Launch and first eight months . CNN Philippines was launched on March 16, 2015, with the tagline:
"We Tell The Story Of The Filipino." At its inception, the network retained many of its predecessor's newscasts, current affairs, and lifestyle programs—some rebranded, others left unchanged—while gradually integrating CNN-produced content into its lineup. During its initial broadcast, the channel continued using the
4:3 standard definition format, although the
14:9 aspect ratio was tested overnight. Beginning in
Holy Week of 2015, CNN Philippines transitioned to full-time broadcasts in the
16:9 widescreen format, aligning with other CNN channels worldwide. However, the output was presented in a 14:9 letterboxed format on both free-to-air and cable/satellite platforms. This made CNN Philippines the first free-to-air television channel in the country to adopt the 14:9 aspect ratio for widescreen presentation—a distinction it held until April 2017.
Magsaysay out, Jarin-Bennett in In September 2015, Nine Media Corporation President Reggie Galura and CNN Philippines Senior Vice President for News and Current Affairs Jing Magsaysay left the network after the "right-sizing" retrenchment of 70 junior staffers and contractual employees who worked in its Programming and Technical Engineering divisions. Additionally, Magsaysay left his sole newscast,
CNN Philippines Newsroom, leaving
Mai Rodriguez as the solo anchor. On November 2, 2015, CNN International's
Armie Jarin-Bennett took over as the managing editor of CNN Philippines, replacing Magsaysay. Bennett had been the head of CNN Content Sales and Partnerships in Asia Pacific after 17 years of working as a writer and producer on various programs for
CNN and
CNN International; in particular, she had earned a
2012 Emmy Award for coverage of the
Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and a nomination for
Typhoon Haiyan coverage in 2013. Born and raised in Manila, Jarin-Bennett had begun her career as radio newscaster before moving as an intern in the
CNN Center in 1996.
Expansion of news operation and first anniversary On February 15, 2016, CNN Philippines updated its station bumpers, removed the station's voiceover, and improved intros for newscasts to resemble some CNN International programs like
CNN Newsroom,
CNN Today,
International Desk,
CNN Money, and
CNN Money View; newer bumpers for general segments and current affairs shows followed suit. The channel also changed their theme music for their newscasts and bumpers while also adding new programs like the Philippines edition of
New Day.
Nightly News was axed in favor of an expanded
Newsroom, making
CNN Philippines Network News the sole lineal brand holdover from its Solar tenure. Former ABS-CBN anchor
Pinky Webb also joined CNN Philippines where she became the main anchor of
Balitaan, its first ever newscast in
Filipino. Since February of 2016, CNN Philippines started to phase out current affairs shows that debuted under
Solar News Channel (
Legal Help Desk), former CNN shows (
Eco-Solutions), and HLN produced shows (
Nancy Grace and
Dr. Drew On Call) that had been aired as filler programming; they were replaced by newer staple programming such as
Smerconish and news programming.
Emphasis on local and global programming In August 2016, CNN Sans (the corporate font of their mother network) replaced the
Helvetica that had been used in the on-air graphics during CNN Philippines' transition and first year of operation; the new font was implemented in all CNN-operated and CNN-franchised networks worldwide. The font was slowly rolled out upon its February 2016 revamp of its on-air presentations, and during
PiliPinas Debates 2016 (vice presidential leg). HLN-produced programs such as
Morning Express,
Weekend Express, and
The Daily Share (which ended on HLN's programming on mid-November 2016) were axed from the local lineup during the main network's coverage of the respective Republican and Democratic National Conventions, but they returned on August 23 when the premieres of CNN International programming (
Amanpour and
Anderson Cooper 360°) were placed on hold.
Amanpour (whose select stories were featured on CNN Philippines's
Global Conversations) was eventually aired but only during its discussions of Philippine affairs in global contexts; its first independent broadcast on CNN Philippines was on August 31, 2016 with
Christiane Amanpour interviewing Senators
Alan Peter Cayetano and
Leila de Lima. CNN U.S. programming (
The Lead,
Smerconish, and
Reliable Sources) that aired during CNN Philippines' first year of operation were also limited then.
Erin Burnett OutFront remained on the local lineup until September 22, 2016. Since mid-September 2016, HLN programming was relegated to the cable-only
overnight graveyard slot to make way for the expansion of current affairs blocks.
The Service Road with James Deakin debuted on September 19 while
The Source with Pinky Webb followed suit a week later. Two
CBS-produced shows (
60 Minutes and
Undercover Boss: Canada) were axed during the same month. On October 9, 2016,
Armie Jarin-Bennett was appointed as the president of
Nine Media Corporation. With her promotion, more CNN International shows began airing as weekend staples, notably
The Art of Movement and
Vital Signs with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, which premiered near the end of October.
Second year, sweeping restructuring Sweeping restructuring started out in February of 2017, starting with the further replacement of shows carried over from the network's predecessors.
Newsroom was further expanded to include a mid-morning Filipino newscast with Ruth Cabal, a former news anchor and reporter from
GMA Network, which replaced
Serbisyo All Access on February 6; it started a weekend edition on March 4. Additional political shows also premiered such as
Political Insider with Gilbert Remulla, which was later axed in July 2017, 4 months after its premiere due to the host's controversies involving his
strong opinion stance leaning towards then-President
Rodrigo Duterte on engaging word wars against with the
Liberal Party supporters on
Twitter. CNN Philippines Network News would be retired and replaced with
News Night with Pia Hontiveros on March 27, and weekend slots would be filled by
Sports Desk Weekend on March 11. Upon cancellation of
Cebuano News and
Kapampangan News by the end of March, the second hour of
CNN Newsroom (simulcast from
CNN International) replaced their vacant slots. In April 2017, CNN Philippines reconfigured to a
16:9 anamorphic widescreen standard-definition format, eliminating the use of
letterboxing. The change allowed for a widescreen presentation, optimizing the viewing experience for viewers with compatible widescreen televisions. CNN Philippines also introduced the new slogan "At the Heart of The Story."
