Cignal TV
Cignal TV, Inc., also known by its legal trading name Mediascape Inc., is a Filipino media and telecommunications firm in the Philippines. A wholly owned subsidiary of the media conglomerate MediaQuest Holdings under the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund, the firm operates its pay television services, subscription television networks, and film entertainment production.
Cignal TV also operates free television channels One Sports and One PH. In addition, under the Mediascape name, it operates UHF 51 via DTT in Manila and a majority of regional TV stations affiliated with TV5 Network, and owns provincial radio stations associated with Apollo Broadcast Investors/GV Radios Network Corporation.
History
Early years
The firm was founded in 1983 as GV Broadcasting System by the Galang family. GV then operated its radio stations in Pampanga and later expanded in Batangas. GV's broadcast franchise was granted in 1995, and was later amended in 1998 allowing the inclusion of establishing its pay-TV business.In 2007, MediaQuest Holdings acquired a majority stake in GV and its parent Satventures, making the Galangs being part of MediaQuest. The Galangs would spun-off its broadcast radio assets. Smart Communications executive Orlando Vea was then appointed as the new executive of GV.
At that time, it formed a partnership with PLDT subsidiary Smart Communications to launch a mobile TV service called myTV. The trial service was later stopped in 2010.
Expansion and the birth of Cignal TV
In 2008, after its stake in the Sky Cable business was sold to the Lopez Group of Companies, PLDT announced its intention of entering the direct-to-home satellite service industry using the franchise of GV, with the result forming a new DTH satellite brand called Cignal which was launched a year later in 2009.In 2012, Cignal TV launched its first satellite television networks: lifestyle channel Colours, sports channel Hyper, and Weather Information Network. The channels were launched on April 14, 2012.
On March 25, 2015, TV5 Network and Cignal TV announced its partnership with Bloomberg L.P. to establish a local Bloomberg service in the Philippines. It will provide up-to-date business information to aid in their decision-making in an aim to place the country as the "next financial capital of Southeast Asia." The service was formally unveiled on August 13, and it started airing on October 5, 2015.
On August 3, 2015, TV5 Network through its sister company Cignal, ties up with Viva Communications to form an entertainment network the Sari-Sari Channel that will air programs and movies from both the Viva portfolio and TV5. SSN will also handle the production of all the entertainment programs of TV5. Instead of this, the network has appointed Viva head honcho Vic del Rosario, Jr. as its chief entertainment strategist in October 2015.
In 2016, Cignal made a partnership with the Philippine Basketball Association to launch PBA Rush, a 24-hour channel featuring content from the PBA as well as live games.
In 2017, Cignal began its new venture outside of the DTH service with the launch of its own entertainment unit Cignal Entertainment.
In 2018, Cignal TV formally launched One News, an English-language news channel which features content from the news divisions of the MediaQuest group.
In 2019, Cignal launched two new channels under the "One" brand, namely: One Sports, a sports channel replacing Hyper; and One PH, an all-Filipino language news channel featuring a mix of content from Radyo5 and its own produced programming. In November 2019, Cignal TV made a 5-year content partnership with APT Entertainment for BuKo Channel, the first all-local comedy channel to be launched supposedly in the 2nd quarter of 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines.
On July 27, 2020, Cignal TV announced the multi-year partnership deal with the NBA, on the announcement it was also mentioned that the provider will launch the channel along with the airing of games through its free-to-air channels and an NBA-dedicated pay TV channel NBA TV Philippines.
Assets
Pay television
Cignal
Cignal is the company's flagship brand operates as a direct-to-home satellite service.SatLite
SatLite is a digital prepaid pay TV service. It offers budget-sized lineup of channels with a similarity of Cignal's channel lineup. SatLite uses Koreasat 7, the satellite transponder previously used by the now-defunct Dream Satellite TV prior to the end of 2017.Television channels
Following the launch of its satellite TV service in 2009, Cignal TV has been establishing its own cable television channels, as well as free-to-air channels.Satellite channels
One News
One News is a 24-hour English-language news channel in partnership with MVP-owned media properties News5, The Philippine Star, BusinessWorld, Bloomberg TV Philippines and content provider Probe Productions. It was launched on May 28, 2018.One Sports+
One Sports+ is a sports and entertainment cable/satellite television channel. It was launched on January 9, 2019. This counterpart of One Sports channel was renamed to One Sports+, as terrestrial television channel of One Sports was launched on March 8, 2020, replacing 5 Plus.One Screen
One Screen is an entertainment cable/satellite television channel. It was launched on June 15, 2020. It airs movies from local productions and foreign content from CinemaWorld, as well as reruns from TV5 and third-party productions.Colours
Colours is a magazine cable/satellite television channel. Launched on May 5, 2012, its programming composed primarily of lifestyle and reality shows.Sari-Sari Channel
Sari-Sari Channel is a 24-hour all-Filipino general entertainment channel joint-ventured by TV5 Network, Cignal TV and Viva Entertainment. It airs programs and movies from both the Viva portfolio and 5 Network with channel's original productions in partnership with 5 Network's talents. It was launched on January 15, 2016.PBA Rush
PBA Rush is a 24/7 channel which has been currently airing games of the Philippine Basketball Association. The channel is patterned after NBA TV and it airs live telecast of the PBA games, same day replays of PBA games, games from the PBA D-League, PBA Women's 3x3 and Batang PBA, Sports 360 and behind-the-scenes shows such as Kuwentong Gilas.NBA TV Philippines
NBA TV Philippines is a 24/7 channel which has been currently airing games of the National Basketball Association. The channel is the Philippine counterpart of the league-dedicated channel in United States NBA TV and it airs live telecast of the NBA games.Free-to-air channels
One Sports
One Sports is a free television sports channel with Nation Broadcasting Corporation as its primary content provider, and was launched on March 8, 2020. One Sports serves as a sports channel for The 5 Network with its programs primarily produced by its sports division of the same name. It was formerly called 5 Plus, when it was launched on January 13, 2019 and AksyonTV, a Filipino-language news channel launched by TV5 in 2011-2019.One PH
One PH is a 24-hour Filipino-language news/talk channel. The channel predominantly airs simulcasts of Radyo5 programs. This channel replaced AksyonTV's "teleradyo" segment when it rebranded as 5 Plus last January 13, 2019. One PH started its official broadcasting on February 18, 2019.Radio
Apollo Broadcast Investors operates the radio assets that was spun-off from GV/Mediascape, which its pay-TV congressional franchise was used to operate Cignal and SatLite. GV 99.1, Mediascape's flagship FM station based in Pampanga, is also heard nationwide via Cignal Channel 306.While it is owned by the same company, Apollo Broadcast Investors is not associated with its sister company Nation Broadcasting Corporation, which also operates television and radio stations that are affiliated with TV5 Network.
Cignal Play
Cignal Play is a digital internet protocol television and video on demand service of Cignal. Exclusively for Cignal and PLDT subscribers, it allows the user to watch live linear channels offered from Cignal as well as content from third-party providers.In August 2019, it was announced that Cignal TV will invest P200 million for content production, and is planning to relaunch Cignal Play in October 2019 as a standalone over-the-top service with its own original content and shows from third-party productions such as HBO and AXN.