GMA Network going all out in bid to land NCAA television rights

Kapuso Network rolls out big guns, bares grand plan for NCAA television coverage
Nov 11, 2020

THE Kapuso Network is going all out for Philippine sports.

GMA Network is going all out in its bid to acquire the broadcast rights of the country's oldest college league NCAA, which it hopes would serve as a springboard for its foray into the sports entertainment business.

SPIN.ph sources bared the country's leading network left no stone unturned in a grand plan to make the NCAA the jewel of a sports programming at GMA NewsTV that will include cross promotion and live games in the main GMA channel itself.

To show how determined it is, GMA Network rolled out its big guns led by no less than chairman and CEO Atty Felipe Gozon during its presentation to the NCAA board and management committee last October 28, sources added.

The NCAA, which for years has been broadcast by ABS-CBN, has set the deadline for the final submission of bids on November 11. The bids will be opened later in the day.

The announcement of bids is expected by next week right after the careful evaluation by the NCAA mancom, led by chairman Fr. Vic Calvo (Letran), and the league's policy board, led by Fr. Clarence Marquez (Letran).

The GMA bid will be going up against that of TV5, which, after ABS-CBN's failure to secure a license, was able to acquire the TV rights of the UAAP to add to an ever-growing sports portfolio that includes the PBA, NBA, Fiba, and the Super Liga.

But a bigger fight is anticipated in the NCAA bidding.

Gozon, according to sources, was accompanied in the presentation by president and COO Gilberto Duavit, executive vice-president Felipe Yalong, and four other high-ranking executives.

"We brought in all of our top brass to truly show our level of commitment to the NCAA,” said a GMA official who asked not to be named.

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    TV5, on the other hand, presented to the league board through Smart president & CEO Al Panlilio, TV5 and Cignal president Robert Galang, Head of Consumer Business Individual Jane Basas and Consumer Business for Home head Butch Jimenez.

    Flexing their muscles, GMA officials highlighted the network’s high trust rating among Filipino consumers (73%) and wide audience reach - a total of 13.5 billion views online where it is followed by more than 100 million subscribers.

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      GMA, sources said, is also bent on utilizing its state-of-the-art equipment used in its news, public affairs and entertainment for the NCAA coverage where it also plans to bring in displaced employees of ABS-CBN.

      “That’s how dedicated our coverage of NCAA is and hopefully this signals the start of a successful sporting sojourn for our network,” said the network insider. "The key for GMA now is to present a different NCAA, totally distinct from how it was presented by ABS-CBN and TV5 for the last 20 years.

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      "And we’re up to the challenge,” he added.

      Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph

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