Christy Balita
Research expert covering the Philippines
Media in the Philippines - statistics & facts
The gradual shift to digital or online media platforms transformed the overall media market in the Philippines. Despite limitations in network infrastructure, Filipinos were among the biggest audience of online or digital media which they access not only for entertainment purposes but also for news consumption. In fact, in 2020, the Philippines was among the top five countries with the highest online media market value. As with other countries globally, print media has slowly lost its relevance in the media market forcing the industry to turn digital. Meanwhile, social media and streaming services became alternative sources of news and entertainment.
Evolving TV landscape
While online media consumption gradually increased, a large portion of viewers still consumed news and entertainment through television. In 2018, there were about 588 television broadcasting stations in the country, the majority of which were broadcasting in the Bicol Region followed by the Southern Tagalog region. The television market used to be a duopoly between GMA Network and ABS-CBN until the latter lost its franchise to operate in May 2020, altering the entire TV landscape. Ultimately, this resulted in GMA Network garnering most of the household viewership share. Recent data also reflected that GMA Network was the most popular news outlet in the country, followed closely by ABS-CBN.Digital exodus
The growing interest in digital content ushered in a change in media consumption among Filipinos. With ABS-CBN off the broadcasting platform, the network invested more in its digital presence gaining dominance on both YouTube and Facebook. In addition, it continued developing its own OTT platform iWantTFC, and partnered with other streaming platforms such as Netflix to reach more content consumers. Print media outlets, meanwhile, were forced to adapt to the increasing demand for online content by investing in a web version of their papers and maintaining a website while also growing a social media presence to reach more readers. Various radio stations, both AM and FM, also started streaming their radio programs through YouTube or Facebook. A recent survey revealed that these platforms were the main sources of digital news in the country. In turn, advertising spending on online platforms such as social media were forecast to outgrow traditional media platforms, especially radio and print.
