Jeano Rustico Cruz

Unilever Philippines

August 1, 2015

A Concerted Effort Fueled By Ambition

The history of TV all started with an ambition by American engineer
James Lindenberg but it wasnt a one-man show from there. The
actualization of the television industry in the Philippines was a result of a
concerted effort by a handful of people connected by one goal; that is, to
pioneer the television industry here in the country.
The dreams of Lindenberg dubbed as Father of Philippine
Television wasnt enough to cut it. It was Judge Antonio Quirino, brother of
then-president Elpidio Quirino, who was able to help jumpstart this quest.
Quirino was the one who helped lobby to the Congress the acquisition of a
license to put up a television station in the country, and secure both financial
and technological investments. Despite various setbacks like suspicion
against him regarding his probable use of the medium to rally a second term
for his then-president brother, he still continued. He bought 70% of
Lindenbergs company called Bolinao Electronics Corporation and renamed it
to Alto Broadcasting System (ABS), therefore giving himself control yet letting
Lindenberg manage the company.
Quirino was also the one who was able to secure help from the Radio
Corporation of America for technical support. Joes Electric was also tapped
by Quirino for a Php 60,000 loan in exchange for the rights to sell television
sets in the country. This allowed Quirino and the owner of Joes Electric to put
up 120 initial television sets. Four people who made the Philippine television
industry possible also were Arcadio Carandang, Romualdo Carballo, Harry
Chaney, and Jose Navarro who were all sent to RCA for training and then
later on took initial responsibilities in the countrys first television station.
The first channel in the Philippines was DZAQ-TV Channel 3, which
telecasted on October 23, 1953. They were initially a four-hour-a-day channel
and had imported shows internationally and borrowed films from embassies,
and then transitioned into using mediocre American TV shows because doing
this is still costing them lower than actually producing their own local shows.
Soon enough in 1956, competition faced ABS in the name of Chronicle
Broadcasting Network (CBN), launched by businessmen brothers Eugenio and
Fernando Lopez. In the same year, they were able to buy out ABS and then
merge into Bolinao Electronics Corporation (BEC) again.
The 1960s until the early 1970s proved to be the rise of the popularity
of television as more channels and stations like GMA, IBC, RPN and GTV
emerged ready to ride onto this industry boom. On February of 1967, BEC
then renamed itself to ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation. Advertisers like
Procter & Gamble Philippines, Philippine Refining Company, Colgate-Palmolive
and many others soon participated in the development of the industry.
For a short time between the 1970s and the 1980s, television was
greatly affected by the martial law in the country. It was restored in 1986 and
has been continuously developing and innovating the Philippine media

Jeano Rustico Cruz

Unilever Philippines

August 1, 2015

industry. More channels came up and soon enough created their own
identities and audiences for themselves.
At the end, the history of Philippine television wont actualize without
an ambition fueling them and the concerted efforts among the pioneers of
the industry. Without them, we wont have the strongest and most
penetrating medium in the country currently.