BY MYLA IGLESIAS
ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., yesterday said that
political ads helped double its income for the first quarter as it
wrests back viewer leadership from rival GMA-7.
Income rose from P118 million to P280 according to
Miquel Navarette vice president for finance.
Navarette said airtime revenue went up by 20 percent
to P2.7 billion this quarter from P2.3 billion last year.
He explained that half of the 20 percent growth comes
from political ads from mid-February to March.
Navarette also reported that in the first quarter of
2007, Based on the nationwide audience share ABS-CBN topped at 47
percent share GMA Broadcasting Network’s 35 percent
The ABSCBN rating has improved by 19 percent compared
to GMA Broadcasting Network of 14 percent.
The company gross revenues rose by 8 percent year on
year to P 4.2 billion.
He said ABS-CBN is still on track with the P 1.5
billion capex for the year.
Growth in expense was negligible after tight cost control while
operating income rose by 38 percent to P 532 million ,translating to
operating margin of 13 percent as against 10 percent in the same period
last year .