Weekend programming expansion, extension of partnership and COVID-19 pandemic On September 1, 2018, CNN Philippines launched its weekend morning block, consisting of cartoons from sister channel
Cartoon Network, infotainment show
KidDo, and a 15-minute "junior edition" of its news program
Newsroom hosted by teenagers. Initially called the
CNN Philippines Junior, it was similar to the
Kids Weekend block from its predecessor,
9TV. This additionally marked the return of the Cartoon Network block on RPN after it was discontinued in 2010. On November 13, 2019, CNN Philippines announced its intention to air weekend broadcasts of selected
NBA games on an interim basis as a blocktimer following the expiration of broadcast rights of
Solar Entertainment and
ABS-CBN Sports which led to the closure of
NBA Premium TV and
BTV (CNN Philippines's free TV partner, RPN 9, previously aired the games also under
C/S 9 or
Solar TV affiliation). This was due to the pending evaluation of the joint bid of ABS-CBN Sports and
Cignal TV/ESPN5 (now
One Sports) for the aforementioned broadcast rights. Based from a December 2019 report of Media Newser Philippines, Nine Media Corporation and WarnerMedia agreed to extend its 2014 brand licensing agreement until the end of 2024. The extension of partnership was brought about by the positive performance, improved ratings, and financial stability of CNN Philippines. From March 18 to 22, 2020, CNN Philippines was forced to go off-air after an employee working at the Worldwide Corporate Center, the network's headquarters, was confirmed positive with
COVID-19. The channel resumed broadcast operations on March 23, 2020. However, the network went off-air again on July 7, 2020 when a utility staff member tested positive. Broadcasts resumed on July 11, 2020. On January 10, 2022, CNN Philippines was forced to go off-air again for the third time due to limited staff and lack of implementation of health protocols in the broadcast center. Broadcasts resumed on January 11, 2022 at noon. On December 22, 2023,
TV5 Network entered into a blocktime agreement with Nine Media Corporation to broadcast the Philippines' longest-running noontime variety and entertainment show
Eat Bulaga! and selected games from the
Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) every Saturday and Sunday on CNN Philippines starting January 6, 2024. This marked the return of the two programs previously aired on RPN in order to strengthen CNN Philippines' weekend line-up.
Closure On January 25, 2024,
Media Newser Philippines reported that Nine Media Corporation and CNN mutually agreed to terminate its brand licensing agreement ahead of its expiry by the end of the year due to increasing financial losses, poor ratings of the network, and waning support from advertisers. Reportedly, the
Radio Philippines Network branding is scheduled to return to its free TV affiliates for some time in the future while CNN assesses its future options, including possible plans to set up its own news bureau in the Philippines. On January 29, 2024, CNN Philippines confirmed that it would cease live news productions immediately, after which it shut down entirely end of the month on January 31; they cited financial losses and a decision to shift its focus toward the operations of their sister channel,
Aliw Channel 23. Nine Media President Benjamin Ramos said: "the employees were given their severance package and their salary for the whole month of February." On January 31, 2024, CNN Philippines quietly
signed-off for the last time after their final
interstitial A Moment of Serenity was played. Its last program aired was an episode of
Building Bridges. On the same hour, all digital platforms of CNN Philippines were permanently deactivated.
Transition to RPTV (2024–present) On February 1, 2024, formally launched
RPTV as the channel's replacement, with programming of TV5 and
One PH, as well as re-runs of Nine Media's current affairs programs, carried over onto the new channel. The channel is a joint venture between Nine Media and
TV5 Network, became the content providers of RPN. This includes TV5 programming like
Eat Bulaga! (which is also one of the RPN's original programming) and selected PBA games (who's two previously aired on RPTV's predecessor, CNN Philippines) and news and current affairs outsourced from
News5, TV5 news division, acquiring the former assets of Nine Media's
news department.
Post-closure, NewsWatch Plus On June 7, 2024, several news anchors and reporters from CNN Philippines officially announced the launch of
NewsWatch Plus, a digital multicasting news service operated by Broadreach Media Holdings. This media investment firm, which owns Nine Media Corporation, took over the assets and operations of CNN Philippines following its closure. NewsWatch Plus was designed as a revival of RPN's flagship newscast,
NewsWatch. It was first launched online on July 1, 2024, through the
YouTube channel previously branded as CNN Philippines. Its programming block later premiered on August 12, 2024, on Aliw Channel 23. Several personalities and remaining staff who were not part of its successor outlet either have an undisclosed status or have transferred to different news organizations, such as
MediaQuest's news divisions (including
News5 whose currently supply most of news and current affairs content for RPTV as part of wider content partnership agreement between TV5 and RPN; and
Cignal news channels),
ABS-CBN News (which took over the CNN Philippines' role of supplying news content for
AMBS'
All TV since April 15, 2024),
GMA Integrated News and Public Affairs, RPN's part owner the
Government of the Philippines (through
Presidential Communications Office), and
Prage's newly launched
Bilyonaryo News Channel. ==Awards and citations==