Filipino-Chinese News Program Airs On ABS-CBN News Channel

ABS-CBN Corp.’s cable news channel has started airing Chinatown News TV on Monday, April 12, after the broadcasting network entered into an agreement with a Filipino-Chinese media company.

The program is in Mandarin Chinese and will air on ABS-CBN News Channel from 9:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. every Monday to Friday.

According to its website, Chinatown News TV (CNTV) aims to “promote shared Filipino-Chinese culture,” support Beijing’s One Belt One Road or OBOR advocacy and keep the public informed on current events both in the Philippines and abroad.

OBOR is an ambitious economic development and commercial project adopted by the Chinese government in 2013. It focuses on improving connectivity and cooperation among international organizations in nearly 70 countries spread across the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe.

CNTV – produced by Horizon of the Sun Communications Inc. –  is the first news program that regularly reports Philippine headlines in Mandarin.

The news show also reports international headlines using Mandarin as the principal language, with English and Filipino as supporting languages.

It is also aired on NET 25 (Sky Cable Channel 18, Destiny Cable Channel 19, Cignal Cable Channel 14) at 7 a.m. CNTV said on its website that “our target audiences are Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs, parents, and families who check the news every morning before they start their day.”

“We would like to encourage the youth to make watching the morning news their habit, as well as become an avenue for Filipinos who are interested to learn more about Chinese news and culture,” it added.

But the agreement did not sit well with some netizens as some said the timing was unfortunate given the territorial dispute between the Philippines and China over the West Philippine Sea.

Critics pointed out that the agreement could be an opportunity for the Chinese government to push its interests through the OBOR advocacy.

On Wednesday night, April 14, ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs chief Regina “Ging” Reyes addressed the issue and explained that the airing of CNTV should not be equated with the Chinese intrusions in the West Philippine Sea.

“I understand the concerns on Chinese incursions in the West Philippine Sea and many other issues related to the country’s relations with China. ABS-CBN News has vigorously covered these issues, in our pursuit of truth and public enlightenment,” Reyes said in a tweet.

Reyes noted ABS-CBN retains its editorial control over the content of Chinatown News to provide national news stories and ensure the accuracy of the translation from Mandarin to English subtitles.

She also said “we resist discrimination against any race or ethnicity” in approving the airing of the newscast.

“Chinatown News is produced by fellow Filipinos who belong to the Filipino-Chinese community. They are part of Philippine society,” she said.

“Rather than belittle their attempt to provide a service to their local community,” Reyes said “it’s time we considered embracing the diversity of this land we all call home.”

In a separate statement released earlier on Wednesday, ABS-CBN said the agreement is part of the channel’s strategy to grow and serve its various audiences.

“ANC entered into a partnership with a Filipino-Chinese production group for the airing of Chinatown News TV or CNTV, a community newscast that brings relevant hyperlocal stories relevant to Filipino-Chinese audiences,” it said.

In September 2017, CNTV launched the country’s first-ever trilingual news program to promote Filipino-Chinese culture and keep the public informed on current events both here and abroad.

“Chinese News TV” was the first regular show reporting international and local headlines in Mandarin Chinese as the principal language, with English and Filipino as supporting languages.

CNTV is the only 60-minute Filipino-Chinese lifestyle TV show in the country. It said it started out as a co-produced show with NBN 4 under the name “AM@NBN” in 2001. After one year, due to NBN’s change of station format into a sports channel, the show was transferred to IBC 13 and rebranded as “AM@IBC”. It has continued to air on IBC 13 since then.

“Over the years, we have gone through several format improvements to keep ourselves updated with the fast-paced transformations of modern society,” it said, adding that from AM@IBC, it became “CHI,” “FIL CHI” until 2012, “when we evolved into today’s” CNTV.

The CNTV lifestyle show airs every Saturday at 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on NET 25 with replays every Sunday at 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. on IBC 13.