Listed broadcast firm GMA Network Inc. has signed a deal with a Hong Kong-based satellite operator that will allow the television station to offer more channels to viewers here and abroad.
Among the new products will be an international news channel, which will compete with rival ABS-CBN News Channel, or ANC.
In a statement, the company said it signed an agreement with APT Satellite Co. Ltd., a wholly owned unit of APT Satellite Holdings Ltd., on a long-term transponder service deal using the newer satellites Apstar 5 and 7.
GMA 7, a recognized leading content provider in the Asia-Pacific region, has been using the Apstar 2R satellite in its broadcast operations. The company said the satellite has broad footprints covering the Asia-Pacific region and mainland China.
Under the newly signed transponder service deal, GMA 7 will use APT’s upgraded satellite services for the network’s future business development.
Apstar 7 has hemispheric footprints covering a wider area to include the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa. On the other hand, Apstar 5, which was launched in 2004, services the Asia-Pacific region.
GMA Network chairman and president Felipe L. Gozon said the deal with APT would help the broadcast firm achieve a strong presence in wider areas.
“We are confident that APT’s advanced satellite system will help maintain our edge in market competition as we expand our presence in other areas,” he said in a statement.
GMA Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Gilberto Duavit Jr. said that “moving forward, we expect APT’s replacement satellite and the advanced and versatile features of the Apstar Satellite System to complement our business directions, specifically our plans to increase both our content push-pull capabilities nationwide and our international channel services—which will include a news channel very soon.”
“We have had a long working relationship with APT. This long-term agreement will benefit not only GMA 7 and APT, but most definitely our viewers as well,” the company said in a statement.
The deal was signed Thursday at the GMA headquarters in Quezon City. Present during the event were GMA’s Gozon, Duavit, Yalong and APT officers.—Paolo G. Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
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