Billionaire Manny V. Pangilinan on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) confirmed the merger of TV5 and GMA Networks [for international distribution]. Here’s the breaking news as reported by Ricky Lo on his Funfare column:
MANILA, Philippines – As The STAR reported in a scoop a few issues ago, the KapatidNetwork TV5 and Kapuso Network GMA have merged, a landmark development to be formally launched end of November.
This was virtually confirmed by Kapatid big boss Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP, photo)during the presscon last Saturday in San Francisco where a partnership between TV5 and Dish Network was formally signed, called Dish Ko ’To, promoting the combined channels of GMA Pinoy TV and Kapatid TV5. Dish is the leading provider of satellite television in the US.
MVP was there for the Sanfo launch of TV5 in Northern California. Last May 26, the same event was held in L.A.
MVP also revealed that the TV5 board is investing P6 billion on the completion of various studios in the Philippines.
Source: Ricky Lo http://www.philstar.com/funfare/article.aspx?articleid=813765&publicationsubcategoryid=70
Meanwhile, actress and former beauty queen Ruffa Gutierrez, who was among the TV5 celebrities at a grand launch of the game show “Wil Time Bigtime,” had a different take on what Pangilinan supposedly said during the presscon.
She tweeted: “MVP says suportahan nyo ang TV5 sa America at Huwag nyo rin po Kalimutan ang GMA-7 (He asked for support for TV5. He added that the audience should also support GMA-7).”
Gutierrez tweeted this a few minutes after Lo’s “breaking news” created an online buzz, and of course those in the know followed suit.
Bothered by the buzz, according to reports, MVP himself sent a text message to TV5 host Arnel Ignacio. And here what he said;
“You know Arnel, all I said was-please support TV5 here in the States. And by the way, pls support GMA7 too (since Dish carries GMA), That was all. No mention of merger investment, combination. Certainly no mention of November deadline or any deadline at all. Suresome people speculated and all i said was I can now say we, re under discussion but nothing finalized at this time.”
So there…sa mga nakuryete, tawa na lang! But here’s the catch, a good source tells that this breaking news is just a prelude to an even bigger surprise that will shock the onlookers. Remember, where there’s smoke there’s fire!
VERY WANG 