Early years (1960–1986) On June 19th, 1960,
Joaquin "Chino" Roces, owner of the
Manila Times, obtained a radio-TV franchise through
Republic Act 2945. He established the
Associated Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), with the initial studios located along
Pasong Tamo in
Makati,
Rizal (now part of
Metro Manila). ABC's first radio stations were DZMT (1100kHz), DZTM (1380kHz), and DZWS (1070kHz). Established in July 1962 as DZTM-TV Channel 5, ABC became the seventh television network to operate in the Philippines. From July 1962 to September 1972, ABC operated radio and television services. On September 23rd, 1972, President
Ferdinand E. Marcos declared
martial law, resulting in the forced shutdown of ABC and the
Manila Times.
Return and growth (1986–2003) After the
People Power Revolution in 1986, Chino Roces advocated for the network's reinstatement with
President Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino. Following Roces' death in 1988, his son
Edgardo Roces took over efforts to revive the network. Edward Tan and Edgardo Roces secured approval from the
Securities and Exchange Commission to increase capitalization. Soon after, they received a permit to operate from the
National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). In 1990, ABC completed construction of its studio complex and transmitter tower in Barangay San Bartolome, Novaliches,
Quezon City. Test broadcasts began later that year, featuring Japanese documentaries. On February 21, 1992, the network returned to the air. The flagship station adopted the call sign DWET-TV and the corporate name became Associated Broadcasting Company—using the initial 'C' instead of 'Corporation' to reflect the new management. Early in the network's revival, it expanded to
Cebu,
Davao,
Baguio,
Naga,
Bacolod,
Zamboanga,
Cagayan de Oro, and
General Santos. By the end of 1993, the network ranked third in ratings, with two more stations planned in 1994 ahead of its satellite broadcast launch. In the 1990's, ABC aired a PSA called Dial His Mother's Number it was aired everyday at 6:00 pm before the Station ID and the news program Balitang-Balita during weekdays and it was lasted until 2004. On February 4, 1994, ABC launched nationwide satellite broadcasting. The network experienced rapid growth under the network's Chief Operating Officer
Tina Monzon-Palma. On December 9, 1994, ABC obtained a 25-year legislative franchise through
Republic Act No. 7831, which authorized the network to establish and operate television and radio stations countrywide. In 2001, ABC started producing local versions of popular game shows, including
The Price Is Right (hosted by
Dawn Zulueta),
Wheel of Fortune (hosted by
Rustom Padilla), and
Family Feud (hosted by
Ogie Alcasid). The move came during a period of game show popularity among Philippine networks.
Cojuangco era (2003–2008) In June 2003, the joint consortium of Tan and Roces sold ABC TV and radio stations to a group led by businessman Antonio "Tony Boy" Cojuangco Jr. Cojuangco, the former chairman of the
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and owner of
Dream Satellite TV and
Bank of Commerce, formally acquired the assets in October of the same year. Cojuangco became the president and CEO of ABC, with Jose T. Pardo, a former secretary of the
Department of Trade and Industry, serving as the Network's board chairman. Under the new management, changes were made to the news and public affairs division, broadcast equipment was upgraded, and the network acquired broadcast rights for
Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) games. The network executives, led by Roberto Barreiro, also coined a new slogan, "Iba Tayo!" ("We're Different!"). With the last slogan, "Come home to ABC!", ABC aimed to differentiate itself by offering fresh and distinct programming formats, targeting the growing middle to upper-class youth market. While implementing these changes, ABC continued to support the
Family Rosary Crusade. It featured the religious pre-identification campaign "Please Pray the Rosary" before its programs, although this was gradually phased out during the network's programming revamp. In 2005, ABC received the "Outstanding TV Station" award at the 2005
KBP Golden Dove Awards, and several programs on the Network also received awards in their respective categories. In early 2007, ABC implemented
budget cuts that mainly affected its news department, resulting in significant layoffs and a diminished capacity for coverage before the
2007 general elections. In November 2007, ABC launched new sports programming, including
NBA basketball, professional boxing, and
WWE events, as part of a five-year deal with
Solar Entertainment. Due to high costs and poor ratings, the programs were dropped throughout 2008. The NBA review show "House of Hoops" was cut back and eventually cancelled by April 2008. The PBA, which was previously aired on ABC, did not have its contract renewed and instead found a new home on
RPN through a partnership with Solar Entertainment, leading to RPN's privatization by Solar in 2011.
