ABS-CBN taps new partner for Middle East market

ABS-CBN Corp., the listed television broadcast arm of the Lopez Group, has tapped a new partner to offer additional channels aimed at Filipinos based in the Middle East.

A statement on Monday showed that ABS-CBN signed a partnership with OSN, the leading pay-TV network in the Middle East and North Africa. This means OSN subscribers in the Middle East will gain access to four new Filipino channels starting May 1.

The channels are TFC (The Filipino Channel); Bro, a dedicated sports channel; Cinema One Global, which features Filipino box-office hits and ANC, a 24-hour news channel.

“With this partnership with OSN, ABS-CBN through TFC fortifies its already strong presence in the region built over in almost two decades through its own direct-to-home platform and its carriage partnerships with the major cable operators,” ABS-CBN Middle East managing director Edgardo Garcia said in the statement.

Overseas expansion has been a key strategy of ABS-CBN, given the large number of Filipinos residing or working abroad.

In the case of TFC, the channel was launched in 1994 in the US before it established offices in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Australia, United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, and Japan. The company currently reaches Filipino communities in 191 countries across the globe, according to the statement. Miguel R. Camus