Why Felipe Gozon's Retirement as CEO Is a Big Deal for GMA Network
For the first time in over 20 years, GMA Network will have a new CEO.
Atty. Felipe L. Gozon is retiring as CEO of the country’s leading broadcast network. Gozon made the announcement during an event marking his 84th birthday at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel on Saturday evening (December 9).
Effective January 1, 2024, current president and COO Gilberto "Jimmy" Duavit Jr. will take over as the new CEO. Gozon, meanwhile, will remain chairman of the board and adviser to the corporation.
Gozon, along with Duavit and Menardo Jimenez, revived the then-struggling Republic Broadcasting Station (RBS), the precursor of GMA in 1975. Although the network put up a good fight against the dominant station ABS-CBN, for years GMA remained a distant number two in the numbers game.
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That began to change in the year 2000, when Gozon was appointed president and CEO. It took a while, but soon, GMA began to put up a fight and actually became a strong competitor to ABS-CBN. After a series of strategic moves, including creative and inventive programming and sound fiscal management—as well as the unfortunate closure of its age-old rival ABS-CBN in 2020 (after it failed to renew its broadcast license in Congress)—GMA eventually became the country’s number one broadcast channel. GMA’s successes—including being a ratings winner vis-à-vis other media companies, profitability for its shareholders, recognition locally and abroad for its award-winning programs, among many other things—is due in large part to Gozon’s vision and leadership.
In a news release following Gozon’s announcement, GMA detailed some of the network’s achievements under his stewardship: the network completed a successful IPO in 2007, achieved number one in the ratings in the entire country in 2011, and received numerous international awards, including the coveted Terrestrial Channel of the Year citation from the Asian Television Awards in 2005, among many others.
Big shoes to fill
In 2022, during a rare interview with Esquire Philippines, Gozon revealed that he had been thinking about his successor “for some time now.” Duavit certainly has big shoes to fill but his appointment as CEO is not completely unexpected, given his extensive experience and role within the Kapuso Network. The son of one of GMA’s founders, Gilberto Duavit Sr., has been a member of the company’s board of directors since 1999 and chairman of the executive committee since 2000. Duavit was also named EVP and COO in November 2000 and became president of the company since 2010.
The 60-year-old Duavit also hold a number of other executive positions within GMA’s sister companies, including chairman GMA Network Films, president and CEO of GMA Holdings, Inc., RGMA Marketing and Productions, Inc., and chairman, president, and CEO of Group Management and Development, Inc., and Dual Management and Investments, Inc.; and vice chairman of GMA Ventures, Inc.
Duavit will certainly have his hands full. Although GMA is still enjoying its status as the country’s undisputed number one broadcast network. he will have to grapple with challenges facing the broadcast and media landscape, including fragmented viewership given the popularity of on-demand streaming, a decline in ad revenues as brands reign in spending and look to newer platforms, such as social media; and audiences' increasing appetite for newer kinds of content and programming.
In the first nine months of 2023, the company reported net income of P2.46 billion, down over 50 percent from P5.12 billion in the same period last year.
