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SkyCable

SkyCable is a direct-to-home cable TV and subscription service, established by the Lopez Group of Companies and Central CATV Group Of Companies. It is one of several subsidiaries of ABS-CBN.

SkyCable should not be confused as a service of British Sky Broadcasting in the UK -- neither it nor its parent, News Corporation, own any interest in SkyCable even as Star TV channels are carried by the former. SkyCable offers a range of analog and digital Cable Television services, and also offers high-speed internet services as well.

Company timeline

1990s

1992 – SkyCable is founded.
1994 – SkyCable launches its first local movie channel, Sky1(later Pinoy Blockbuster Channel then Cinema One).
May 1, 1996 – SkyCable launches its first local news channel, Sarimanok News Network (now ABS-CBN News Channel).
1 January 1999 – The "i" channel ceases to air on SkyCable
July 11, 1999 – SkyCable launches Lifestyle Network.

2000s

May 1, 2000 – SkyCable launches AXN.
May 20, 2001 – Pinoy Blockbuster Channel replaces Cinema One as the digital Filipino movie channel.
October 19, 2001 – Home Cable loses STAR TV channels, SkyCable acquires Home Cable.
July 1, 2002 – SkyCable launches Disney Channel.
November 17, 2002 – Home Cable removes Disney Channel and Hallmark Channel.
May 7, 2004 – SkyCable and Home Cable launches ETC and Sports Plus (now a defunct channel).
July 1, 2004 – SkyCable and Home Cable changes their hotline number to +6326310000.
July 1, 2005 – SkyCable changes its channel guide; acquires Home Cable and Sun Cable.''
October 1, 2005 – SkyCable launches Hero on test broadcast from November 30 to December 31, on chanel 44. Programming started in January 2006.
October 15 and December 15 – SkyCable launches Crime/Suspense and ETC 2nd Avenue (now 2nd Avenue).
January 2006 – SkyCABLE became SkyCable Gold, and Home Cable and SunCable became SkyCable Silver.
March 16, 2006 – SkyCABLE launches SkyCABLE Platinum.
April 11, 2006 – SkyCable launches commercials for SkyCable Platinum, seen on MySky & SkySked and as a filter on some channels.
April 12, 2006 to July 20, 2006 – SkyCable shows previews of SkyCable Platinum Channels on SkySked Channel 33. Channels from the HBOPak each have 5 to 10 minute previews, while channels from the Metro Pack each have 15 to 30 minute previews.
July 12, 2006 – QTV moved to channel 24, and ZPDee Channel was moved to channel 11.
September 01, 2006 – KBS World replaced Arirang TV (Channel 75).
October 19, 2006 – SkyCable main offices were moved to 33rd Floor, Tektite East Tower, Exchange Road, Ortigas Centre, Pasig City.
November 13, 2006 – UniversiTV premiers on channel 5.
Dec. 2006 – SkyCable launches its children's club, called SkyCable Fun Club
April 12, 2007 – Skycable launches Teleradyo Channel 22, leaving MTV on Channel 57 and Channel News Asia was moved to channel 79 (channel 67 on Skycable Digital). Also, SkyCable launches an infomercial about their Digibox product, seen on MySky Channel 33.
June 26, 2007 – SkySked on Channel 11 was reformatted.
August 13, 2007 – TeleRadyo was moved to channel 26, Zpdee was moved to channel 61, Iglesia Ni Cristo TV was moved to channel 22, NHK World Premium was moved to channel 78 and Makisig Network (formerly Karera Channel) was moved to channel 76.
September 1, 2007 – Test Broadcast of another sports channel - Balls. It currently broadcasts the 2007 US Open which is exclusive to SkyCable.
September 15, 2007 – Test Broadcast of MySky Channel 33 is reformatted.
November 7, 2007 – CUBEiTV was transferred to channel 67 while ABS-CBN Pay-Per-View was also transferred from channel 25. SkyCable's new CPI channels and the replacement for Solar's channels started its preview on Channel 25 for Velvet, Channel 33 for Balls and Channel 61 for Maxxx.
January 1, 2008 – All Solar Entertainment Channels were removed, namely, BTV-Basketball TV, ETC, 2nd Avenue, Crime/Suspense, JackTV and Solar Sports. AXN Beyond, FOX Crime and KidsCo were made available on SkyCable, but KidsCo is only available to Gold subscribers. Channel 25 became SkyCable Platinum preview channel. Disney Channel becomes available to Silver subscribers.
January 28, 2008 – Shop TV 2005, a Shopping channel on Channel 13 was new with Shop TV 2008.
January 30, 2008 – SkyCable's corporate name changed from Central CATV Inc. to SkyCable Corporation.
February 05, 2008 – Power TV, a Chinese premium channel on channel 64 was replaced with Phoenix Chinese Channel.
February 06, 2008 – Asian Food Channel now available on Channel 58 transferring zh:大愛衛星電視 to Channel 61.
March 2008 – Lifestyle Network is now a 24/7 channel.
March 1, 2008 – Asia Plus, a Chinese premium channel on Channel 65 was replaced with Phoenix InfoNews Channel.
April 1, 2008 – MySky Channel 33 is reformatted again.
June 1, 2008 – SkyCable Baguio launches C-Load Prepaid Cable TV.
August 9, 2008 – ABC 5, a VHF channel on Channel 10 was replaced with TV5.
September 19, 2008 – SkyCable had its first High-Definition broadcast starting with the Ryder Cup from Sept 19 to 22
September 22, 2008 – Discovery Real Time is now Discovery Turbo
October 4, 2008 – C/S 9 replaced C/S on RPN 9 (Channel 14).

