GMA Network to roll out digital TV devices in June

GMA Network Inc. announced it will be rolling out its Digital TV devices next month.
Mr. Felipe L. Gozon, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), told reporters on the sidelines of the annual stockholders’ meeting held in Quezon City that the device will convert analog signal into digital so that more than one channel may be viewed in one frequency.
“Our TV sets cannot afford to be digital ready. So the device will convert the analog transmission into digital. You will connect something [to the TV],” he said in Filipino.
He said they are partnering with a dealer, whose name he refused to disclose, which will distribute the devices. They target to distribute at least 1 million units in one year.
Mr. Gozon said GMA invested more than P700 million for the technology, but they are still figuring out how to monetize it.
“It is a complex situation. It’s not only here; it’s happening worldwide. We are fortunate that we can learn from what the big companies in US are already doing. In short, it will not be a ground zero. There will be some learnings. But in every new thing that you enter into, of course there will be problems. But we are confident that we will be able to surmount it,” he said during the stockholders’ meeting. — Denise A. Valdez