Who Owns CNN Philippines?
Anybody who values quality reporting and acknowledges the essential role a free and independent press plays in a functional democracy is no doubt mourning the imminent end of CNN Philippines. Unless it’s one that blatantly flouts the basic tenets of news gathering and merely advances the interests of a select few and not of the general public, news of the closure of any media company is always heartbreaking. It’s especially difficult when it’s one that attempted to uphold the highest standards of journalism.
CNN Philippines’ announcement that it will discontinue operations on all of its platforms—free-to-air TV, cable, and digital—came as a shock to many, but isn’t really that surprising when you consider the state of the media landscape in the country today. Media consumption has segmented due to the rise of digital alternatives to traditional print and broadcast channels, and advertisers followed suit and have begun to cut back spending on above the line media and choosing to go with more novel channels to reach their target audiences. To top it all off, the previous administration singlehandedly destroyed the public’s trust in local media and caused a chilling effect in the industry by moving to deny the renewal of the broadcast franchise of one specific company. Result: existing media entities are decidedly less critical of the government for fear of meeting the same fate.
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To be fair, CNN Philippines has fought the good fight and truly made the effort to bring the brand of truthful, honest, and hard-hitting journalism its international namesake broadcast company is known for to Filipino audiences in the nine years that it was operating. We’re not exactly privy to the goings-on behind the scenes, but all signs indicated that the broadcast network crafted its own editorial policy and operated independently of its corporate parent.
That got us thinking: who exactly owns CNN Philippines? And why are they giving up on the network now, just nine years since it was founded?
Who owns CNN Philippines
CNN Philippines, which first went on the air in March 2015, is owned and operated by Nine Media Corporation, which is, in turn, 100 percent owned by JRLT-JHI Corporation. According to Vera Files, which pored through the companies’ General Information Sheet (GIS) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, JRLT-JHI Corporation is a financial holding company that is part of the much larger ALC Group of Companies.
Besides media, the ALC Group of Companies has interests in insurance protection, pre-need assurance, automotive sales, banking and finance, security, education, hotels, and real estate. Its founder and chairman is Antonio Cabangon-Chua, who is also a shareholder in JRLT-JHI Corporation, along with Ferdinan Chua, Candy Co, and Jose Wingkee Jr.
In 2014, Nine Media Corporation inked an initial five-year brand licensing agreement with Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific to rebrand what was then 9TV (which was also previously called Solar News Channel). 9TV, in turn, was using the broadcast frequency of the old RPN-9, a channel that used to be government-run but was privatized in 2011. The government, however, retained a 20 percent ownership in the network.
Based on reports at the time of the announcement, the licensing agreement obligated Nine Media to pay CNN an undisclosed monthly fee for the rights to use the CNN brand in its programming. The fee also includes training and expert advice from CNN International and CNN U.S. Nine News staff even trained at CNN Centers in the U.S.
“By integrating local elements and content in its programming, CNN Philippines brings together world-class local and international content for Filipino audiences,” Cabangon-Chua, who was also the chairman of Nine Media Corporation, said at the time.
Besides owning other media platforms like Business Mirror and Pilipino Mirror (print newspapers), Aliw Broadcasting Corp. (radio network), the ALC Group’s other companies include Eternal Gardens and Eternal Chapels mortuary and chapel services, Citystate Savings Bank, Citystate Tower Hotel, Prime Legacy Motors, Isuzu Gencars Inc., and many others.
In December 2019—year five of the initial five-year licensing agreement—Nine Media Corp and WarnerMedia (which had taken over Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific) agreed to an extension of the licensing contract until the end of 2024. Back then, reports indicated that the network’s financial performance was healthy.
However, the pandemic was mere months away, as well as the denial by Congress of ABS-CBN’s broadcast franchise, which both heavily affected media operations in the country. CNN Philippines was no exception, with a report from Media Newser claiming, based on sources, that Nine Media Corp and CNN have mutually agreed to discontinue the licensing agreement because of “significant financial losses.” Media Newser also claims that CNN Philippines’s closure was also caused by the decline in ad revenue and increased operating costs.
While there has been no word (as of the time of posting of this story) from Cabangon Chua himself about the impending closure, the Facebook page of ALC Group of Companies did share CNN Philippines’ official statement, which included this caption: “Turning the final page of the CNN Philippines newsroom's story. We are forever grateful for the stories we've shared, the audience we've served, and to our dedicated team for their commitment to uphold the values of truth, accuracy, fairness, and accountability. Thank you for the privilege to tell the story of the Filipino. #NewsYouCanTrust
