Lopez-led SkyCable to air GMA-7’s QTV channel

REPORT FROM BUSINESSWORLD GMA Network, Inc. (GMA-7) signed a deal with Lopez-owned SkyCable ending the almost seven years of disagreement over the ownership of Channel 27. The latest agreement said GMA’s newest channel Quality Television (QTV) 11 will now be seen on SkyCable and its unit Home Cable Channel 24 starting July 12. According to a media statement, the deal was signed by GMA Netwok representative Manuel P. Quiogue and Virginia S. Jose for Zoe Broadcasting Network and Carlo Katigbak for Central CATV which oversees SkyCable and Home Cable. This came after GMA said in February that it wanted SkyCable and Home Cable to finally turn over Channel 27 because of persistent signal interference with GMA’s ZoeTV, which is broadcast over Channel 11. GMA had been negotiating for the turnover since 1999 but had been unable to strike a deal with SkyCable. Initially, SkyCable had rejected GMA’s claim in March noting that giving up Channel 27 in favor of ZoeTV would result in duplicate broadcast of GMA programs. But the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ordered last month SkyCable to yield its Channel 27 slot to GMA’s QTV 11, prompting it to re-assign its ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) to anotherslot. The same decision had denied Zoe’s request to transfer its VHF TV 11 to another channel and continue to carry QTV-11 at the channel in which it is broadcasting. -- Maricel E. Estavillo/BusinessWorld