Malacañang had “no reaction” to ABS-CBN’s return to free-to-air television through but said its programs will remain subject to monitoring and regulation.
Starting Oct. 10, some entertainment programs of ABS-CBN will air through A2Z channel 11 (previously Zoe TV 11) after the two companies reached an agreement.
“We have no reaction to it because they are a content provider and for all intents and purposes, it is Zoe that will be subject to regulation because Zoe is the franchise holder,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in a CNN Philippines interview.
Last July 10, House lawmakers including several allies of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has had a shaky affair with the network, voted to deny ABS-CBN Corp.’s bid for a new 25-year broadcasting franchise.
Some ABS-CBN programs have since been made accessible through the Kapamilya Online Live YouTube Facebook and cable channels.
Roque said ABS-CBN’s deal with Zoe Broadcasting Network, Inc. was a “distinct line of business.”
“What has happened is ABS-CBN has become a content provider so that’s a distinct line of business that does not require a franchise,” he explained.
Zoe TV is a Philippine broadcast media arm of the Jesus Is Lord Church headed by House Deputy Speaker Bro. Eddie Villanueva.
Roque said he was not sure if Duterte and Villanueva discussed ABS-CBN’s deal with Zoe TV when they met in Malacañang for a “pray over.”
“I wouldn’t know. I was also not in the meeting. I get my orders on what to say from the President himself, which spares me from having to go to all the meetings,” Roque said. John Ezekiel J. Hirro
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Source: Press One PH
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