Bloomberg sets debut

Bloomberg Television Philippines is set to make its formal debut on Oct. 5, 2015 via satellite television provider Cignal TV Inc., part of the media arm of Manuel V. Pangilinan-led Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.

A company spokesman on Monday confirmed the “on-air launch” date, which marks the entry of a new international player in the completive television business, which is dominated by large broadcast networks ABS-CBN Corp. and GMA Network Inc.

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 announced early this month that it had reached 1 million subscribers, ahead of an earlier-set target.

The 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.

PLDT chair Manuel V. Pangilinan had said that content partnerships were a key part of PLDT’s media strategy.

He told reporters last week that there were more products to be launched in the digital space as part of the telecommunications giant’s ongoing diversification from its legacy businesses. It has been expanding into payments as well as online television, via Iflix. Miguel R. Camus