in 1978-79. The new slogan "Basta Pinoy sa Trese" was in a circle to commemorate the People Power Revolution.
President Corazon Aquino turned over IBC and RPN to the Government Communications Group and awarded BBC's Channel 2 frequency through an executive order to ABS-CBN. When BBC closed down, both IBC and RPN absorbed majority of its displaced employees, thus doubled the operating expenses of the network. Cost of programs went up three-fold. Line-produced shows and co-production ventures with some big film companies like Viva, Regal, and Seiko were favored, aside from their station-produced programs.
In 1989, the IBC brand returned after two years. The network adopted a new image at the same year, "Pusong Pinoy, Pusong Trese", to recapture the glory days it once had. But because of the sequestration, periodic change of management and the internal problems, the network started to lose the support from its advertisers.
Islands TV-13
Islands Broadcast Corporation under Mr. Alfonso Denoga and Mr. Gil Balaguer took over the management and the marketing of IBC 13 in October 1990, at the time when IBC 13 was dead last in the ratings. The new logo features a three triangles and a slogan, "The Newest Network" adorn on the logo. It was in the later part of its operations that ratings and income suffered due to mismanagement which caused labor unrest. In March 1993, the Makati City RTC issued the court order stopping Islands Broadcast Corporation as the marketing and sales agent of IBC 13 due to unpaid financial obligations to the network as the contract of Islands expired on February 28, 1993.Return of operations, ''Pinoy ang Dating'' and Vintage Television
In October 1992, Islands TV-13 was rebranded back to IBC and became a 100% government-owned station by virtue of a compromise agreement between PCGG and Roberto Benedicto. The management and marketing were returned to IBC's board of directors. The programming remained at a standstill in preparation for the launching of a new image of the station.It was on May 27, 1994 when IBC launched its new slogan "Pinoy ang Dating" with a Filipino-like visually enticing music video featuring Grace Nono, an innovation in terms of station identification. Despite limited resources, programming improved but the battle for audience share continued. Advertisers became more responsive to marketing efforts. The following year, IBC began to broadcast its programs nationwide. Soon after, IBC landed 4th place in primetime ratings.
In 1996, Vintage Enterprises transferred to IBC as part of the launching of Vintage Television, a primetime block that aired on IBC with PBA, Blow by Blow and other Vintage Sports-produced programs after moving from another government-owned station, People's Television Network. The block helped IBC-13 land third in the primetime ratings, mainly credited to the airing of the PBA games.< Later in the year 2000, Viva Entertainment's subsidiary Viva Television acquired Vintage Enterprises from the Velez family and changed its name to Viva TV, a primetime sports and entertainment block on IBC which continued until 2002. Rehabilitation of the transmitter and other technical facilities where initiated in the network's flagship and provincial stations.
On September 2, 2000, Republic Act No. 8954 renewed IBC its congressional franchise for another 25 years. Under Act No. 3846 or the Radio Control Law signed in 1931 during the American insular government-era, a broadcast company can operate without franchise from the Philippine congress, an authority that limits and regulates operations of telecommunications and broadcast media such as televisions and radios. In the same year, the network scored a major victory with the top-rated Philippine franchise of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
On January 1, 2002, IBC launched its new logo and its new slogan "New Face, New Attitude" with a new station ID.
However, in early 2003, Viva TV on IBC was ended after Viva decided not to renew a blocktime agreement with IBC due to high blocktime costs and low ratings. Despite this, the grand finals of Star for a Night which saw Sarah Geronimo as its winner, its last Viva TV-produced program was aired on IBC on March 1, 2003. At the same time, IBC also installed a new Harris 60-kilowatt transmitter for clearer TV reception, and utilized the services of the APSTAR 1 Satellite for a broader international reach.
On December 12, 2003, IBC launched again its new logo and its new slogan "Ang Bagong Pilipino" with a freestyle station ID.
In late 2007, IBC inked a deal with the Makisig Network, led by Hermie Esguerra, as a primetime block-timer of IBC. However, Makisig Network's programs were not aired due to questions on the propriety of the terms and conditions of the agreement. Said agreement expired in October 2008.
Abandonment and privatization
After four decades of serving the network's dominance and entertainment programing, IBC-13's studios and facilities are abandoned due to negligence and their network's mismanagement. Their studio equipment, cameras, lighting and props are useless, dilapidated and very old. Cash and budgets were cut short and they cannot afford to utilize radio-TV operations. Their programming and airtime were lost after suffering from a network war in the late 1980s and the 1990s and many employees lost their jobs. The network suffered more than 800 million pesos worth of backwages to its employees, some of them are old-timers or those who worked in the network since the 1980s.At present, IBC 13 has 200 regular employees as of 2016, while 29 of those are talents or in a "contractual basis", particularly from the news and public affairs and production.
The management tried to revive the ill-fated network but it failed thereafter over a span of 30 years and five Philippine presidents.
There were many plans to sell and privatize IBC and RPN. TV network ABS-CBN was planning to buy the network's blocktime to address signal problems and mimic the former's programs. However, ABS-CBN could not join the privatization bid due to ownership regulations.
