Filipino TV (FTV) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

exempt Category B

Tagalog language Tagalog (, ; ; '' Baybayin'': ) is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by the ethnic Tagalog people, who make up a quarter of the population of the Philippines, and as a second language by the majority. Its standardized form, ...

specialty channel A specialty channel (also known in the United States as a cable channel or cable network) can be a commercial broadcasting or non-commercial television channel which consists of television programming focused on a single genre, subject or targeted ...

and is owned by Ethnic Channels Group (ECG). It broadcasts news and public affairs from the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and locally produce Canadian content on a daily basis.

History

In September 2003, ECG was granted approval from the

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

(CRTC) to launch a specialty channel called Filipino TV, described as ''"an ethnic Category 21 specialty television service... targeting the Filipino-speaking community."'' The channel launched on June 23, 2004, along with 3 other channels from ECG, initially on Rogers Cable. It launched under the name ECG Filipino and featured programming from now-defunct

Pinoy Central TV The Filipino Channel, commonly known as TFC, is a 24-hour global subscription television network based in Daly City, California with studios in Redwood City, California and offices in Africa, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, UAE, Ethio ...

. In late 2005, the channel was renamed The Mabuhay Channel Canada via an agreement with The Mabuhay Channel, a new Filipino channel that had launched in the United States. The Mabuhay Channel was a partnership of five different Filipino broadcasters:

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Channel 5, NBN Channel 4,

IBC IBC is an initialism that can stand for: Broadcasting *Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation, Channel 13, Philippines * International Beacon Project, Worldwide network of radio propagation beacons *International Broadcast Centre *International ...

Channel 13, CCI Asia Group (ISLA & Juice), and

Viva Entertainment Viva Communications Inc., formerly known as Viva Entertainment Inc. and simply Viva, is a Philippine media and entertainment company headquartered in Pasig City. It was founded on November 11, 1981, by Vic del Rosario and his sister Tess Cruz. ...

. It was created exclusively for Filipinos living abroad by Philippine Multimedia Systems Inc. (PMSI), the only DTH satellite broadcaster in the Philippines. In August 2008, The Mabuhay Channel was dropped by

Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...

, the only provider who carried the channel in the US. As a result of this, the channel ceased broadcasting and on August 18, 2008. Ethnic Channels Group re-branded the channel yet again this time calling it FTV- Filipino TV. Coinciding with the launch of Filipino TV, Ethnic Channels announced a partnership with Filipino-Canadian production company Minerva Studio, whereby Minerva would produce several original productions for FTV. On November 4, 2014, the CRTC approved Ethnic Channel Group's request to convert Filipino TV from a licensed Category B specialty service to an exempted category B third language service. In December 2016, the channel underwent a rebranding, introducing a new logo and additional programming including locally produced programming from all provinces.Filipino TV to expand for growing Filipino-Canadian community
Inquirer 12-29-16

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filipino TV Digital cable television networks in Canada Multicultural and ethnic television in Canada Filipino-Canadian culture Television channels and stations established in 2004