Channel Listing

Below is a numerical representation of the current SkyCable channel lineup.

This list is lifted from the SkySked Channel and SkyCable's official website

Channels not yet available on SkyCable can be found on the Future Channels section.

The channel listing is not applicable to subscribers in the CA MA NA VA, Rizal and other SkyCable Provincial areas.

Legend
SkyCable info channels	Local channels	News channels	Foreign-language channels
Sports channels	Kid-oriented/Animation channels	Educational/Documentary channels	Variety channels
Movie channels	Pay-per-view channels	Music channels	Lifestyle/Travel channels

† - Channels that are exclusive to SkyCable.

Ch. #	Network	Minimum Package	Notes
5	Zoe TV 33 (UHF 33)	Select Prepaid	Subscribers may experience interference with local reception of ABC 5 on this channel.
6	NBN (VHF 4)	Select Prepaid
8	ABS-CBN (VHF 2)	Select Prepaid
10	TV5 on ABC (VHF 5)	Select Prepaid
11	SkySked †	Select Prepaid	Subscribers may experience interference with local reception of Q 11 on this channel
12	GMA (VHF 7)	Select Prepaid
13	Shop TV	Select Prepaid	Subscribers may experience interference with local reception of IBC 13 on this channel
14	RPN (VHF 9) / C/S-9	Select Prepaid
15	IBC (VHF 13)	Select Prepaid
16	SBN (UHF 21) / ETC	Select Prepaid
17	Studio 23 (UHF 23)	Select Prepaid
18	Net 25 (UHF 25)	Select Prepaid
19	RJTV (UHF 29) / 2^nd Avenue	Select Prepaid
20	GEM TV (UHF 49)	Select Prepaid
21	UNTV (UHF 37)	Select Prepaid
22	Iglesia ni Cristo TV	Select Prepaid
23	MYX †	Select Prepaid
24	Q (VHF 11)	Select Prepaid
25	SkyCable Platinum Preview Channel †	Silver
26	DZMM TeleRadyo †	Select Prepaid	Live simulcast of DZMM Radyo Patrol 630 kHz with live video stream of the station.
27	ABS-CBN News Channel †	Select Prepaid
28	CNN International	Silver
29	BBC World	Silver
30	Bloomberg Television	Silver
31	ESPN	Silver
32	STAR Sports	Silver
33	mySKY Channel †	Select Prepaid
34	Balls †	Select Prepaid
35	AXN Beyond †	Silver
36	Cinemax Asia	Gold
37	Hallmark Channel	Gold
38	KidsCo †	Gold
39	Discovery Channel	Gold
40	Animal Planet	Gold
41	National Geographic Channel	Silver
42	Knowledge Channel †	Select Prepaid
43	Cartoon Network	Silver
44	Hero TV †	Select Prepaid
45	Nickelodeon	Silver
46	Animax †	Silver
47	Disney Channel Asia	Silver
48	STAR World †	Silver
49	AXN Asia	Select Prepaid
50	Fox Crime †	Silver
51	Maxxx †	Select Prepaid
52	Lifestyle Network †	Select Prepaid
53	Velvet †	Silver
54	HBO Asia	Silver
55	STAR Movies	Silver
