About GMA Network

Kapuso Mo, Anumang Kulay ng Buhay

Since its establishment on June 14, 1950, GMA Network, Inc. has continually kept in touch with the preferences of its viewers, which it considers as Kapuso. It is driven to enrich the lives of Filipinos everywhere with superior entertainment and responsible delivery of news and information.

"Kapuso Mo, Anumang Kulay ng Buhay," (One in Heart, Regardless of the Colors of Life) GMA delights its viewers with rib-tickling comedies, heartwarming dramas, action-packed animated series, value-laden educational and feel good true story programs, and comprehensive, balanced, and credible news and public affairs reports. By constantly innovating its programs, GMA has set trends in the broadcast industry -- viewers can participate in polls, interact with other viewers on-air, and send feedback through text messaging in several GMA programs.

GMA has a network of 46 VHF stations. It can also be heard on the airwaves through 26 radio stations throughout the country, including dzBB-AM and dwLS-FM in Manila; and dySS-AM and dyRT-FM in Cebu.

Aside from bringing the best in news and entertainment, GMA also manifests its commitment to the public through the community projects done by the GMA Kapuso Foundation.

Corporate History

It all started in a decrepit old backroom.

American war correspondent Robert Stewart tinkered sent his first radio transmission through AM airwaves dzbb back in 1950. Indeed, dzBB had the nation glued to their radios during the 1951 Mt. Hibok-Hibok eruption and the presidential polls of 1953 that saw Ramon Magsaysay's rise to the country's top post. Kwentong Kutsero, the precursor of today's political satires, also rose to popularity, as did the amateur show Tawag ng Tanghalan. The station distinguished itself as well for being the first to use the telephone for live on-the-spot interviews.

The Stewarts started RBS Channel 7 on October 29, 1961. "We didn't know anything about television, not even which camera was on the air," admitted the visionary who later came to be known as Uncle Bob.

For five years, RBS tottered on the brink of bankruptcy. But help was just around the corner. “Dancetime with Chito” pulled in audience and advertisers. On the station's seventh year, a good friend from the United States who was selling canned shows gave him some on the cheap. Combat, Mission Impossible, 77 Sunset Strip, The Untouchables and Ben Casey define TV viewing in the Philippines in the 1960s.

The 1970s the triumvirate of Gilberto M. Duavit, Menardo R. Jimenez and Felipe L. Gozon, reworked the station's poor image as a home for re-runs and kiddie shows. A P7-million credit line ensured upgraded equipment and a full-color setup. One major change was the shift from Republic Broadcasting System to GMA-Radio Television Arts.

"GMA" stood for boundaries of the station's primary coverage, the Greater Manila Area, which had a bigger concentration of television sets than any other part of the country. "Radio-Television Arts" underlined its commitment to the arts of the twin media. By targeting Greater Manila's sophisticates first, the station executives knew they could lure the rural folk because the latter always identified with their city cousins.

The network converted the country's viewers into one huge Filipino household. They tuned in regularly to foreign hits like Charlie's Angels, Little House on the Prairie, Starsky and Hutch, Eight is Enough, CHiPS and Three's Company. The station ID said it all: "Where You Belong".

The success of these canned shows and subsequent sale of airtime to independent TV producers made it financially viable for GMA to produce its own local shows. One of these was Ms. Ellaneous, a magazine-type show hosted by Maan Hontiveros, Yogi Dominguez and Tina Revilla. Block-timers made an afternoon soap (TAPE'S Valiente) possible without the high overhead of self-production. It also provided the opportunity to welcome expertise in several genres.

GMA was the mouse that roared. The station defied the limits set by the martial law era and won countless awards in broadcast journalism for its fearless News at Seven and GMA Evening News. Several years later, in 1983, GMA would be the only local TV station to cover he historic funeral of slain opposition leader Senator Benigno Aquino.

Late night viewing and locally produced shows defined the 1980s, with GMA Supershow, Vilma!, TJ sa GMA and Penthouse Live setting the trend.

The opening of GMA's high-end live studio at Broadway Centrum in 1987 boosted local programming, as did the inauguration of its 77-foot high Tower of Power, the tallest manmade structure in the country in 1988.

This period marked the station's winning streak on the local scene. In the international scene, GMA bested other contenders in the New York Festivals. GMA had proven that local shows didn't have to be run-of-the-mill to win over the public.

Reaching out to the world became the network's target in the 1990s, starting with the Rainbow Satellite launched on April 30, 1992. Through its relay stations, GMA programs were seen across the archipelago and in Southeast Asia. The following year, GMA Network News, Vilma!, Firing Line and GMA Supershow started airing in 60 American cities and parts of South America through the International Channel Network.

Trailblazing came about in the form clustering programs. Among them was Worry-Free Kid-TV, a series of child-friendly programs attuned to Filipino values and sensibilities. It was also about turning info-TV traditionally confined to government stations into entrepreneurial shows like Negosiyete and the agricultural show Agrisiyete.

GMA ventured into media-related businesses, among them RGMA, a nationwide satellite of radio stations; the UHF TV station that is now Channel V Philippines; GMA Films, a film production company; GMA Worldwide, its international marketing arm; Alta Productions, a multimedia company involved in pre- and post-production; and Infiniti Music, its music recording arm now known as GMA Records.

The station likewise fleshed out its motto of "In the Service of Man, For the Glory of God," through the GMA Foundation. The Foundation reached out to underprivileged children, their families and other communities in need.

Now past its 50th year, GMA is a respectable leader in Philippine broadcasting, reaching at least 12 million households and knitting them closer. Not bad. Not bad at all for a station that started out as a Mom-and-Pop operation in decrepit backroom.