Neil
ABS-CBN, the country’s largest media conglomerate, may not acquire a new franchise until 2022, as the government is in search of a media corporation which “deserves it”.
As Congress denied the network appeal for a new franchise, can ABS-CBN re-apply for it and if so, when?
However, SAGIP Partylist Representative Rodante Marcoleta said that the government is planning to give the vacated frequencies of ABS-CBN to a ‘more deserving’ media network aspirant.
Previously, Marcoleta also said during the hearing on ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal that the broadcast frequencies are finite so, the government allocates it to those who “deserve it”.
Also, he claims that the old frequencies of ABS-CBN might not be available for application until the year 2022, the year of the Presidential election.
“Paano kung may binigyan na ang gobyerno? Anong franchise pa ang ibibigay mo sa kanya?” Marcoleta said.
[What if the government had already given the franchise to another media company? What franchise are you going to give to ABS-CBN?]
Moreover, some people speculate that ABS-CBN franchise denial might be connected to the plan of Udenna Communications Media and Entertainment Holdings Corporation, owned by Davao’s business tycoon Dennis Uy, to enter the entertainment and media industry.
Uy was one of the biggest sponsors and supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte during the campaign for the 2016 election.
Uy already clarified that they have no plans to acquire ABS-CBN. “Let me be clear once for all and say that we, in UDENNA Corporation, have no intention to acquire ABS-CBN,” Uy said. He did not say, however, if he wanted the channel’s frequency.
To recall, days before Congress decided the franchise denial, Waldy Carbonell, former ANC anchor, claimed that he received an offer from a ‘new station’ that is bound to replace ABS-CBN.
If it’s not Udenna, will this ‘new station’ that Carbonell mentions be the ‘more deserving’ in the eyes of the Government?
