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ABS-CBN to stop ops of Channel 43, which airs TV Plus programs
By MA. ANGELICA GARCIA,GMA NewsMedia giant ABS-CBN Corporation said it will stop the digital TV transmission of its TV Plus channels CineMo, Yey, TeleRadyo, Jeepney TV, Asianovela Channel and KBO in areas outside Metro Manila starting Wednesday evening as it seeks clarification on the scope of the National Telecommunications Commission’s cease and desist order.
The NTC on Tuesday ordered a stop to the operations of Channel 43, which ABS-CBN uses to broadcast its TV Plus programs.
Citing its May 5, 2020 order against ABS-CBN to stop operating its radio and television stations, the NTC said that the earlier cease and desist order “necessarily includes DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) transmission in Metro Manila using Channel 43.”
ABS-CBN, meanwhile, said its viewers could still watch its programs on CineMo, TeleRadyo and Jeepney TV.
“TeleRadyo and Jeepney TV are also available in other cable TV operators nationwide,” ABS-CBN head of corporate communications Kane Errol Choa said in a statement on Wednesday.
The NTC also issued a similar order against ABS-CBN subsidiary Sky Cable Corporation
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ABS-CBN was ordered on May 5 to stop operating its various TV and radio stations nationwide following the expiration of its legislative franchise on May 4, 2020.
NTC Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, during the House joint panel hearings on the ABS-CBN franchise issue on Monday, said Channel 43 was covered in the original cease and desist order it issued to ABS-CBN last May 5.
Cordoba said Channel 43 was assigned to Amcara Broadcasting Network, which he claimed is a sister company of ABS-CBN, and through which the latter airs digital TV.
ABS-CBN president and CEO Carlo Katigbak, however, said that the original cease and desist order did not cover Channel 43.
Katigbak said that while Channel 43 was temporarily assigned to ABS-CBN for its digital broadcasts in the past, the network was eventually given Channel 16 and Channel 43 was given to Amcara.
“We hope Congress approves our franchise and gives us the opportunity to return our service to all our TV Plus viewers. We thank our viewers for their support and understanding,” Choa said. — BM, GMA News