Bloomberg Television set to debut in 2015
Bloomberg Television Philippines is set to make its debut within 2015 through a partnership with satellite television provider Cignal TV Inc., part of the media arm of Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.
The announcement comes weeks after the formal launch of CNN Philippines, but officials from Bloomberg Television and Cignal downplayed potential competition in a joint press conference on Wednesday, saying they catered to distinct markets.
Bloomberg Television Philippines will air on an English-language format and will be distributed exclusively through CignalDigital TV, the country’s largest direct-to-home satellite provider.
Cignal TV, which has 97 channels, including 27 high-definition channels, has around 844,000 subscribers.
“This partnership with Bloomberg Television heralds a new era in Philippine television, in which business information is set to be in the front and center of a rising Philippine economy,” Pangilinan said in a separate statement.
“This also comes at the time when we are expecting to become the country’s biggest Pay-TV service provider with more than one million subscribers by the end of this year,” he added.
Article continues after this advertisementThe new channel will be run by Bloomberg and free-to-air television channel TV5, a unit of PLDT’s media arm Media Quest Holdings Inc.
Article continues after this advertisementBloomberg Television Philippines is expected to provide several hours of unique local daily content supplemented by Bloomberg’s programing to create a new 24/7 premium business news channel.
It will be included in Cignal Digital TV’s post-paid international channel bundle and created exclusively for its DTH platform.
“The Philippines is fast becoming a premier broadcast destination because of its strong subscriber growth,” Gary Groenheim, Commercial Director of Bloomberg Television, Asia-Pacific, said.
“MediaQuest’s substantial media footprint and stellar reputation make them an ideal partner for us as we expand our brand in Asia. Being in the third largest English-speaking country in the world will help us reach a vast new audience by combining elements of our daily global broadcast material with unique, tailor-made local content,” he added. Miguel R. Camus
