Five million and counting.
ABS-CBN announced this week that sales of the groundbreaking ABS-CBN TVPlus black box has reached the 5-million mark. This will put the network on track to meet the six-million sales target by the end of the year.
The steady growth of ABS-CBN TVPlus can be attributed to its low price, availability of several digital-exclusive TV channels and clearer picture quality. The boxes only cost P1499 and with a corresponding ABS-CBN Mobile SIM card, consumers can access exclusive ABS-CBN digital channels in CineMo, Yey!, Knowledge Channel, DZMM TeleRadyo and Kapamilya Box Office (KBO).
While ABS-CBN TVPlus is mainly used at home, some public and private vehicle owners have also invested on the device to improve picture quality in their TV screens while on the go. Although ABS-CBN discourages the use of TVPlus in automobiles, it did not stop vehicle owners from trying to improve the viewing experience of riders.
TVPlus is currently available in 15 key locations, mainly concentrating in the Greater Manila Area, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Benguet and Pangasinan. ABS-CBN is also looking to expand the current coverage area that TVPlus encompasses, with the announcement coming in the near future.
ABS-CBN also launched a new generation TVPlus box that is only available in Cebu and Davao. Sold for P2999, it now comes with a wifi stick that will enable customers to access the internet through ABS-CBN Mobile.
So far, the lack of competition in the digital TV sector has enabled ABS-CBN TVPlus to pull away in terms of sales. However, rivals GMA Network and Solar Entertainment are currently in the process of creating their own digital devices, which means that in a few years, one expect a dogfight between the three broadcast giants and their digital TV offerings.
For more information on ABS-CBN TVPlus, click this highlighted link.
From the Tube 
Di parin mailabas ng GMA ang kanilang dongle, ano na kayang nangyayari sa GMA? It shouldn’t be too hard to release it.
Tapos and Solar, if the PHTV group is to be believed, mukhang may problema rin ang EasyTV nila. Are their financial issues coming back to haunt them?
Designing a digital TV box or device is not easy. Kahit yung TVPlus ilang taong tinest ito bago ilabas sa publiko. My fearless forecast is that both will be available in two years’ time, so antay-antay lang.
For now, tiis muna sa TVPlus hangga’t maaari.
Ang tagal naman nila gamitin ang 599.143 mhz ng Delta Broadcasting System na yan para mas dumami pa ang mga Channel ng TV Plus. Nakakasawa na ang mga exclusive channels nila panoorin.
Aren’t you aware na may rule tayo rito regarding usernames? Dapat iisa lang ang gamit mo, dahil baka mapagkamalan kang poser or spammer kung dalawa ang gamit mo.
Until you stick with the username you have previously used, I won’t respond to your comment.
Sorry po na wrong typing ako!! Pero sa 599.143 mhz ng Delta Broadcasting System, Sana i-operate na ng ABS CBN yan para mas dumami pa ang channels nila.
I doubt that dahil unfair competition ang mangyayari diyan. It would also affect the potential digital channels of other networks.
While they sell like hot cakes, the common criticism of TVPlus (and soon theirs) as observed by DTV Pilipinas is channel encryption.
Instead of showing most, if not all of them, for free, they do it for a fee.
Yun din ata ang plano ng EasyTV though so di lang ABS ang may problema dito. Wonder though bakit di nalang pagbawalan ng NTC ang channel encryption sa digital; sa pagkaka-alam ko, di ito uso sa ibang bansa katulad ng Japan.
One word: competition. ABS and Solar still haven’t resolved the NBA carriage issue that was prevalent since last year. That’s why Solar’s doing this just to add fuel to the fire.
TV set up box is effective but the Philippines is using ISDB-T digital TV but GMA 7 still prefers using DVB-T digital TV which is true
Whichever works, we’ll find out soon.
ISDB-T is the Philippine standard. GMA has no choice but to follow. The challenge to GMA and Solar is how to market their respective devices with ABS having a 5-million unit head start. One cannot imagine having a number of set top boxes on top of their TV sets. The dongle solution of GMA still baffles me. To what device will the dongle be attached to. I assume its a USB or HDMI stick. Only the latest TV receivers have such ports present, unlike TV plus with its RCA connectors.
At this point, they are still in the testing stage so any modifications may happen. But once it’s released, they’ll have a lot of catching up to do since TVPlus sales are really growing and ABS is planning to add more areas to its digital TV imprint.
The decision to encrypt the ‘exclusive’ channels was a marketing ploy to push the TV Plus into the home. Would you spend for a generic DTV box when at almost the same one-time payment, you get the same number of digital program offering PLUS the exclusive channels for free.
Exactly. They are enticing customers to purchase the product then with a simple text message they can just unlock those exclusive channels for free. This is what ABS is doing to give TVPlus the sort of marketing boosts. If not for Yey, Cinemo, Knowledge Channel, DZMM and KBO, customers might not have been able to enjoy these same privileges as cable subscribers but with a one-time payment.
Naku!! Malapit na!!!
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/companies/653575/gma-network-to-roll-out-digital-device-next-month/story/?utm_source=GMANews&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=money
Good for GMA. Pero we’ll see kung reliable ito.
So its not really a dongle but a set top box. Based on the pictures of the device, its connection to the TV set will be HDMI (if not USB). What percentage of TV households in Metro Manila and nationwide own HDMI / USB capable set?
Check this article for reference.
http://business.inquirer.net/251034/filipinos-shifting-digital-tv
Mas maganda pa sana sa ABS CBN kung gagamitin na nila ang Channel 35 ng El Shaddai ni Bro. Mike Velarde bilang blocktimer para mas madagdagan pa sila ng mas maraming exclusive channels bilang paghahanda sa paglalaunch ng GMA Digital Device sa kanilang kompetisyon.
Pero papayagan ba sila ng NTC tungkol diyan? I doubt that. Besides that would be unfair for other networks who are also setting up their digital TV operations, lalo na yung GMA.