Sales of ABS-CBN TVplus boxes hit 4M

ABS-CBN Corp. said it sold over four million TVplus boxes as of November, two years since it rolled out its digital television service.

“It’s just more than two years and at the time we were starting from zero but even then we already found support. Just this week, we just hit four million already. We promised you early this year, we will hit 4 million, we hit it earlier than Christmas,” Chinky de CastroAlcedo, head of ABS-CBN Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), said at a media event on Wednesday.

The Lopez-led multimedia company in 2015 launched the TVplus digital box product, which offers free-to-air channels such as ABS-CBN and ABS-CBN Sports + Action and four premium channels including CineMo!, YeY!, Knowledge Channel, and DZMM Teleradyo.

TVplus is currently available in Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Benguet, and Metro Cebu. This year, it has expanded to Davao, Iloilo, Bacolod, and Cagayan de Oro cities.

ABS-CBN is scheduled to do pilot tests of WiFi-ready DTTs in Cebu and Davao, as it aims to expand its market reach in the provinces.

“It’s something that we are working on. We will actually have a pilot in some areas not yet in Mega Manila but in Cebu and Davao... It’s just a small scale just to make sure we continue to refine the product ...to make sure that before we roll out, it’s something ready,” Ms. Alcedo told reporters.

The company sees better opportunities in areas outside Metro Manila. Ms. Alcedo said they aim to increase its presence in suburban areas, as the market in Metro Manila can be saturated.

“The telcos have their own broadband services and in those areas there is still more need... We think there’s better opportunities in those areas before we actually get into the more served areas,” she said.

ABS-CBN Corp. reported a 20% decline in attributable profit to P2.27 billion for the nine months ended September as advertising revenues fell after discounting the impact of last year’s electionrelated spending. —