TV5 Network, ESPN forge 4-year programming partnership

TV5 Network, Inc. (TV5) and ESPN have forged a four-year agreement to introduce a new brand, ESPN 5, focusing on sports and news to boost their nationwide ranking from number three to number one.

“We had a lot of partnerships before. Some worked, some didn’t. All were not profitable. That drove us to re-think everything to make a profit. Being the number 3 network in the country is not profitable for us,” explained TV5 President Vincent “Chot” Reyes.

To gain number one position, they have to focus on their forte. “Sports is the area where we can be number one, that’s why we partnered with ESPN.”

While ESPN had discussions with the two other leading networks as well as with cable television operators, they favored the corporate culture of TV5, whose workforce consists mostly of athletes and sports people. “They felt we are the right partners for them,” he reiterated.

“This long-term collaboration across television and digital allows us to jointly serve millions of sports fans in the Philippines with exceptional content and coverage,” according to ESPN Asia Pacific Vice President and General Manager Mike Morrison.

Under the partnership, TV5’s “Sports 5” will be rebranded as “ESPN 5,” encompassing all sports coverage on TV5.

Furthermore, ESPN will give TV5 license to more than 2,500 hours of additional programming per year from its portfolio of sports rights, original programming and studio programs.

The companies will also join forces to produce a local edition of the iconic Sports Center to air on TV5’s freeto-air television channels – TV5 and Aksyon 41.

“ESPN strengthens our current position as the country’s sports authority,” Reyes added.

The brand and content deal between ESPN and TV5 is part of the latter’s strategy to deliver the most comprehensive, wide-ranging sports coverage in the country, with Filipino audiences benefitting from the combination of local and global sports coverage, exclusive news and information programming from both ESPN and TV5.

The partners will likewise offer a co-branded multi-sport ESPN website with an accompanying ESPN 5 app for Filipino viewers.

The ESPN 5 site and app will offer a world-class, mobile-first digital platform that combines TV5’s sports content, including local sports news, video and analysis with ESPN’s coverage of top sports from around the world – basketball, soccer, tennis, boxing MMA, badminton, athletics, American football, eSports and more.

The digital properties will feature scores, up to the minute news and statistics, commentary and analysis as well as video.