NTC Set to Review ABS-CBN, TV5 Deal

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will conduct a review of the joint venture of ABS-CBN and TV5 after the former’s alleged violations as found out by the 2020 Congress investigation.

This comes as NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba said in an interview with Radyo Pilipinas on Thursday that the deal would effectively allow ABS-CBN to broadcast freely even with violations.

“Ang ginagawa po nila is sasakay po sila dito sa prangkisa po ng TV5. Pero hanggang ngayon po ay bitbit po nila ang kanilang mga violations,” Cordoba said during the inverview.

Moreover, Cordoba also announced NTC’s Memorandum Order 3-06-2022, which bars a network granted a franchise to enter “mergers, joint ventures, sale, or any commercial agreement arrangements on matters within the Commission’s mandate and jurisdiction.”

He added that a franchise grantee will have to be cleared by government agencies concerning the matter.

Moreover, Cordoba added that such a partnership will need approval from the NTC.

ABS-CBN recently announced a deal that will allow the media giant the acquisition of 6.46 million primary common shares of TV5 PHP2.16 billion.

This is equivalent to 34.99 percent of its total voting and outstanding capital stock. (GFB)