ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center
The ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center in Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines is the oldest headquarters of ABS-CBN. It occupies an area of approximately 34,000 square meters adjacent to ELJ Communications Center. It was originally built in 1968 and was then the most advanced broadcast facility in Asia. Today it is now the country's largest and most technologically advanced media facility.
Built as the headquarters of ABS-CBN, the center has since seen several management changes, such as a takeover by RPN and sister station BBC in 1973, the addition of a third tenant, the government station GTV in 1974, and then the departure of RPN and BBC in 1978 to Broadcast City and the entry of NMPC and BB in 1980 which accompanied the remaining tenant MBS. From 1986 to 1992, the reopened ABS-CBN and PTV, along with PBS, shared the Broadcast Center and following PTV's departure in 1992, ABS-CBN has since regained full control of the facility.
History
1968–1972: First era under ABS-CBN
The broadcasting center, conceptualized by ABS-CBN's then-President Eugenio Lopez Jr., began construction on February 24, 1967 and was opened on December 18, 1968. Prior to the opening, ABS-CBN held headquarters in two buildings: the ABS building in Roxas Boulevard for ABS-CBN's Manila TV stations at that time, DZAQ-TV 3 and DZXL-TV 9, and the Chronicle Building in Aduana, Manila for its Manila radio stations. With the opening, ABS-CBN's radio and TV operations were housed in one building. ABS-CBN would soon give away the Roxas Boulevard studios to Kanlaon Broadcasting System or KBS, which then took Channel 9 and prompted ABS-CBN to switch frequencies from Channels 3 and 9 to Channels 2 and 4.When it was opened, it was the most advanced TV broadcasting facility in Asia. ABS-CBN mentioned that before Martial Law, it was once the training ground of TV electronics engineers from other countries. The new TV transmitter tower known as the Millennium Transmitter in the complex would begin beaming Channel 2 and 4's signals in 1969.
1972–1986: Martial law and takeover by KBS/RPN, BBC, GTV/MBS and the BB
On September 22, 1972, ABS-CBN was shut down after then-President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. All of its properties, which included the Broadcast Center, were seized from the network.The facility was not to be used again at least until RPN, whose first facility given by ABS-CBN was destroyed by a fire, took over the facility in 1973. It also became home of two newly formed networks BBC which took Channel 2 and Government Television which took Channel 4 in 1974. The facility was also renamed as the Broadcast Plaza.
RPN and BBC, were all owned by Roberto Benedicto from the Canoys, who owns RMN and the Sorianos in 1975; and IBC which is still based from then town of San Juan del Monte, Rizal province, and GTV was owned by the government through National Media Production Center. Benedicto owned the facility without any compensation. The crony-owned networks used ABS-CBN's facilities without even paying the network's owners, the Lopezes, making the network's technologies gradually dilapidated, resulting in it losing its prestige as one of the most advanced broadcasting centers in Asia.
In July 1978, RPN and BBC left the Broadcast Plaza for their new home in the Broadcast City, situated in Old Balara in Quezon City, leaving GTV, which at that point was relaunched as Maharlika Broadcasting System two years later, as the sole tenant of the facility.
In 1980, the Bureau of Broadcasts, a radio network also owned by the government under the Department/Ministry of Public Information, was also transferred to Broadcast Plaza after the Office of Media Affairs was created to provide a unitary form of media for both NMPC and the BB.
In 1986, the complex was stormed by anti-Marcos rebel soldiers that attacked and took over Channel 4 under the supervision of ABS-CBN's former General Manager Augusto Almeda-Lopez. Channel 4 then went back on the air to serve the people and to broadcast the historic People Power Revolution that resulted in Ferdinand Marcos being ousted from office.
1986–1992: Housing ABS-CBN and PTV
After Marcos was deposed and when Corazon Aquino became the first female president, MBS became People's Television Network while the radio properties of NMPC and the BB were integrated to the reinstated pre-Martial Law era Philippine Broadcasting Service. The same year, RPN, IBC, and BBC were sequestered by the government from Benedicto. BBC was dissolved and its frequencies were given to ABS-CBN, which was turned back to the Lopezes and was relaunched on September 14, 1986. RPN and IBC, on the other hand − were turned over to the government. While Channel 4 remained with PTV, Channel 2 of the former BBC was given back to ABS-CBN.At that time, the facility was dilapidated. The technology in the facility was very old, the center was sorely lacking in tables, chairs, and telephones, there were plants growing on the compound's walls, and some of the studios' walls were even crumbling.