First TV5 era (2008–2018) is located at the corner of Reliance Street and Sheridan Street,
Mandaluyong, TV5 Network's HQ since 2013
ABC-MPB Primedia partnership (2008–2010) In March 2008, "Tony Boy" Cojuangco announced a partnership between ABC and MPB Primedia Inc., a local company backed by
Media Prima Berhad of
Malaysia. The partnership was a long-term strategy to enhance ABC's competitiveness in the network wars between
ABS-CBN and
GMA. MPB Primedia Inc. was established as an asset for Media Prima's proposed private equity fund to invest in media companies in Southeast Asia. Under the agreement, MPB Primedia Inc. produced and sourced entertainment programs, while ABC would continue to be responsible for news programming and station operations. MPB Primedia was granted rights to schedule and manage sales of ABC-5's airtime. Christopher Sy was appointed CEO of MPB Primedia, Inc., but resigned in January 2009 due to reported differences in management style. ABC aired its final broadcast at around 22:00
PST on August 8, 2008, with its late-night newscast
Sentro as the last program. A countdown to the Network's relaunch followed until 19:00
PST the next day when it officially rebranded as TV5. The Network retained its alternative programming line-up but aimed to cater to "Progressive Pinoys, including those 'young at heart to market classes C and D. TV5 unveiled its upgraded 120-kilowatt state-of-the-art stereo TV transmitter. Some ABC programs, such as
Shall We Dance,
Nick on TV5, Kerygma TV,
Light Talk, and
Sunday TV Mass, were carried over to TV5's line-up. The
TV5 AniMEGA, a programming block focused on
Japanese anime series, was launched on the network. Under the new management, TV5's audience share increased from 1.9% in the second quarter of 2008 (before the rebranding) to 11.1% in September 2009. That same month, TV5 began airing two hours of Singaporean contents produced by
MediaCorp's
studios division, mainly its Mandarin dramas and English sitcoms, dubbed in the Filipino language, such as
The Little Nyonya starring
Jeanette Aw,
Under One Roof starring
Vernetta Lopez and
Moses Lim, and
Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd starring
Gurmit Singh.
Acquisition by PLDT, the Kapatid Network years (2010–2018) On October 20, 2009,
Media Prima announced its intention to divest its share in MPB Primedia / TV5, along with its affiliated ABC TV stations, and sell it to
MediaQuest Holdings, the broadcasting division of
PLDT. The decision was driven by the company's losses during the year. The acquisition was officially announced by Chairman
Manuel V. Pangilinan on March 2, 2010; he had previously intended to acquire ABC as early as 1999. New programming was introduced through a trade launch at the
World Trade Center and on April 4, 2010, the network rebranded itself as the "Kapatid" ("sibling") network to compete with
ABS-CBN and
GMA Network. On October 1, 2010, TV5 took over the management of MediaQuest's
Nation Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) stations.
DWFM was relaunched as
Radyo5 92.3 News FM (now
105.9 True FM), a TV5-branded
news radio station, on November 8, 2010.
DWNB-TV was rebranded as
AksyonTV, a news channel based on TV5's newscast
Aksyon, on February 21, 2011. TV5 outranked
GMA Network to become the second most-watched network in key cities in the
Visayas and
Mindanao regions, including
Iloilo,
Cebu,
Bacolod,
Davao, and
Cagayan de Oro. The Network shared the top spot with
ABS-CBN in
General Santos. On December 23, 2013, TV5 began broadcasting from its new headquarters, the
TV5 Media Center located in Reliance,
Mandaluyong. In 2014, TV5 acquired the Filipino broadcast rights to the
2014 Winter Olympics, the
2014 Summer Youth Olympics, and the
2016 Summer Olympics. Despite financial struggles, TV5 remained operational. The network's programming, such as the
PBA via
Sports5 and the TV5 Kids block, contributed to its popularity. TV5 celebrated its fifth anniversary under the management of
Manny V. Pangilinan with a trade launch of 2015 shows at the
Sofitel Philippine Plaza on November 26, 2014. TV5 started each year with a New Year's Eve countdown called "
Happy sa [year]" at the
Quezon Memorial Circle, a tradition that continued until 2017. In 2015, the Network changed its corporate name from
ABC Development Corporation to
TV5 Network, Inc. TV5 experienced growing financial difficulties, including losses and debt, primarily due to a reduction in advertisers and the effects of digitalization. This situation led to employee layoffs in September 2015. The network's in-house entertainment division was disbanded, and its Chief Entertainment Content Officer, Wilma Galvante, ended her consultancy agreement. Consequently, TV5's workforce significantly decreased from around 4,000 employees in 2013–2014 to approximately 900 by late 2021. Unable to produce original content until 2020, TV5 appointed Vicente "Vic" Del Rosario, CEO of
Viva Entertainment, as the Network's Chief Entertainment Strategist. Changes were implemented in TV5's entertainment programming, including the formation of the Viva-TV5 joint venture
