MULTIMEDIA conglomerate ABS-CBN Corp. is pumping in half a million pesos in additional investment in its cable and Internet businesses to expand the latter’s network coverage and capacity.
According to a disclosure to the stock exchange, the Lopez-led multimedia company is adding a total of P592 million in Sky Cable Corp. to expand its broadband business.
Company officials were also sought for more details, but none replied as of press time.
In another development, ABS-CBN’s board elected Eugenio Lopez III as chairman emeritus at the company’s organizational meeting on Thursday.
Martin Lopez was elected chairman of the board.
The management shake-up was done in response to the digital shift in the country’s television landscape.
Eugenio, who turned 65 last August and is the second chairman emeritus in the company’s history, will remain as a director of the board.
“My father has always said ‘broadcasting’ is for the young. After all, today’s digital world is vastly different from the world I managed,” Eugenio said in his speech after the ABS-CBN annual stockholders’ meeting.
He also said he “will not disappear into the woodwork.”
Under his helm, ABS-CBN diversified into various successful ventures that include interactive and online media, international and domestic cable and satellite channels, broadband services, sports programming, consumer products and licensing, digital television and immersive experiences.
It was also under his leadership that ABS-CBN launched cable TV service SkyCable, global subscription channel The Filipino Channel and video-on-demand streaming sites TFC.tv and iWant TV.
He also pursued the launch of ABS-CBN TVplus, the country’s first-ever digital terrestrial
television product.
“We understand what the company means to the Filipino and this country, and we will take this to heart as we guide the company through its digital transformation,” Martin said.
In his previous role as chief technology officer, Martin was responsible for setting the company’s strategic directions and ensuring operational excellence in information and communications, as well as technology broadcast engineering.
He spearheaded ABS-CBN’s system modernization, highlighted by the migration to the cloud and the automation of content creation and delivery to various media
platforms.
Martin was also responsible for ABS-CBN’s migration to HD and the completion of the digital terrestrial television infrastructure.