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| (Image Source: GMA Network) |
The year 2025 was a milestone year for GMA Network as it marked its 75th anniversary, celebrating decades of service to millions of Filipinos across generations while “braving challenges and change” according to its President and CEO Gilberto R. Duavit Jr. at the Philippine broadcast media giant’s Annual Stockholders’ Meeting held virtually last July 17, 2026. The top Kapuso executive admitted that advertising and revenue fell in the second half of 2024 due to “a combination of political and economic factors following the President’s SONA in July together with reductions in the overall television viewing levels and our own TV ratings”.
Despite this, the company still grew its net income, buoyed by a strong first half — largely fueled by Php2.153B (2.153 billion pesos) in political ad revenue from the May 2025 midterm elections. Duavit summarized, “As a result, we managed to close 2025 with a 3% increase in consolidated net revenues. Operating expenses were up by a contained 5%. Still resulting in a consolidated net income growth of 6.39% or Php2.197B (2.197 billion pesos).” He also emphasized that the network remains “the dominant TV broadcast network in the country”. Beyond its financial performance, the Kapuso network maintained its lead in both Nielsen's National Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM) and Philippine National Television Audience Measurement (PHINTAM) in People Ratings and People Audience Shares. Twenty-seven of the Top 30 television programs in both NUTAM and PHINTAM were from GMA led by Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho which remained as the country's most-watched TV program. GMA's Radio Group also retained its dominant position in Mega Manila with Super Radyo DZBB and DWLS FM remaining as the top AM and FM stations, respectively. Several regional radio stations also led in their respective areas. Duavit also highlighted the company's continued progress in digital media. Throughout 2025, GMA ranked No. 1 among media and entertainment companies in Southeast Asia and the Philippines on the Tubular Labs Leaderboard based on aggregate video views across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Double-digit growth across GMA’s major social media platforms, together with the strong performance of GMANetwork.com and GMA News Online, contributed to a 13 percent increase in online digital advertising revenues. This 2026, Duavit said GMA-7 will continue shifting toward digital and online platforms, recognizing this as the direction of the future. “Our international subscription-based linear channels continued to withstand the consumer shift toward AVOD (Advertising-Based Video On Demand) and OTT (Over-The-Top) streaming services.” He mentioned the decline in GMA Pinoy TV subscriptions but highlighted “notable subscriber growth” in GMA Life TV and GMA News TV. Duavit also expressed optimism that the launch of GMA’s linear channels and video-on-demand offerings on ABS-CBN’s Global IPTV and iWantTFC would enhance the network’s accessibility to overseas Filipino audiences. Meanwhile, GMA Play, the company’s video-centric platform, has already benefited from more than 4.4 million downloads since its launch last February 2026 and gains tremendous potential for such video on-demand streaming services to move forward in the future. “As audiences turn to digital platforms for information and entertainment, so do we continue to increase and strengthen our digital presence. Through a combination of content offering enhancements, diversification and expanded production, and distribution partnerships, we have made our content progressively more accessible and engaging. Taken together, these efforts have paved the way for consistent digital audience growth.”
Meanwhile, the network’s film unit was active in 2025 with releases across theaters, festivals, and global and regional streaming platforms. Duavit announced that the GMA Films is set to produce two movies in 2026 along with a drama from the team behind Green Bones. He added, “Capping the year, GMA Pictures closed a three-year output deal with a major global streaming service, beginning in 2026, guaranteeing the distribution of our films on the platform throughout the term of the agreement.” GMA-7's productive collaboration with ABS-CBN was also mentioned and is expected to continue until next year. “Likewise noteworthy were our collaborations with major regional streaming service VIU.” These factors point to a positive outlook for the network’s "continuing pursuit of initiatives" to strengthen its presence in media content production and in both terrestrial and digital distribution. On the other hand, GMA Network is prepared for the government’s planned shutdown of analog television broadcasts in Mega Manila through the continuing extensive reach of its digital transmission network. As reported by Malaya Business Insight, all analog television broadcasts in Mega Manila which covers Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, Pampanga and Bataan are scheduled to be switched off by November 22, 2026 under a National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) memorandum circular issued last year. Despite the broad scope of the transition, Duavit Jr. expressed little concern over signal coverage once analog transmissions are discontinued, stating, “Our digital coverage presently in Mega Manila is second to none. It not only mirrors but, for practical purposes, exceeds that of our analog reach.” After all, according to Duavit, the migration would be a relatively straightforward exercise for the network. “This is a very ministerial and very simple operational exercise. It’s almost literally simply turning off the two main analog transmitters in Mega Manila: one for GMA 7 and the other for GTV.” GMA’s digital terrestrial television network currently reaches about 90 percent of TV households nationwide, but the growing concern is how many households still rely exclusively on analog television and could lose access once the shutdown takes effect. To address the situation, the involved national government agencies prepare an assistance program for affected viewers while GMA has been coordinating with the relevant agencies on its implementation and built up an inventory of digital television devices that consumers can purchase including GMA Affordabox and GMA Now. It also plans to launch an information campaign to help households determine whether they will be affected by the analog switch-off and what alternatives are available.
As GMA Network continues to produce programs and content that resonate with Filipino audiences, Duavit said the Network remains committed to innovation and sustainable growth. “Towards this end, we will continue to evolve, innovate, and strengthen our presence across every platform — driven by our commitment to excellence and our aspiration to better serve our audiences and stakeholders.”
