GMA Network in content distribution talks with Globe, PLDT

GMA Network Inc., one of the country’s biggest broadcast companies, is in talks with Globe Telecom Inc. and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) for a possible tie-up involving content distribution in line with a growing industry-wide trend, its officials said on Tuesday.

GMA, whose owners were in talks last year to sell a controlling stake to PLDT before the deal fell through, is “optimistic” an agreement could be closed within the year, president Gilberto Duavit Jr. said on the sidelines of a briefing Tuesday announcing second quarter results.

The discussions did not involve any type of mergers and acquisitions, chair and CEO Felipe Gozon said during the same briefing. He added that it was important for GMA to engage both telco players to determine the best deal for the company. But if an agreement would be reached, it would likely be with only one firm.

“Naturally, these telcos want to be exclusive,” Gozon said.

“They want a marriage but for us we only want a girlfriend,” he added, describing the type of arrangement GMA was seeking.

PLDT has been pursuing an aggressive “convergence” strategy with content distributors and in recent years has acquired television network TV5 and satellite TV operator Cignal apart from stakes in various newspapers. Last month, its mobile unit Smart Communications signed a deal with MCA Music to sell songs starting at P15 each, lower than rates offered by Apple Inc’s iTunes, which sells songs at about P40 each.

Globe is separately collaborating with GMA’s main rival, ABS-CBN Corp. The deal will allow ABS-CBN to launch its own mobile service to be supported by capacity from Globe, which the television network will buy.

“We are open to partnership agreements toward content distribution and monetization,” Duavit said. “We are currently in discussions with both major telcos toward that end.”