Sari-Sari Channel and the outsourcing of
Viva Television for entertainment shows. The partnership was announced at a trade launch in
Bonifacio Global City,
Taguig on November 25, 2015. However, several new shows were cancelled due to a lack of advertising support and poor ratings. TV5 renewed its partnership with Viva Entertainment in October 2020, focusing on local versions of foreign programming and TV remakes of Viva classic films. From January 2016 until December 31, 2018, TV5 and
Cignal, through
Hyper, served as the official
free-to-air and
pay television partners, respectively, for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the Philippines. In July 2016, TV5 started airing selected programs from
MTV and
MTV International as part of a deal with
Viacom International Media Networks. The new
MTV on TV5 block included shows like
Catfish,
Ridiculousness, and
Ex on the Beach. On September 8, 2016, TV5 cancelled its locally produced programs
Aksyon Bisaya and
Aksyon Dabaw due to cost-cutting measures. The personnel remained employed to continue filing reports for the national edition of
Aksyon. TV5 President and CEO Emmanuel "Noel" C. Lorenzana stepped down on September 30, 2016, and was replaced by basketball coach and Sports5/D5 Studio head Vicente "Chot" Reyes. Following Reyes' appointment, the Network announced a retrenchment of approximately 200 employees as part of TV5's digitalization efforts. In April 2017, TV5 acquired the rights to air
WWE programming after
Fox Philippines decided not to renew its contract with the WWE. On October 12, 2017, TV5 Network announced its partnership with
ESPN, obtaining the licensing rights for PBA, UFC, PSL, and the
NFL, as well as access to ESPN programs and content. The partnership led to the formation of the
ESPN5 brand, which aired on TV5 and
AksyonTV. The move was part of TV5's temporary shift from a general entertainment station to a sports and news channel.
The 5 Network era and reverting to TV5 (2018–2020) On February 17, 2018, TV5 underwent a rebranding and was relaunched as the 5 Network or simply
5. The new
logo featured the removal of the word "
TV" and was designed to be more flexible for other divisions to use it as part of TV5's identity. The programming grid was divided into three blocks – ESPN5 for sports,
News5 for news programs, and 'On 5' for other content. Additionally, D5 Studio focused on digital content, while Studio 5 produced Filipino productions for various platforms. The "Kapatid" ("sibling") moniker was de-emphasized during the period and was mainly used by News5 and ESPN5 for some programs. The network phased out Filipino-dubbed movies and foreign-acquired programming, which had been a practice since 2008, while
Disney programs and movies aired in their original audio until 2019. On January 13, 2019, TV5 introduced a variation of its 2018 logo, which included the respective websites of the division producing the program as part of their on-screen graphics following the launch of
5 Plus. On April 22, 2019, TV5's legislative franchise was renewed for another 25 years under
Republic Act No. 11320. On June 3, 2019,
Chot Reyes retired as TV5 President and CEO and was succeeded by Jane Basas, who led Pay TV provider and radio company
Cignal TV/Mediascape. Under Basas' leadership, the network outsourced news and sports programming from its co-owned Cignal channels, phased out daytime
ESPN5 programs, focused on archived entertainment programs, and expanded movie blocks on
5 Plus. Plans for the network included retaining existing news programs and sports content in prime time and reintroducing original entertainment programming through outsourcing. Perci Interlan returned as the head of programming in November. On February 4, 2020, Robert P. Galang was appointed as the new president and CEO of TV5 Network and
Cignal TV, replacing Basas, who in turn was appointed as the Chief Marketing Officer of
Smart Communications. On March 8, 2020, 5 Plus was relaunched as
One Sports, and the ESPN5 division was renamed and merged into the brand. The sports programming on 5 no longer carried the
ESPN5 banner. The ESPN5 partnership continued online, with ESPN5.com serving as the sports portal of One Sports and
ESPN in the Philippines until October 13, 2021. TV5 Network announced on the same day that 5 would be rebranded as
One TV on April 13, 2020. However, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic and disapproval from viewers and fans, the rebranding was postponed to July 20, until it was ultimately cancelled. The network returned to the TV5 brand on July 20, 2020, and introduced new Filipino-dubbed series. On July 27, 2020,
Cignal TV, TV5, and
Smart Communications announced a multi-year deal with the
National Basketball Association (NBA) for the league's official broadcast rights in the Philippines, replacing
Solar Entertainment Corporation. The games during the 2019–2020 season were aired live on free-to-air networks TV5 and
One Sports. This marked the return of the NBA to TV5 since the partnership between the then-ABC and Solar Entertainment Corporation from 2007 to 2008.
