People's Television Network, Inc. Employees Page

DESCRIPTION OF THE STATION

A. Status

People’s Television Network, Inc. (PTNI) is a government-owned and controlled corporation established on April 17, 1992 by virtue of Republic Act No. 7306.

The corporate powers of PTNI are exercised by a Board of Directors composed of five members representing three sectors – two from government, two from the private sector and one from the education sector – who are appointed by the President of the Republic of the Philippines.

The Board of Directors, headed by a Chairman, appoints the Network General Manager and Chief Operating Officer who oversees the operations of the station. PTNI has eight (8) line divisions: News, Public Affairs, Sports & Special Projects, Program Production Services, Administrative, Finance, Engineering and Provincial Network.



B. Functions

As specified in its Charter, Republic Act 7306, the PTNI has the following functions:

• To serve primarily as a vehicle for the State for purposes of education, science and technology, arts, culture and sports in order to foster national pride and identity;

• To serve as a vehicle for bringing the Government closer to the people in order to enhance their awareness of the programs, policies, thrusts and directions of the Government;

• To ensure that the programs broadcast by the Network maintain a high general standard in all respects, and in particular, in respect to their content and quality and proper balance of educational, news, public affairs, entertainment and sports programs.

• To serve as an effective outlet for an alternative programming;

• To provide subsidized airtime to legitimate people’s organizations and non-government organizations in the promotion of their programs and projects;

• To serve as an effective medium for national unity and political stability by reaching as much of the Filipino population as possible through the effective use of modern broadcasting technology; and

• To ensure that nothing is included in the programs broadcast by the Network which shall offend public morals, good taste or decency, offend any racial group or promote ill-will between different races or different public groups, or prescribing such programs as would promote strictly partisan politics and propaganda, and outrage public feeling in general.



C. Brief History

• The People’s Television Network, Incorporated, traces its roots to GTV-4 (Government TV 4) created in 1974 through a Presidential Decree during the martial law regime.

• In 1980, the station was renamed Maharlika Broadcasting System (MBS). Following the People Power Revolution in 1986, it was renamed People’s Television 4 (PTV).

• PTV-4 became a government corporation in 1992 by virtue of Republic Act 7306 signed by President Corazon C. Aquino. Its official name is People’s Television Network Inc. (PTNI). In June 1992, President Fidel V. Ramos appointed the Network’s first Board of Directors.

• On July 16, 2002, under the new management appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, PTNI adopted a new call sign, the National Broadcasting Network (NBN), in line with its re-launched programming thrusts and imaging.

• As specified in its Charter, the PTNI does not receive a regular subsidy from the government. It generates revenue for its overhead operating expenses through advertising and sale of airtime. Its Charter provides an authorized capital stock of P1Billion divided into P1Million shares with par value of One Thousand Pesos per share, which shall be subscribed in full by the Government. The One Billion Pesos equity was appropriated by Congress and released to the Network from 1992 to 2008 through the General Appropriations Act.

• But as specified in its Charter, the Network had to stop airing commercial advertisements since July 2001, nine years after its incorporation. To augment its operational requirements, PTNI has received government subsidies released as needed based on requests made by the Network from the National Government.

• A major technological breakthrough in 1992 was the Network’s acquisition of transmitters, ENG equipment, satellite receivers, studio and lighting facilities through the 2nd and 3rd French Protocol. The transmission and production capability of the Network’s flag station, Channel 4 in Quezon City, was upgraded and the number of its provincial stations nationwide was increased.

• In 1992, the Network was able to build its building and tower in Visayas Avenue, Quezon City through the support of President Corazon C. Aquino. The construction of the News Building was completed in 2005. The renovation and upgrading of the Main Transmitter Building and the construction of the Engineering and Provincial Building were completed in 2009.

• The PTNI takes pride in its technological firsts – the first television network to use all-solid-state transmitters in its provincial stations with power ranging from 1 to 10kw; the first to convert its satellite transmission to digital compression; the first to use a serial digital video system in its Quezon City studios; the first to use layering technology in video production and one of the first television stations with computerized news operations in the Philippines using the Basys Computer System.

• The PTNI takes pride in having pioneered in educational, cultural and children’s programming. Some of its award-winning programs were Tele-aralan ng Kakayahan, Ating Alamin, Batibot, For Art’s Sake, Coast to Coast, and Paco Park Presents. The Network made its mark in educational programming through its Continuing Education via Television (CONSTEL), a series of telecourses aimed at upgrading the content knowledge and teaching skills of elementary and secondary teachers of Science and English. These telecourses continue to be used in teacher training by the Regional and Divisional Leader Schools of the Department of Education and in Teacher Education Institutions of the Commission on Higher Education.

• News and public affairs programs are the core of the Network’s programming. The news program, “Teledyaryo”, adopt the concept of a “newspaper on television” featuring segments commonly featured in newspapers.

• PTNI has been the official broadcaster of major international sports competitions. It has covered the Olympic Games starting 1988 with the Seoul Olympics in South Korean missing only the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in Spain. The Network received a presidential citation from then President Fidel V. Ramos for its successful coverage of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games in the USA. It also covered and aired the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games in Australia and the 2004 Athens Olympics in Greece.

• PTNI was the carrying station of the South East Asian Games from 1991 to 2007. It managed the International Broadcast Center (IBC) of the 1981, 1991 and the 2005 SEA Games held in Manila.

• The Network has earned for itself the Hall of Fame Award from the Catholic Mass Media Award for Best Station and for Most Balanced Programming in 1999 for consistently receiving the said award for three (3) consecutive years (1987-89).

• As of March 31, 2011, the PTNI has a personnel complement of 454 of which 332 are permanent, temporary and contractual employees while 122 are on contract of service status.



D. Local and Global Reach

• The PTNI has been on full satellite transmission nationwide since 1992 and is now using ABS5 (formerly Agila2). Its flag station, PTNI Channel 4 in Quezon City, operates on a 60-kilowatt transmitter sitting on a 550-foot tower.

• The Network has 26 broadcasting stations duly licensed by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). However, only 20 stations are presently on-air while 6 stations still have to acquire a transmitter for transmission operations. Of the 20 operational stations, 6 are being operated by the Local Government Units.

• The PTNI started its global broadcast reach in 2003 with the launching of NBN World in cooperation with the Television and Radio Broadcasting Service (TARBS). This global expansion signalled new directions for PTNI as it became accessible to the rest of the world, particularly the millions of Filipinos overseas.

• Today, PTNI programs are seen worldwide via Glocal Media Network and the direct-to-home satellite of Dish Network, in Eastern Canada (via Rogers Cable and IPQube), in Africa (via DTH provider). PTNI rode on the power and potential of web 2.0, launching its own real-time live streaming and video-on-demand website (www.ptni.tv), making its programs free and accessible to all anywhere and anytime.