56	Cinema One †	Select Prepaid	All The Movies From Star Cinema Regal Entertainment & Viva Films Plus Entertainment.
57	MTV Philippines	Select Prepaid
58	Asian Food Channel †	Select Prepaid
59	TCT Network	Select Prepaid
60	EWTN	Select Prepaid
61	zh:大愛衛星電視	Select Prepaid
62	Sky CEC	Select Prepaid
63	GXTV	Select Prepaid
64	Phoenix Chinese Channel	Chinese Premium
65	Phoenix InfoNews Channel	Chinese Premium
66	STAR Chinese Movies	Chinese Premium	audio with and subtitles during movies
67	CUBE iTV / RHTV - DZRH Television	Silver
68	STAR News	Indian Premium	audio with news ticker during newscasts
69	STAR One	Indian Premium
70	STAR Gold	Indian Premium
71	Voice of America	Select Prepaid	Multilingual, but mostly in audio
72	DW-TV	Select Prepaid	Alternating and audio every two hours
73	TV Español	Select Prepaid
74	TV5MONDE Asie	Select Prepaid
75	KBS World	Select Prepaid	, at times with subtitles
76	Makisig Network	Select Prepaid
77	Saudi One	Select Prepaid
78	NHK World Premium	Select Prepaid	audio with news ticker during major newscasts
79	Channel NewsAsia	Silver	Channel 67 on SkyCable Digital
82	Makisig Network	Silver
95	ACQ-KBN (UHF 39)	Silver
96	3ABN (UHF 45)	Silver
99	Living Asia Channel	Silver
100	HBO HiTS †	Platinum
101	HBO Signature †	Platinum
102	HBO Family †	Platinum
105	Turner Classic Movies	Platinum
106	MGM Channel	Platinum
110	CNN Headline News †	Platinum
111	CNBC Asia	Platinum
112	Fox News Channel	Platinum
113	SkyCable Season Pass	Pay-Per-View
120	Discovery Travel & Living	Platinum
121	Discovery Home & Health †	Platinum
122	Discovery Turbo †	Platinum
123	Discovery Science †	Platinum
124	Nat Geo Adventure †	Platinum	Formerly known as Adventure One.
125	Boomerang †	Platinum
126	Playhouse Disney Channel Asia	Platinum
130	Australia Network	Platinum	Formerly known as ABC Asia Pacific.
131	Wine TV †	Platinum
132	Fashion TV	Platinum
135	[[Channel V>Channel [V] International]]	Platinum
136	SkyCable Season Pass	Pay-Per-View
140	Family Land	Platinum
141	CTS	Platinum
145	CCTV 9	Platinum	programming in
146	STAR Plus Indian †	Platinum
147	Arirang TV	Platinum	programming in
148	MBC	Platinum
149	SkyCable Season Pass	Pay-Per-View

Future channels

These channels are not yet available on any of SkyCable's subscription plan or pack. SkyCable has no public announcement yet about any or all of these channels, but may have a formal contract or are negotiating with SkyCable for one. In any case, the Channel Listing section is more reliable data-wise, for they have citation unlike this section.