Second TV5 era and collaboration with Cignal TV (2020–present) On August 15, 2020, Channel 5 reverted to its former name,
TV5, and announced a partnership with its sister company
Cignal TV, which was tasked with handling its programming. The partnership with Cignal TV introduced a slate of new entertainment programs and collaborations with other networks, including
GMA Network. TV5 unveiled its first wave of entertainment programs produced by companies such as Archangel Media/
APT Entertainment, Content Cows Company Inc.,
Luminous Productions Inc.,
Regal Entertainment,
Viva Television, and
Brightlight Productions. Additionally, shows from
ABS-CBN that were affected by the
network's franchise non-renewal were transferred to TV5. In mid-September 2020, TV5 announced a second wave of programs for October, including shows produced by Regal, Viva, APT Entertainment, Brightlight Productions, and News5. Since January 24, 2021, TV5 aired selected programming produced by
ABS-CBN Studios following the shutdown of
its free-to-air network. Programs included
ASAP and
Yes Weekend! (2021–2025),
Primetime Bida (2021–2026),
FPJ: Da King (2021–2023), ''
It's Showtime (2022–2023), Nag-aapoy Na Damdamin and Pira-Pirasong Paraiso (2023–2024 as part of Kapamilya Gold
and reruns in 2026), Magandang Buhay (2023–2024), Rated Korina (2023–2025, originally by Brightlight Productions when the show transferred to TV5 from October 24, 2020 to June 16, 2023), and Sunday Blockbusters'' (2024). TV5 stopped airing the newly-released ABS-CBN contents on January 1, 2026, due to financial disputes with the latter. ABS-CBN's new programming subsequently transferred to
All TV, which had been simulcasting
Kapamilya Channel since April 15, 2024, while retaining reruns of previous ABS-CBN shows on TV5 throughout 2026. TV5 introduced its revamped programming under the slogan "
TV5 TodoMax," dividing programs into five blocks: TodoMax Kids, TodoMax Serbisyo (
Idol in Action), TodoMax Panalo (the afternoon programming lineup), TodoMax Primetime Singko, and TodoMax Weekend. Following the programming revamp, TV5 became the second most-watched TV network in prime-time TV ratings, according to the
AGB Nielsen, which conducts audience measurements for television ratings in specific areas of the Philippines. Prime-time programs from ABS-CBN Studios and Cignal Entertainment contributed to the achievement. On May 20, 2021, TV5 launched its new slogan "
Iba sa 5" (which roughly translates to "It's different on 5") along with a new station jingle, station ID, and a revision of the 2010 logo with a darker red scheme. On July 1, 2022, the network introduced a new slogan, "''Iba'ng Saya peg Sama-Sama''" (The Fun is One of a Kind When We're Together), accompanied by another new station jingle and ID. On January 31, 2023, Guido R. Zaballero was appointed as the president and CEO of TV5 Network, effective February 1, 2023. The appointment followed the retirement of Robert P. Galang, who had been leading Cignal TV and TV5 . Jane J. Basas assumed the role of president and CEO of Cignal TV, while also serving as the president and CEO of
MediaQuest, the holding company of TV5 and Cignal TV. On April 27, 2026, TV5 updated its 2021 logo to a 3D, metallic, and beveled version and this was part of a broader "fresh start" for TV5 to kick off a new programming era.
Transition to high definition (2023) On March 21, 2023, TV5 announced the launch of its main channel in
high-definition (HD) feed, presented in a full-screen format, on Cignal TV. The channel officially launched as TV5 HD on April 1, 2023. On April 16, 2023, TV5 began broadcasting in
anamorphic 16:9 aspect ratio on free-to-air digital television. ==Branding==