Chot Reyes. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines–Vincent “Chot” Reyes, the veteran basketball coach who transformed TV5 into a news and sports platform, is stepping down as the television network’s chief executive officer (CEO) after a three-year run.
In an interview on Saturday, Reyes confirmed the news that first appeared on the Fashion Pulis blog that he will be leaving TV5 and that Jane Basas, president of affiliate Cignal TV, will be taking his place.
The movement, which also hints at closer links between TV5 and Cignal TV in terms of business strategy, is the latest in a senior management shakeup within the PLDT Group, which owns TV5 via the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund.
In his case, Reyes said he was approached by PLDT chair and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan the previous week “about moving to another company within the group.”
Reyes said he declined the transfer.
“I’ve been here more than five years and, you know, I’m really not the corporate type,” Reyes told the Inquirer as he referenced his time as head of Media5, the sales arm of TV5.
“I asked if I could opt for early retirement,” he said.
He said they have yet to discuss a specific timetable for when he will step down.
“Maybe July or August,” Reyes said.
The abrupt nature of the news fuelled speculation of a falling out between Reyes and Pangilinan. Insider accounts said the two also did not see “eye to eye” over certain business and sports issues and that internal corporate politics played a role in his departure.
In the interview, Reyes brushed aside those speculations and said disagreements were nothing but normal.
“It’s part of the basketball culture,” he said.
Reyes was TV5’s third CEO in the decade since the broadcast network was acquired by the PLDT Group in 2009.
Similar to his predecessors, Reyes was tasked with stemming financial losses while growing revenues amid tough competition with TV giants ABS-CBN Corp. and GMA Network Inc. Those challenges went hand in hand with dealing with the structural change in the media landscape given the shift to online platforms.
One of Reyes’ earliest moves was to cut expensive entertainment shows that were unprofitable. He also engineered TV5’s dramatic shift that would see it focus on its core strength in news programming and his own expertise in sports.
In 2017, it announced a partnership with ESPN Inc. in a bid to dominate local sports TV.
Reyes’ tenure also saw painful layoffs at TV5 as management sought to control costs. Reyes said in January that losses last year narrowed by 30 percent but he admitted it would be “very difficult” for the company to end 2019 with a profit— missing an earlier established goal by Pangilinan.
Reyes said on Saturday that TV5 is now in the midst of a transition as he prepares to step down.
Cignal’s Basas, who previously held other key positions within the group such as Media5 president and Smart Communications’ prepaid marketing head, was described by insiders as a competent manager “who can get things done.”
Reyes said he plans to focus on his personal business investments for now.
He owns Coachcom Inc., which offers executive coaching services.
His group also holds the country franchise for British hairdressing chain Toni & Guy, which he is taking nationwide, apart from plans to open an affordable dialysis center in Novaliches. (Editor: Jonathan P. Vicente)