Al Jazeera English News Channel (Available on Global Destiny Cable only and a 30 minute program block every 4 p.m. over ABS-CBN News Channel)
BBC Entertainment Asia (soon on SkyCable, available for Platinum subscribers)
The History Channel Asia (available on Cablelink and Global Destiny only, will be available on SkyCable by 2008 or 2009)
Biography Channel Asia (available on Cablelink and Global Destiny only, will be available on SkyCable by 2008 or 2009)
CBeebies (soon on SkyCable, available for Platinum subscribers)
Crime & Investigation Network Asia (available also on Cablelink and Global Destiny only, will be available on SkyCable by 2008 or 2009)
CCTV-4 (contract was not renewed after 09-24-2007, will return on SkyCable for Platinum subscribers, Available on Global Destiny Cable and Cablelink only)
Euronews
Discovery HD Asia
Formosa TV (Available on Global Destiny Cable only)
FX Asia
Mabuhay Channel (soon on SkyCable, available for Platinum subscribers, Available on Dream Satellite TV, Cablelink and Dish Network USA only)
Nat Geo Wild (soon in skycable Gold)
Nat Geo Music (soon in skycable Platinum)
National Geographic Channel HD (soon in skycable Platinum)
RAI International (Available on Global Destiny Cable only)
Sci-Fi Channel
Sky News (soon on SkyCable, available for Platinum subscribers)
SM Mall of Asia TV (availlable on Cablelink)
Sony Entertainment Television Asia
Soundtrack Channel (Available on Cablelink only, soon on SkyCable available for Platinum subscribers)
STAR Chinese Movies 2
STAR Utsav (Available on SkyCable Provincial Cable TV Stations in Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Davao and Royal Cable, soon on SkyCable available for Indian Premium or Platinum subscribers)
STAR Vijay
TBN (soon on SkyCable, available for Platinum subscribers, set to replace CTS, Available on Global Destiny Cable and Cablelink only)
TVB8 (soon on SkyCable, available for Chinese subscribers, set to replace GXTV, Available on Royal Cable only)
Universal Channel
UniversiTV (availlable on Global Destiny Cable and Cablelink)
Xing Kong

Former Channels

SkyCable HD

The Philippines' first high-definition television broadcast was initiated by SkyCable on September 19, 2008 with the 2008 Ryder Cup in high-definition quality. It is not yet sure what resolution is being used by SkyCable HD, but it is presumed to be 1080i. SkyCable also announced that they would start to launch full HD channels before the year ends, with HBO HD, Discovery HD Asia, and National Geographic Channel HD included in the lineup.

Controversies

Alleged bias with GMA

In mid-2003, GMA Network, the chief rival of SkyCable's sister company ABS-CBN, accused SkyCable of purposely tampering with the signal of GMA received by SkyCable's subscribers. At that time, SkyCable changed its channel assignments, moving GMA to channel 14. Subscribers still received poor reception of GMA, but officials at SkyCable denied these claims. The National Telecommunications Commission ordered SkyCable to move GMA to an appropriate channel. SkyCable complied with the order and moved GMA to Channel 12 on the system.

Even so, some subscribers have complained still about GMA's weak signal on 12, especially in timeslots where GMA's ratings are relatively high. In response, GMA provides a telephone line where subscribers can complain to GMA about the signal quality. The phone line has been promoted during newscasts, and is being used to collect evidence in preparation for a formal complaint against SkyCable. Similar issues also occurred with GMA's secondary network, Q.

Dispute with Solar Entertainment

Due to a dispute with SkyCable, channels owned by Solar Entertainment Corporation were removed from SkyCable's lineups on January 1, 2008. The channels were "replaced" with several new channels: AXN Beyond, FOX Crime, Balls (a sports channel), Maxxx (a channel with aimed at Men), and Velvet (a channel aimed at Women).

Solar Entertainment responded to the move by starting to air programming on Associated Broadcasting Company (ABC), RJTV, and SBN, in addition to already present programming on the Radio Philippines Network (RPN). An insider stated that it was the best move, while another claimed that the troubles started when Manny Pacquiao, whose matches Solar Entertainment has exclusive rights to air and distribute, switched his loyalties from ABS-CBN to GMA.

Status of Competition

SkyCable competes with many cable TV providers in Metro Manila, some only operating in a certain locale in Metro Manila. But SkyCable's closest competitor in Metro Manila is Global Destiny Cable. Both have their own affiliates nationwide, and both provide their own cable internet services to subscribers. With the exodus of JackTV, Basketball TV and Solar Sports from SkyCable, Global Destiny is now a viable competitor.

Another major competitor in the Philippine pay TV industry was Dream Satellite TV, the country's first and only satellite TV provider. It operates nationwide because it can transmit its signals to its subscribers via satellite. Dream offers a very limited, and continuously shrinking number of channels, at prices far higher than the top packages of the cable providers.