THE newly opened studio experience store—similar to a small and enclosed theme park attraction—of ABS-CBN Corp. is expected to boost the company’s revenues amid thinner ad earnings, a company official said.
Maria Rosario S. Bartolome, who sits as president at ABS-CBN Themed Experiences Inc., led the opening of the ABS-CBN Studio Experience or Studio XP, an indoor amusement park that boasts of 15 attractions akin to its television shows and movies.
The first Studio XP is situated in a 1,400-square-meter area inside the Trinoma Mall, Quezon City. Bartolome said the investment for the said store is “significantly lower” than that of ABS-CBN’s initial capital for Kidzania.
She noted her group hopes the new business—the last vertical for a network, as she claimed—would be one of the main drivers of the consumer-business revenues of the multimedia company. “We hope it to become one of the key drivers for the business,” Bartolome said.
The company is currently beefing up its consumer business verticals given that ad revenues were thinner this year, when compared to last year.
Advertisers are limiting their ads due to slower consumer sales, as prices of goods and services continue to soar with inflation and the tax-reform law introduced this year.
Studio XP is divided into three studios: Fantasy, Reality and Retail. Guests can play games, sing songs and talk to celebrities on the phone or via augmented reality through the various attractions inside the park.
Bartolome added this will be a test case for the prospect of opening an outdoor park, similar to Universal Studios and Disneyland.
”It’s a bit early in the game. While we’re thinking about it, there are no concretes plans yet because we want to see how this one works before we start the plans for the expansion,” she said.