TV5 optimistic about breaking even in 2019

PANGILINAN-LED television station TV5 remains bullish about breaking even this year after rebranding itself as a sports channel more than a year ago, its chief said on Thursday.

At the sidelines of a media launch, TV5 President Vincent “Chot” Reyes said that while generating a profit by the end of 2019 might be “difficult,” the station was looking “to take advantage of any opportunity that will allow us to achieve that target.”

According to him, TV5’s shift to showing sports content — which came after it teamed up with US-based sports channel ESPN in October 2017 that led to renaming its Sports 5 channel as ESPN 5 — allowed it to reduce its net loss by 30 percent in 2018.

This despite challenges facing the industry, including the decline in total television viewership, as seen in the weaker advertising revenues posted by ABS-CBN Corp. and GMA Network Inc.

The improvements, the TV5 president said, was buoyed by continued operational efficiencies, and the fact sports content does not demand high expenses, unlike conventional entertainment genres.

“I think the [partnership] with the ESPN was very important, because it gives us a lot of content at a cost [that] was not as prohibitive as it was when we used to do general entertainment,” he added.

“When the changes gain more traction — this is now year two, with 5 Plus coming onboard — hopefully we can further improve that by the end of the year.”

5 Plus is the new name of TV5 sister channel AksyonTV that will be relaunched on Sunday.

The rebranded channel would offer atypical entertainment, lifestyle, news, sports and sports-related content aimed at younger and more adventurous audiences.

It would air e-sports tournaments, including The Nationals, and feature games such as Dota 2, Mobile Legends and Tekken. It will also broadcast the National Basketball Training Center League and the National Cheerleading Championship, among others.

https://www.manilatimes.net/tv5-optimistic-about-breaking-even-in-2019/494897/

TV5 Network trims losses in 2018

TV5 Network, Inc. reduced its losses by as much as 30% in 2018, according to its president Vincent P. Reyes.

However, Mr. Reyes told reporters on Thursday that it would be “very, very difficult” to achieve its target of breaking even by end-2019.

“I think the more important thing is in 2018 we improved our bottom line, in fact by 30%, over last year… I would be the first to say, it’s going to be very, very difficult to (break even) by the end of the year. But I think I am confident in the fact that we have assembled a team that is going to be able to take advantage of any such opportunity that who knows, will allow us to achieve that target by the end of this year,” he said.

While TV5’s transition into a sports network in a drop in advertising placements in 2018, Mr. Reyes said it also allowed the network to reduce losses by eliminating costly entertainment content.

“We knew that… the ads spent in sports are not going to be as big as the ads spent in entertainment. However, the cost for us was a lot, lot lower as well than being in entertainment, and to the magnitude of about 30% to 35%. That’s why it resulted in better bottom line numbers for the network,” he said.

“I think the partnership with ESPN was very important because it gave us a lot of content at a cost which was not as prohibitive as it was when we used to do general entertainment,” he added.

Aside from starting a partnering with ESPN in 2017, TV5 is relaunching its “AksyonTV” channel into “5 Plus” on Jan. 13.

Mr. Reyes said 5 Plus will target the younger audience with content ranging from extreme sports to esports tournaments. For the simulcast of Radyo5 news programs that used to air in AksyonTV, he said these will be moved to the Cignal platform.

“(5 Plus) going to give us another platform to monetize. Before, honestly, we had some difficulty monetizing Aksyon because there wasn’t a definite identity and it was very hard,” he told reporters.

“I think it’s (5 Plus) going to be a big part in our revenue targets. It plays a much, much bigger role than it (AksyonTV) used to have. So, I think it’s going to be a big help, and the benefits of 5 Plus should be felt — if plans don’t miscarry, it should be felt by the entire organization,” he added.

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https://www.bworldonline.com/tv5-network-trims-losses-in-2018/

TV5 improves bottom line by 30% in 2018

TV5 Network Inc. is confident to meet its “breakeven” goal for 2019, following its success last year to reduce by 30 percent its net loss on the back of constant improvement in its operations and complete transition to sports programming.

