On Tuesday, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) issued two new cease and desist orders against ABS-CN’s satellite and digital television transmission.
The NTC ordered the network to stop its digital TV transmission in Metro Manila using channel 43. Viewers with TVPlus set-top boxes in Metro Manila will be unable to watch Teleradyo, Jeepney TV, Yey!, Asianovela Channel, CineMo and KBO.
It also told the ABS-CBN subsidiary Sky Cable to halt its direct broadcast satellite service Skydirect, which has 1.5 million subscribers nationwide.
The directives came less than two months after the media giant’s radio and TV broadcast operations were ordered shutdown on May 5, a day after its 25-year franchise expired. Its bid for franchise renewal is still pending at the House of Representatives.
In statements released on Tuesday, ABS-CBN and Sky Cable said they would comply with the orders.
“While channel 43 is not mentioned in NTC’s cease and desist order (CDO) of May 5, 2020, and it is ABS-CBN’s informed understanding that channel 43 is not included in the CDO, digital TV transmission in Metro Manila using channel 43 will cease tonight (June 30), consistent with the intent of the alias CDO,” ABS-CBN said.
“ABS-CBN has a pending petition with the Supreme Court questioning the NTC’s CDO and hopes that such petition will be resolved soon in its favor so that it can resume broadcasting on both analog and digital platforms in the service of the Filipino,” the network added.
While noting that Skycable and Sky broadband services are not affected by the CDO, Sky Cable Corp. appealed to NTC for fairness. “We continue to appeal to the NTC to extend the same privilege given in the past to other companies whose franchises have expired but are currently pending in Congress to continue its operations until a resolution is passed.”
After the release of their home network’s statements, these Kapamilya celebrities were quick to react to the news.
Actress Kim Chiu reposted the statement on her Instagram story, expressing her disbelief.
“Minsan mapapaisip ka nalang talaga. Gusto mo magsalita pero di mo magawa. May takot, kaba, trauma…. Nakakalungkot na pinagdadaanan ng lahat ng kapamilya ito. Ayaw ko man isipin pero parang personalan na… wala akong tinutukoy, eto lamang ay nasa isip ko lang…. Grabe lang. Grabe,” she said.
It’s Showtime host Anne Curtis said NTC’s move is taking away people’s choice to be entertained and informed in times like these.
She added that it is also taking away jobs at a time when finding another job is impossible.
“Sana and siguro naman hindi pwede galawin ang online platform noh?” she asked.
While Angel Locsin said she hopes there was an option to choose where her taxes would go.
“Kanina pumara ako sa harap ng ABS nung nabalitaan ko ang posibleng patigil sa TV Plus at Sky. Eto nanaman yung pakiramdam na maiiyak ka na lang. Sana may option na pwede kang mamili kung saan pupunta ang binabayang mong tax. To my ABS family, hang in there,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
“I’m so, so sorry, Kapamilya. There are just no words,” megastar Sharon Cuneta reacted to the news on Instagram.
Love Thy Woman star Zsa Zsa Padilla expressed how hurt she was over the latest developments with her home network. “Pero itong balitang ito… napakasakit. Nakapanlulumo. Lord Jesus, bigyan nyo po kami ng lakas para ipagpatuloy ang aming trabaho. Gabayan nyo po sana lahat ng kasamahan ko sa Kapamilya Channel. Kayo na po ang bahala sa amin. ?.”
Singer Martin Nievera said it was “another sad day in Kapamilya history.”
Others followed suit and posted a photo of three emoji hearts representing ABS-CBN’s colors.
