October marks the anniversary of the Philippine television industry which first made its mark in 1953. As its own to commemorate the milestones of the Philippine media, (broadcast media in particular) this blog will dedicate this month writing some interesting tidbits and places in broadcast history, past and present.
Long considered as titans in the print media industry with their ownership of Manila Times and the Liwayway Group of Publications to name a few, the Roces family found themselves getting involved in the booming broadcast industry in 1960, thanks to the license given to them by Philippine Congress. Thus, on June 19 of that year, Joaquin “Chino” Roces founded the Associated Broadcasting Company.
Originally starting out with studios along Roxas Boulevard, ABC would also have studios along the former Pasong Tamo St., nearby the head office of Roces’ Liwayway Group Publications. During its first 12 years, ABC was considered one of the top TV networks of the time, and a fierce competitor of ABS-CBN, then already known as the number one broadcast network, not to mentioned it being owned by another influential family in the media industrty as well, the Lopezes.
