State-run IBC TV 13 Eyed As Alternative Learning Platform

The television network that was patronized by children in the 1990s because of Japanese cartoons and live action series may soon have a new generation of viewers.

But things will be quite different for Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation or IBC 13 – now called IBC TV 13 – as young viewers will tune in not because of Bioman, Shaider, Maskman, Daimos or Voltes V.

They will watch – or more accurately, required to watch – the television network to continue their education at a time when holding face-to-face classes is deemed too risky due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

In his ninth report to Congress dated May 25 on the government’s response to the pandemic, President Duterte said the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) is working with the Department of Education (DepEd) to use the state-run TV network as an educational platform.

“The PCOO is currently coordinating with DepEd for the use of the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation for the TV broadcasting-based education as an alternative learning platform,” the President said in the report.

PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar believes using IBC TV 13 as a learning platform will make education more accessible.

“It should reach more students through a hybrid satellite, digital and free-to-air TV,” Andanar told The Philippine STAR.

The government is encouraging educational institutions to adopt flexible learning while a vaccine for COVID-19 is still not available. Schools should be ready to blend face-to-face classes with online learning and to use broadcast media to deliver lessons, officials said.

While some schools have been holding online classes, there have been concerns that the learning mode may discriminate against students who do not have internet access. In a recent press briefing, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the use of local television and radio stations would ensure that learning would be more inclusive.

He said blended or flexible learning would be part of the “new normal” while the world is grappling with the pandemic, which has so far infected more than 14,000 people in the Philippines.

'In dire straits'

IBC 13 used to be owned by the late diplomat, lawyer and banker Roberto Benedicto, a close friend of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The government sequestered the network after the people power revolution that toppled the dictatorship in 1986.

In its heyday, the network carried iconic shows like Iskul Bukol, T.O.D.A.S. or Television’s Outrageously Delightful All-Star Show, Chicks to Chicks and See-True.

Children of the 1990s, however, remember the network as the home of popular Japanese metal heroes series Shaider, Mask Rider Black and Machineman; sentai or superhero team shows Bioman and Maskman; and several anime programs like Voltes V, Daimos, Ghost Fighter and Dragon Ball. Some of these shows were subsequently aired in other television networks.

The network aired games of the Philippine Basketball Association and other sports shows through a deal with Vintage Television, which was eventually acquired by a subsidiary of Viva Entertainment. Because of its deal with Viva, IBC 13 became the home of popular entertainment programs like Star for a Night and the Philippine franchise of British game shows Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and The Weakest Link.

In 2016, then president Benigno Aquino III approved the privatization of IBC 13, admitting that the network was facing financial problems. Officials of the previous administration said the network suffered a net loss of P45.26 million from 2010 to 2014 and received operational subsidies amounting to P23.56 million in 2015.

Days before Rodrigo Duterte assumed the presidency, Andanar said in a television interview that the incoming administration was planning to sell IBC 13 for P10 billion – four times the P2.5-billion price tag set by the previous government.

Last year, Andanar admitted that IBC 13 was in “dire straits” and pushed for the extension of its franchise by 25 years to make it attractive to buyers. The network’s franchise will expire in 2025.

Underutilized

In a House hearing held this month, Andanar said it was a “blessing in disguise” that the Duterte administration has not been able to private IBC 13. Andanar said the government still needs the frequency of the “underutilized” network “to serve the nation.”

According to Andanar, using IBC 13 as a learning platform has its advantage because there is no need to disrupt the regular programming of its fellow state-run People’s Television Network or PTV Channel 4.

Infusing a P100-million investment into IBC 13 would enable the network to reach students in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon, the PCOO chief said. Such investment, Andanar added, would make IBC 13  a “broadcast distance education channel.”

Andanar also told lawmakers that IBC 13 has an outdated tower and is broadcasting at less than 20 kilowatts. Its reach will expand if it can broadcast from 60 to 100 kW at least in Metro Manila, he said.

But improving the reach of the network won’t come cheap. Andanar noted that upgrading IBC 13’s transmitter by one kW would cost as much as P1 million.

“This (coronavirus pandemic) is a wake-up call that the government should be strengthening and investing in both TV network agencies that we have,” Andanar said.