In February 2025, it was announced that ABS-CBN agreed to sell a significant portion of its headquarters to Ayala Land. In particular, ABS-CBN sold off 30,000 of its 44,000+ sqm property, where the main broadcast facility of the network, known as the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center.
This marks the end of an era for ABS-CBN which has been considered the Broadcast Center as its home for more than 50 years. (give or take the time when ABS-CBN’s operations shut down from 1972-1986 and other network/s were using the facility during that time). But how did this storied structure came to be?
Beginnings
The year was 1967 and the company that had owned both Alto Broadcasting System (ABS) and Chronicle Broadcasting Network (CBN) for 10 years at that point underwent a name change to become ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, (they would later drop the “Broadcasting” part of its corporate name in the 2000s) a symbolic move that served to establish its storied past, particularly with ABS, the first to do television broadcast in the country in 1953.
Apart from remembering the past, ABS-CBN was also looking to the future. the company president at that time, Eugenio “Geny” Lopez Jr. drew plans to relocate and consolidate their radio and television operations in one area. At that time, the radio operations were located in Intramuros while the television operations were in a facility in Roxas Boulevard, Pasay. The company would acquire the 44,000+ property in South Triangle, bordering the streets of Cebu Avenue (now Mother Ignacia Avenue), Bohol Avenue (now Sgt. Esguerra Avenue, more on that later) and Scout Albano (now renamed, at least the part traversing the property, to Eugenio Lopez Jr. Avenue) though there has been controversy surrounding the acquisition of the property by ABS-CBN, which contributed to the non-renewal of its broadcast franchise in 2020.
For the building, Geny Lopez tapped the services of Filipino architect Carlos Arguelles to design the building. Arguelles, known for having designed the iconic Philamlife Building and the Cathedral of the Holy Child of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, proceeded to design what a modern, state of the art facility. By the time the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center was inaugurated in 1968 was hailed as the most advanced broadcast facility in Southeast Asia, which consisted of the main building at three storeys high and the studios building where its original seven studios are located.
The Martial Law Interregnum
The declaration of Martial Law in September 1972 put to a halt to the operations of all media. ABS-CBN was the hardest hit as it was deemed to be closed indefinitely as the Lopez assets were seized by the government. Meanwhile, the other broadcasters who were more favorable to the administration of then President Ferdinand Marcos gradually reopened and were salivating at the opportunity of getting the shuttered ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center themselves.
Among those who were eyeing the property and was eventually successful in doing so was the Kanlaon Broadcasting System (KBS) owned by Marcos ally Roberto Benedicto. Interestingly, KBS was operating in the Pasay facility which was previously owned by ABS-CBN. A fire would destroy the KBS facility in June 1973 and Benedicto saw it as an opportunity to take control of the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center to serve as KBS’ new home until it moved to the Broadcast City Complex in Matandang Balara in 1978, sharing space with Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC).
Not content with KBS moving into the ABS-CBN complex, Benedicto would form another television network intended to be the sort of successor to ABS-CBN, the Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in November 1973, with the complex calling it its home. Then in 1974, the newly-established government broadcasting network would make the complex its home as well.
Return and Growth
February 22, 1986 marked the beginning of the end of the Marcos regime as elements of the military supported by the populace staged a revolt against the administration. Things came to a head on February 25, when anti-Marcos forces took control of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center, cutting off a feed of a press conference being held by Marcos being shown by the government broadcaster before going back on air now known as “People’s Television,” which is how today’s PTV got its name.
Marcos would flee the country the following day with the new government headed by Corazon Aquino taking over. Geny Lopez would vie to reclaim the ABS-CBN complex which he was able to pull off in June that year despite criticisms. However, for the next six years, ABS-CBN would have to contend with the limited space it had to operate in as it had to share facilities with PTV until PTV to its present headquarters along Visayas Avenue.
And if that is not enough, the complex was the target of rebel soldiers who staged an attempted coup d’etat against the Aquino government in August 28, 1987. A bloody fight ensued between the rebels and government police forces. While the police were able to thwart the attack, it costed the life of a Quezon City police officer, P/Sgt Eduardo Esguerra. A marker was eventually erected within the compound at the spot where he died and in his honor, Bohol Avenue was renamed Sgt. Esguerra Avenue.
Despite the initial challenges, ABS-CBN would achieve growth to become the Philippines’ leading television network once more. Once the network regained full control of the Broadcasting Center, it undertook a massive redevelopment of the complex, modernizing not only the equipment and the existing buildings but also adding new facilities. This included the construction of a dedicated audience entrance, the seven-storey Development and Talent Center for the development of its growing roster of talents and even a small chapel.
But the highlight of this redevelopment is the construction of the Eugenio Lopez Jr. Communications Center (ELJCC) a structure consisting of a four-storey low-rise and a 15-storey high-rise. The four-storey building houses three television studios, including an area where the props are stored while the high-rise serves as the corporate offices of ABS-CBN and other businesses, as well as some commercial establishments on the ground level.
Crisis and Redirection
While ABS-CBN remained the most dominant television network in the country by the turn of the 21st century, it would face new challenges from different fronts that would lead to the present state the network is contending with.
For one, the rise of digital platforms and the wider array of entertainment choices has brought about a global decline in traditional broadcasting, something ABS-CBN was not immune to. Thus, it began to branch out towards digital platforms in the 2010s, albeit at a small scale. These efforts would accelerate by early 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down production of its many programs.
But the biggest blow would come later that year when the government declined to renew the broadcasting license of ABS-CBN due to reported violations of its franchise that included the violations against the 100% Filipino ownership mandate, citing its issuance of Philippine Depositary Receipts to foreign investors, dual citizenship of its chairman emeritus Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III, . While the nonrenewal of the broadcast license did not shut down ABS-CBN’s operations, it had a huge adverse impact that it led to the further downsizing of the network’s programming and operations, the retrenchment of thousands of personnel, and the accumulation of debt to keep the company running.
Thus, ABS-CBN had to make the transition from being both a content creator and distributor (through its network of TV and radio stations across the country) to being a content creator that has entered into various distributors to put their content out, from former broadcast rivals such as GMA, TV5, and Zoe, to new broadcasters such as Prime Media to digital platforms that range from the free ones like YouTube to the paid such as Netflix.
While this new approach has helped ABS-CBN weather the storms, the gains from this strategy was admitteldy not enough to cover the debt has accumulated even before its broadcast operations halted. And with the network’s focus now towards content creation, it was time to offload much of its assets, which included much of the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center.
With the sale consummated, the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center would only be left with the ELJCC and nearby properties Gina Lopez Building (named after the founder of the ABS-CBN Foundation where it holds office) and the Big Brother House and stage. For the meantime, Ayala Land has allowed ABS-CBN to use the facilities as no notice has been provided to them yet.
And even if ABS-CBN loses the 30,000 sqm part of its Quezon City complex, there is still the fairly new 7.7 hectare studio complex in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan that it is keen to realize. Already, one stage has been built though there seems to be no further developments reported yet at this time of writing.
Also vague is Ayala Land’s plans for the ABS-CBN complex. In a recent interview, Ayala Land is still brainstorming how the complex will be developed, like if there would be office spaces or residential units to be built alongside the commercial area, or even both.
Whatever Ayala Land’s plans are and whatever sentiments one may have about ABS-CBN, here’s hoping that Ayala Land will honor the history and legacy of the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center not as a landmark that has a prominent part in Philippine media history but also one that has been part of our country’s history as a whole.
Acknowledgements as well to Wikipedia, Wikimapia, and Skyscrapercity
