MANILA, Philippines – Handyman Ramil Jacobo used to watch his favorite television series FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano on television, when ABS-CBN Corporation still had its broadcast business prior to May 2020. Not anymore. 

After the Kapamilya network lost its Channel 2 frequency, Jacobo now watches Coco Martin’s hit action-drama, FPJ’s Batang Quiapo, via the video platform YouTube. He still has the option of watching it on free TV such as on the Kapatid network TV5 or on televangelist Eddie Villanueva’s A2Z channel where ABS-CBN’s prime time teleseryes are aired, but Jacobo told Rappler he prefers watch it on his mobile phone since he can watch it on demand. 

That’s the case for many Filipinos as legacy media continues to lose market share to digital platforms. And it’s a trend that will continue in the years ahead. 

ABS-CBN, now the Philippines’ leading content creator and distributor, said on Thursday, October 17, that its YouTube subscribers has hit 50 million, making it the “most subscribed YouTube channel” in the media and entertainment category in Southeast Asia. 

“ABS-CBN continues to strengthen its online presence as the company went full blast on digital in 2020 by offering for free its currently airing programs and well-loved shows on YouTube for its growing online family of subscribers,” the publicly listed firm said in a press statement. 

The former broadcast giant pivoted to digital as it launched Kapamilya Online Live in August 2020, right after the House of Representatives rejected its franchise renewal the month prior. It offers livestream and on-demand viewing of Kapamilya shows around the world via ABS-CBN’s Entertainment YouTube channel. 

The media company said last July that watch time on ABS-CBN’s YouTube livestream has increased by an average of 85% yearly since 2020. On smart TVs, it hit 554.9 million watch-time hours, and on mobile, it reached 549.6 million. 

“It’s a new way for Filipinos to watch TV,” Kane Choa, corporate communications head of ABS-CBN, told Rappler on Thursday.

Ajay Vidyasagar, managing director of YouTube Southeast Asia and Emerging Markets, said the 50-million milestone shows that ABS-CBN’s content “resonates with millions of Filipinos around the world.” 

The Lopez-led firm announced its YouTube record after confirming another round of layoffs which it attributed to declining advertising revenues industry-wide. ABS-CBN’s entertainment and news content now airs on other networks, mainly on TV5, A2Z, and ALLTV, all of which are affected by the decline of the broadcast industry.

Winning hearts and minds

In a study on Most Valuable Philippine Brands by consulting firm Kantar Brandz presented last month, Eva Claravall, Philippines and Asia-Pacific head for customer experience, said streaming platforms simply offer much better services today than broadcast networks. 

She said that unlike legacy TV, which has fixed programming on free TV or cable TV, streaming or account-based entertainment services, also called over-the-top (OTT) media, offer viewers the “flexibility to choose which shows to watch based on previous views, when to watch, where to watch, and without disruptions from a media library.” 

Among the OTT services now available in the Philippines are Netflix, Disney+, Vivamax, Viu, and Prime Video. ABS-CBN has consolidated its own OTT into iWantTFC.

She noted that consumers are now willing to pay for these services.

“While legacy TV brands remain salient, OTT pioneers YouTube and Netflix win both hearts and minds of Filipinos,” she said. “On-demand content have captivated audiences with personalized viewing experiences — differentiating significantly and meaningfully from the rigid programming schedules of broadcast networks.” 

She said both YouTube and Netflix “command their worth differently.” 

In the case of YouTube, it offers “better value than broadcast networks, while Netflix’s “extensive and updated media content library…justifies premium pricing.” 

Netflix’s plans range from P149 to P549 per month, and consumers can watch either on their mobile phones, tablets, laptops, or smart TVs. 

Claravall said “YouTube charges ahead…as an aggregator of all types of content,” which are accessible “across devices.”

“Availability of free and premium options further enable it to command unparalleled attention across all platforms,” she added.

YouTube Premium costs only P189 a month if consumers want the service ad-free. There’s also a family option that costs P379 per month, or a student option that costs P115 monthly. 

She said YouTube can grow even further by “adapting from long- to short-form videos, which she described as the “birthplace of influencers and and creators.”

”[The] Key is now [for YouTube] is to look into new spaces, pain points, and interests to penetrate,” she said. 

Claravall said “the future demands for more on-demand content.” 

“The OTT landscape is a battleground for dominance — with YouTube and Netflix paving the way,” she said. 

“As TV networks struggle to keep up, the future of traditional media hangs in the balance, [and] needs to leverage salience to be more meaningfully different,” Claravall said. – Rappler.com