ABS-CBN Corporation (also known as ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation) is a Filipino media company based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the largest radio broadcaster, entertainment television production, program syndication provider and media conglomerate in the Philippines. It is a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation which is owned by the López family ABS-CBN was formed by the merger of Alto Broadcasting System (ABS) and Chronicle Broadcasting Network (CBN).
History[]
The company was founded on July 11, 1946, as Bolinao Electronics Corporation (BEC) with the company later registered on July 11 of the same year. BEC was established by James Lindenberg, one of the founding fathers of Philippine television, an American electronics engineer who went into radio equipment assembly and radio broadcasting. In 1949, James Lindenberg shifted Bolinao to radio broadcasting with DZBC and masterminded the introduction of television to the country in 1953.
In 1951, Lindenberg partnered with Antonio Quirino, brother of then-Philippine President Elpidio Quirino, in order to try their hand at television broadcasting. In 1952, BEC was renamed as Alto Broadcasting System or ABS (with Alto Sales Corporation as its corporate name). "Alto" was a contraction of Quirino's and his wife's first names, Tony and Aleli. Though they had little money and resources, ABS was able to put up its TV tower by July 1953 and import some 300 television sets. The initial test broadcasts began in September of the same year. The very first full-blown broadcast was on October 23, 1953, of a party in Tony Quirino's humble abode. The television station was known as DZAQ-TV.
On June 16, 1955, Republic Act No. 1343 signed by President Ramon Magsaysay granted the Manila Chronicle its broadcasting franchise, leading to the formation of the Chronicle Broadcasting Network.
The Chronicle Broadcasting Network (CBN) was founded on September 24, 1956, by Eugenio Lopez Sr. and the then-Philippine Vice President Fernando Lopez. The network initially focused only on radio broadcasting. It launched its very own TV station, DZXL-TV 9, on April 19 (or July), 1958. On February 24, 1957, Don Eugenio acquired ABS from Quirino and Lindenberg. A month later, Don Eugenio also acquired Monserrat Broadcasting System.
In 1958, the network's new headquarters at Dewey Boulevard were inaugurated, and all radio and television operations were consolidated into its two buildings – the radio stations at the Chronicle Building at Aduana Street, Intramuros, Manila and the TV operations at the brand new Dewey Boulevard building in Pasay, Rizal.
The ABS-CBN brand was first used in 1961. However, it was only on February 1, 1967, that the corporate name was changed to ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation. Before it was named ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, the corporate name was Bolinao Electronics Corporation (BEC).
On August 2007, the conglomerate's primary and network's corporate name was changed to simply ABS-CBN Corporation to reflect the former's diversification, resulting in the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation name now being used as the conglomerate's secondary and alternative name since then. The change was announced publicly one year later in 2008 during the 55th anniversary of the television network of the same name on its station ID "Beyond Television" and later by ABS-CBN chairman Gabby Lopez during its annual stockholders' meeting on May 27, 2010, he said that it is "a response to the changes in the media landscape brought about by technology. The media business has gone beyond merely broadcasting to encompass other platforms."
Key people[]
- Martin López (Chairman)
- Carlo L. Katigbak (President and CEO)
- Cory Vidanes (COO for Broadcast)
- Charo Santos-Concio (CCO)
- George Boone Mercado (Voiceover/Announcer, formerly (September 14, 1986–March 1, 1987))
- Peter Musñgi (Voiceover/Announcer, current (March 1, 1987–present))
Media conglomerate and network's corporate names[]
- Bolinao Electronics Corporation (July 11, 1946–1952, February 24, 1957–February 1, 1967)
- Alto Sales Corporation (1952–February 24, 1957)
- Chronicle Broadcasting Network, Inc. (1956–February 24, 1957)
- ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation (February 1, 1967–September 23, 1972, September 14, 1986–August 2007 (primary), August 2007–present (secondary))
- ABS-CBN Corporation (August 2007–present)