Sentimentality aside, select ABS-CBN shows return to Channel 2 on May 13

Sentimentality aside, select ABS-CBN shows return to Channel 2 on May 13

As ABS-CBN‘s flagship news program “TV Patrol” started broadcasting on the Manny Villar-owned ALLTV channel, several other Kapamilya shows will also begin airing on free-to-air Channel 2 on May 13, a move that appeared to strike a sentimental chord on some network loyalists.

The announcement comes after the executives of the media conglomerate and Advanced Media Broadcasting System (AMBS), operator of the ALLTV, forged a partnership in a contract signing ceremony at the Brittany Hotel in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, on Tuesday, April 23.

Among the executives who graced the event are, from the Villar group, chairman Manny Villar; Vista Land & Lifescapes president and CEO Paolo Villar; House deputy speaker and All Value Holdings Corp. president and CEO Camille Villar; Senator Mark Villar; AMBS president Maribeth Tolentino; and, AMBS CFO Cecille Bernardo.

Representing ABS-CBN were chairman Mark Lopez, CEO and president Carlo Katigbak, COO Cory Vidanes, and CPO Bobby Barreiro.

“ALLTV viewers can catch selected all-time favorite Kapamilya teleseryes from JeepneyTV in different parts of the day, including primetime, and get the latest important news from ‘TV Patrol,’” ABS-CBN said in a statement.

Exact details on the programs coming to ALLTV are yet to be announced, as of this writing.

The media giant’s flagship newscast has been airing on the network since April 15.

In his speech, Katigbak acknowledged certain sentiments of some Kapamilya programs returning to its former channel, but he hoped the event would be a reminder to “put the past behind” so they could focus on serving the public.

“There’s a bit of a sentimental note because we’re bringing our long-running programs back to Channel 2. I know some feel some pain over our return to our former channel, a home that was once ours, but let’s try and put the past behind us and embrace our mission to serve the Filipino there may be,” he said.

Camille Villar, for her part, hoped ABS-CBN and ALLTV’s partnership would “open more doors” for collaborations in the future.

The ABS-CBN previously owned the frequency of ALLTV until it went off the air on May 5, 2020, after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) ordered its shutdown. Meanwhile, 70 congressmen from the House of Representatives, including Camille Villar, voted against renewing ABS-CBN’s franchise to its channels, including its free TV frequencies in 2020 in what was widely believed to be politically motivated.

Villar-linked AMB System Inc., whose 25-year franchise extension was approved in 2019, subsequently took over the television broadcast frequencies previously held by the Lopezes in January 2022.