In January 1987, the network did get back the facility, but with an agreement with PTV wherein they will share the space, splitting it 50–50. In just two years after reopening, ABS-CBN would soon regain ratings leadership and propel itself back to financial stability.
During the coup attempt against President Aquino on August 28, 1987, a fierce fire fight between rebel soldiers and the police raged around the compound as rebel soldiers seized PTV. Eventually, the rebels' assault was thwarted and PTV was back under the control of the government, but in the midst of the conflict, P/Sgt. Eduardo A. Esguerra of the Quezon City Police Department fell and died in the compound. A marker in his memory on the spot where he died was erected a year after the assault, and Bohol Avenue, where ABS-CBN is situated, was eventually renamed Sgt. Esguerra Avenue.
The network soon filed a case against Marcos, Benedicto, and his networks for not compensating for the usage of the broadcast technology and equipment in the facility that clearly belonged to ABS-CBN. At this point, the facility's former tenant RPN and its then-sister station IBC, once the dominant channels, both slumped in the ratings as ABS-CBN furthered its supremacy during the tail-end of the decade.
In 1988, a fire hit one of the studios in the compound, injuring a few people and slightly damaging the broadcast equipment. It was also the site of a failed military coup in 1989 that attempted to overthrow the then-current Aquino government.
DZMM, ABS-CBN's flagship AM radio station, soon moved to the Broadcast Center in 1987, along with DWRR, its flagship FM radio station. Prior to this, DZMM was once housed at the Chronicle Building in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, where it was relaunched in 1986 as a news and commentary station.
at night.
1992–1999: Second era under ABS-CBN
After years on January 22, 1992, ABS-CBN finally regained full control of the facility after both PTV and the PBS/BBS moved out of the area for a new broadcasting complex and the new 500 ft transmitter tower situated in Visayas Avenue, Quezon City.The network renovated the Broadcasting Center and began the long, tedious process of updating its broadcasting technology and equipment. By the end of the millennium, the Broadcast Center had become the most advanced broadcast facility in the Philippines.
2000–present: The new millennium
In 2000, the Broadcasting Center was renovated again, with its hallways turned into a picture gallery of the network's stars and personalities, and the transmitter in the complex was relaunched as the Millennium Transmitter, increasing its transmitter power to 120 kilowatts.That same year, the network moved most of its operations to the newly inaugurated Eugenio Lopez Jr. Communications Center, named in honor of the network's late chairman Eugenio Lopez, Jr. It became the new home of the offices of many of the network's operations as well as four new technologically advanced studios. The building was accredited by PEZA as an IT zone in 2003.
The building was built mainly to suit ABS-CBN's growing demands - a result of its diversification from a broadcasting network to a media powerhouse engaging not only in radio and TV broadcasting but now also in movie production, records, merchandising, cable and UHF TV, international services, and post-production. The Broadcast Center is still being used as the headquarters for the network's news division and its nine studios are still being used by the network's entertainment programs.
In 2003, the National Historical Commission set up a plaque in the entrance of the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center, honouring the first TV broadcast made in the country, made by DZAQ-TV Channel 3, owned by Alto Broadcasting System, precursor of ABS-CBN.
In 2005, the Millennium Transmitter increased its power to 346.2 kilowatts , the most powerful in its history. In 2008, in honour of the 80th birthday of one of its most prized talents, the late comedy king Dolphy, Studio 1 was renamed as the Dolphy Theater. In 2009, the Millennium Transmitter increased its height to 720 feet and was also reinforced with powerful dipole antennas replacing the cylinder antennas.
Structures
ABS-CBN main building
The ABS-CBN main building was originally built in 1968 and was the main headquarters of the whole ABS-CBN network for decades until 2000 when the ELJ Communications Center was opened. It is directly connected to the network's studios which was also built in 1968. The main entrance to the whole complex is located here. Today, it is mainly occupied by the news division ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs and the Manila Radio Division which consist of DZMM Radyo Patrol 630 and MOR 101.9 as well as its ABS-CBNnews.com website. The ABS-CBN Newsroom which is used by the ABS-CBN News Channel for live broadcasts is located here.There is also a historical marker in the building's entrance which commemorates the first TV broadcast in the Philippines which was made by ABS-CBN on October 23, 1953, which was issued by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines in 2003, the 50th anniversary of ABS-CBN and Philippine television.