TV5 And GMA: To Merge Or Not To Merge!

MANNY V PANGILINAN

The talks about GMA-7 are acquiring by Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan is still circling around and it was confirmed that the two network will be merge before the year is over.

Is it really true the two networks will merge before the end of 2012?

In the latest celebrity update, industry insiders are a-buzz with talk of a merger between TV5 and GMA 7 before the end of the year.

On Monday June 04, 2012, “Philippine Star” columnist Ricky Lo wrote that TV5’s Manny V. Pangilinan has almost confirmed the merger of the two networks at a press conference in San Francisco, California last Saturday.

Ricky Lo also revealed that the “landmark development” will be launched formally towards the end of November.

“The merger was virtually confirmed by Kapatid big boss Manny V. Pangilinan during the presscon last Saturday in San Francisco where a partnership between TV5 and Dish Network was formally signed, called Dish Ko To, promoting the combined channels of GMA Pinoy TV and Kapatid TV5. Dish is the leading provider of satellite television in the US,” the veteran columnist wrote.

He also added that the Kapatid Network big boss also revealed that the TV5 board is investing P6 billion on the completion of various studios in the Philippines.

In response to this report, TV5, through its online news portal InterAksyon.co, clarified that the merger has yet to be finalized.

“No merger, TV5 top executives said, amid the stir created by a report that Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. acquired GMA Network Inc.,” the report said.

In fact, the PLDT group owns Media Quest, the media arm which covers both TV5 and InterAksyon.com.

However, the InterAksyon.com report claims Manny V Pangilinan was misquoted, as pointed out in a statement he sent to the portal.          

“You know, all was: Please support TV5 here in the states. And by the way, please support GMA 7, too since Dish carries GMA. That was all. No mention of merger, investment, combination. Certainly no mention of a November deadline or any deadline at all. Sure, some people speculated, and all I said was I can now say we are under discussion but nothing has been finalized at this time,” MVP’s statement.

“We did not know where that (report) came from,” TV5 chief executive Ray C. Espinosa told InterAksyon.com.

Furthermore, he also clarified that there is still remain the interest on GMA. It takes some consideration of some matters to settle such as a “meeting of the minds” in terms of the price and “other essential matters.”