“That still remains to be the target. But I think the more important thing is in 2018, we ended up improving our bottom line—in fact, by 30 percent. And I felt that was a great performance, especially given the difficulties that the others in our industry are experiencing,” TV5 President and CEO Vincent P. Reyes told reporters in an interview after their press briefing for the rebrand of AksyonTV held in Makati City on Thursday.

He attributed the reduction on their losses mainly to their continued operational efficiencies and partnership with ESPN through the launch of the co-branded ESPN5 channel in October 2017.

“It gave us a lot of content at a cost which was not as prohibitive as it was when we used to do general entertainment,” he said of their tie-up with the leading global sports network.

“Being in the general entertainment [or] showbiz category really entails a lot of expense to be competitive. And because we made a conscious decision not to do that anymore and shift to sports, it allowed us to, like I said, greatly reduced our expenditures,” he said.

When pressed about his prospects for 2019, the top executive sees it “very promising” given the results of the first year of their shift to sports.

“And I think when the changes gain more traction here—this is now Year 2, and then ‘5 Plus’ coming onboard—hopefully, we can further improve that at the end of the year,” Reyes said.

AksyonTV is set to relaunch as 5 Plus on January 13, mainly serving atypical entertainment, lifestyle, sports and sports-related content while targeting younger viewers.

“So doing things like the launching of 5 Plus just give us greater impetus to grow and target our younger audience,” he said.

5 Plus is aimed at serving content attuned with the pace of the viewers’ active lifestyle and interests.

This secondary channel to 5 will cover X Games, e-sports and collegiate games.

Meanwhile, the simulcast of Radyo5 news programs airing on AksyonTV will be transferred to its new home on Cignal.

The repositioning also sees a complete overhaul of the channel’s look, with the end goal of visually communicating its new image.

A young, dynamic design language was developed to represent the new programming and target audience.

Music identity and sonic branding also complement the visual changes of the channel.

A selection of 5 Plus’s atypical sports coverage will also be made available on the Web via www.tv5.com.ph and on 5’s social-media platforms.

The latter will continue to promote more established sports like basketball, volleyball and boxing, among others.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/tv5-improves-bottom-line-by-30-in-2018/

TV5 narrows losses in 2018

TV5 Network Inc. has further narrowed its losses in 2018, but the company may still be quite far from achieving its break even target this year.

TV5 president Vincent Reyes said yesterday the network improved its bottom line last year by 30 percent from the previous year.

“We narrowed the loss by another 30 percent moving towards the eventual promise land,” Reyes said.

“I thought that was a great performance given the difficulties the others in the industry are experiencing,” he said.

TV5 has been on a mission of trimming its losses as it sets a target of breaking even by 2019.

“It’s still a target, but I will be the very first to say it’s going to be very, very difficult to achieve that by the end of the year. But I am confident in the fact that we have assembled a team that is going to be able to take advantage of any such opportunity that will allow us to achieve that target by the end of this year,” he said.

Reyes attributed the network’s improved bottom line performance last year to the continued operational efficiencies as well as its partnership with ESPN.

“The partnership with ESPN was very important because it gave us a lot of content at a cost which was not as prohibitive as it was when we used to do general entertainment because it’s not any secret that being in the general entertainment-showbiz category really entails a lot of expense to be competitive. But because we made conscious decision not to do that anymore and shift to sports, it has allowed us to greatly reduce our expenditures by a lot,” Reyes said.

TV5, however, saw a contraction in revenue in 2018, which according to Reyes, was due to lower ad spending as a result of its shift away from the general entertainment category.

“Total TV viewership is on a decline and that’s why that is directly related to the kind of revenue outlook we can expect. However, this year is election year. All of us networks should benefit from the election spending, hopefully,” he said.

TV5 expects to get a revenue boost from the upcoming rebranding of its sister channel AksyonTV into 5 Plus starting on Jan. 13.

5 Plus will serve as a secondary channel to TV5 that will serve non-mainstream sport and sport-related content geared towards a younger audience.

“It (AksyonTV) was kind of all over the place so by making it 5 Plus, then that should resolve that. I think it’s going to be a big part in our revenue target.  It will play much bigger role that it used to have. It’s going to help,” Reyes said.

https://www.philstar.com/business/2019/01/11/1883955/tv5-narrows-losses-2018