In 2011, IBC has entered into a joint venture agreement with Prime Realty, an affiliate of R-II Builders Group of Reghis Romero Jr. The agreement called for the development of 3.5 hectares of Broadcast City. With this joint venture agreement with a private business enterprise, the Aquino administration expressed its desire to privatize both RPN and IBC and retain the People's Television as a sole-mandated government TV network. It was also announced that conglomerate San Miguel Corporation will join the government-sponsored bidding for the privatization of RPN and IBC.
AKTV, privatization bids and property issues
IBC signed a blocktime agreement with TV5's sports division Sports5 to air live sports coverage via its sports programming block AKTV. It was launched last June 5, 2011, with the AKTV Run held outside SM Mall of Asia in Bay City, Pasay. At the same day, IBC launched a new logo and slogan "Where the Action Is" to reflect the change.In April 11, 2013, MediaQuest chairman Manny Pangilinan announced that AKTV will no longer be renew the blocktime agreement in May due to high costs and poor ratings, and there has been doubts about the future of the network.
In 2012, in pursuant to AO No. 26, IBC handed over its archives to Film Development Council of the Philippines for its restoration.
IBC recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the Asian Television Content Corporation under Engr. Reynaldo Sanchez as the major blocktimer of the station. ATC @ IBC primetime block with newest programs premiered last June 2, 2014. However, on August 31, 2014, programs under the ATC @ IBC 13 block suddenly no longer aired on the network, possibly due to poor ratings and lack of advertisers' support.
PCOO Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said in a Senate budget hearing for the PCOO last September 3, 2014 that the network will be fully privatized before President Aquino stepping down in the office in 2016 and keeping PTV-4 as the sole government TV network. Process of the privatization will be managed by the Governance Commission for Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations through the Development Bank of the Philippines. Business tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan is one of the possible bidders for the privatization in which TV5, despite expiration of blocktime agreement in 2013, is still using IBC's Broadcast City facilities for sports events, including its 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup coverage. However, MediaQuest also could not join the privatization bid due to ownership rules and regulations that MediaQuest owns TV5 and AksyonTV.
On June 2, 2015, the Philippine Crusader for Justice, led by Joe Villanueva, filed a petition to the Supreme Court of the Philippines to nullify the joint venture agreement between IBC and Primestate/R-II Builders for the development of 3.5 hectares of Broadcast City, after the Office of the Ombudsman found the contract to be disadvantageous to the government. The Ombudsman filed a graft case in 2013 against former IBC executives and Primestate.
In January 2016, President Benigno Aquino III, through the Governance Commission for Government-owned and -controlled corporation appoved the planned privatization of IBC. The privatization will be undergo public bidding with an estimated floor price of 10 billion pesos. The proceeds of the bidding will be for the increase of state-owned PTV-4's capital to upgrade and modernize their broadcast capabilities. The Development Bank of the Philippines will be the financial adviser for the privatization. Incoming PCOO secretary Martin Andanar has already forwarded the privatization plan to President Rodrigo Duterte's executive secretary Salvador Medialdea. Andanar will also coordinate with the GCG before the start of the bidding.
The privatization process of IBC was commenced in October 2016. As of December 2016, five groups have already showed their interest to join the bidding process. These are Ramon S. Ang of San Miguel Corporation and the groups of former IBC president Eric Canoy and former Ilocos Sur governor Chavit Singson, energy tycoon and Udenna Corporation chairman Dennis Uy and William Lima, a businessman from Davao.
In March 2017, IBC operated on a low powered signal but it continues its broadcast on cable and satellite providers. In October 2017, IBC began its test broadcast on digital terrestrial television.
Relaunch and recent developments
In late 2018, IBC began to revitalize its infrastructure and its programming after DOT Undersecretary of Tourism Advocacy and Public Affairs Kat de Castro appointed as president and chief executive officer of the network. By December of the same year, the network transferred its studios and offices to a new building at Capitol Hills Drive corner Zuzuarregui Street, Barangay Matandang Balara, Quezon City to give way for the redevolopment of the Broadcast City property into the Larossa Condominium project of Primehomes Real Estate Development Inc. IBC also upgraded its Roosevelt Avenue analog transmitter for the Mega Manila area.On February 11, 2019, IBC announced a major revamp of its programming, the first since the ATC@IBC block in 2014. It includes reruns of IBC's old entertainment and cultural shows, introduction of documentary and current affairs programs airing from sister station People's Television Network, and other entertainment and sports content from SMAC Television Productions and ATC, among others.
IBC also got two new slogans namely, "Iconic.Bold.Chill" and "Kaibigan Mo!"
On March 2020, IBC announced the suspension of telecasting their selected regular programs, this is due to President Rodrigo Duterte implementing an enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and Luzon in line with the growing COVID-19 pandemic happening in the Philippines. Thus, the network airs Public Briefing: #LagingHandaPH by PCOO and the DOH Virtual Presser.