Kapamilya shows, specials, and movies on iWant TV will soon be available for video-on-demand streaming to PLDT and Smart subscribers as ABS-CBN, the country’s leading media and entertainment company, makes its digital shift by making its content and services accessible online for more Filipinos.
ABS-CBN chairman Eugenio Lopez III and president and CEO Carlo Katigbak signed an agreement with PLDT chairman Manny V. Pangilinan to enable more Filipinos to enjoy ABS-CBN content using their gadgets or smartphones by subscribing to PLDT or Smart promo packages that offer iWant TV that will be launched in the last quarter of the year.
“The strategic partnership between ABS-CBN and PLDT underscores our vision to make our content available online to more Filipinos,” said Katigbak.
Anna Rodriguez-Dela Cruz, ABS-CBN head for content on Mobile and OTT, said that Filipinos can explore a wealth of content on iWant TV, such as specials inspired by Kapamilya teleseryes, local and foreign movies, Asianovelas, and livestreaming.
“Aside from catching up on Kapamilya shows, iWant TV also offers extensions of primetime content that is available only on iWant TV, such as ‘Biyaheng Teleserye,’ which shows how a teleserye came to be. We also have movies and livestreams of events like digital concerts of ABS-CBN’s One Music PH,” she said.
Dela Cruz also shared that in the coming months, users can expect iWant TV to roll out original shows.
“We will come out with an original digital series that will be specifically created for iWant TV to cater to a younger market of millennials,” she added.
This October, iWant TV features a livestream of “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano” Isang Pamilya Tayo concert, 10 milestone films of Cinema One, Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis, and TGL: The Online Scoop, which is a collection of digital shorts that will provide supplementary information to explain Gloria’s (Sylvia Sanchez) character in “The Greatest Love,” among others.
ABS-CBN’s iWant TV is the first and only over-the-top (OTT) service in the country that delivers content via the internet without a fixed monthly subscription fee. It also continues to innovate by offering users 360° videos. For its initial offering, users can get an exclusive 360° immersive look of the iconic Pinoy Big Brother house.
In ABS-CBN’s annual stakeholders meeting last May, Katigbak announced that the company is transitioning to an agile digital company with the growth of its mobile and digital television businesses.
ABS-CBN TVplus, the pioneering digital terrestrial television service in the country, has sold 1.5 million units since it was launched in February 2015.
Last year, ABS-CBN launched multi-channel network “Chicken Pork Adobo” on Youtube with an initial roster of 90 creators for them to showcase stories in the digital space.
ABS-CBN also revolutionized digital advertising in the country when it rolled out a first-of-its-kind table of digital solutions called the “Digital Marketing Periodic Table of Elements” for advertisers to optimize their digital campaigns.
Recently, ABS-CBN Publishing also introduced NoInk, a multimedia reading app that will soon become a pre-installed service on MyPhone units.
ABS-CBN is home to the nation’s top-rating TV programs, box-office films, and best-selling books and music. With the ability to harness the latest in technology and innovation, the company is rapidly transitioning into an agile digital company with the biggest online presence among all media companies, and a growing list of digital properties. ABS-CBN was also first in the country to offer content online and on mobile, and even pioneered digital television in the nation.
ABS-CBN Group CFO Ron Valdueza, ABS-CBN chief financial officer Aldrin Cerrado, ABS-CBN finance head for broadcast, news & current affairs, and access groups Cat Lopez, ABS-CBN head of digital transformation division Mellisa Limcaoco, PLDT executive vice president for consumer business Ariel Fermin, PLDT first vice president for home business Oscar Reyes Jr., and PLDT first vice president for wireless consumer division Katrina Luna-Abelarde also graced the partnership announcement.