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MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) group is racing to adapt to an increasingly digital landscape, and one of its measures is to transfer online news portal InterAksyon.com under its digital arm.
This means it is no longer a news division of TV5, and will now be managed under Voyager Innovations, Incorporated, the digital and applications development arm of the PLDT Group.
“Wala na siya sa News5. (It is no longer with News5). The platform will be under Voyager Innovations, while its content creation is under MediaQuest. For News5, there is News5 Everywhere. That’s gonna be the online property of News5,” Emmanuel Lorenzana, president and CEO of MediaQuest Holdings Incorporated, said on the sidelines of the Bloomberg TV Philippines trade launch.
This move is to help PLDT group build and manage their evolving digital assets effectively, Lorenzana said.
“We’re going digital and Interaksyon is a very strong digital property. So I’m creating a digital content group and Interaksyon will be in that group,” he added. (READ: PH telcos, TV networks ride double-edged digital wave)
The transfer of this digital asset to Voyager Innovations was made to create the right mix of channels based on the audience and goals of each platform.
“We looked at different segments and we think Interaksyon has a different segment versus News5. Interaksyon has a higher level news and then News5 is metro news. May kanya-kanyang target market (Each platform has its own target market),” Lorenzana said.
MediaQuest’s head also said that this move will not affect the editorial operations of InterAksyon and TV5.
“For Interaksyon, Roby Alampay is still the editor-in-chief. Nothing changes,” he said. Alampay is also editor-in-chief of BusinessWorld.
Apart from owning Cignal Digital TV and TV5, MediaQuest Holdings also has interests in Nation Broadcasting Corporation, and broadsheets The Philippine Daily Inquirer (12%), The Philippine Star (51%), and Unitel Group (30%).
The Philippine Star recently acquired majority shares in BusinessWorld.
On July 9, The Philippine Star formally acquired 76.63% of BusinessWorld Publishing Corporation from Hastings Holdings Incorporated, a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings.
This move is meant to “strengthen the distribution and operations” of the daily business newspaper, according to The Philippine Star.
MediaQuest has around 50% stake in The Philippine Star.
“Whatever shares we have, it is now under The Philippine Star. MediaQuest is a holding company, and part of that is Hastings [Holdings Incorporated], which owns the print assets of the group. The Philippine Star has taken over majority of BusinessWorld,” Lorenzana explained.
Asked if MediaQuest has plans of fully acquiring BusinessWorld, Lorenzana replied: “I think that’s it. We are pretty much majority. 80% has been bought by The Philippine Star.” – Rappler.com
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