Several Facebook (FB) posts are claiming that ABS-CBN will return to free-to-air television on Channel 3. This is false. The network and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) both denied such claims.
Posted as early as Jan. 19, the incorrect posts bore the logo of ABS-CBN along with a caption that read, in part:
“Pasado na sa unang pagbasa ang panibagong resolusyon na layong maibalik ang broadcast franchise ng ABS-CBN… Isa sa mga highlight ng pagbabalik na ito ay ang muling paggamit ng ABS-CBN ng kanilang original frequency na Channel 3, ang unang tahanan ng network noong 1953
(A resolution seeking to restore the broadcast franchise of ABS-CBN was passed on first reading. One of the highlights of this return is ABS-CBN using its original frequency on Channel 3, the network’s first home in 1953).”
“This is false information,” ABS-CBN Corp. said in a statement carried by the broadcast media company’s fact-checking arm.
The NTC also told ABS-CBN Fact Check that the network “has not been issued any permit and/or authorization for the operation of [Channel 3] in Metro Manila or in any part of the country.”
The telecom regulator added that no new frequency or channel has been assigned to the media company after its legislative franchise expired on May 5, 2020.
All five House bills seeking to grant a new franchise to ABS-CBN remain pending at the committee level.
Alto Broadcasting System (ABS), a precursor of ABS-CBN, first aired in Metro Manila on Channel 3 in 1953.
The post continued to circulate in February following a hearing by the House committee on legislative franchises where lawmakers cited the need to address “competition concerns” as a reason to grant ABS-CBN a new franchise.
Posted by FB pages Developing Philippines (created Aug. 28, 2023) and Philippine National News (created Dec. 12, 2016 as Philippine Motorcycle Portal) and five FB users, the erroneous posts received 19,508 interactions.
