ABS-CBN HD was a Philippine

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

channel, working as the high-definition feed of

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Philippine commercial broadcast network that serves as the flagship property of ABS-CBN Corporation, a company unde ...

. It was launched on October 3, 2015 initially on

Sky Cable Sky Cable (stylized as SKYcable) is a cable television service of Sky Cable Corporation in the Philippines. It covers areas across the country with both digital and analog cable services, and it has 700,000 subscribers, controlling 45% of ...

and

Destiny Cable Destiny Cable (formerly Global Destiny Cable and stylized as DESTINY CABLE) was a direct-to-home cable television subscription service based in Quezon City. Destiny Cable was the 2nd largest cable TV provider in the Philippines. It was owned by ...

and later on

iWant iWantTFC is a Filipino Over-the-top media services, over-the-top content platform and production company owned and operated by ABS-CBN Digital Media, a division of ABS-CBN Corporation, formed in 2020 through the merger of two streaming services ...

Sky On Demand Sky On Demand was a video on demand service exclusively available to Sky subscribers in the Philippines. It was owned and operated by Sky Cable Corporation, a subsidiary of ABS-CBN. It allowed users who were subscribed to either Sky Cable, Sky ...

, and

Sky Direct Sky Direct was a direct-broadcast satellite subscription television service in the Philippines owned and operated by Sky, a subsidiary of ABS-CBN. Sky Cable had been eyeing for a DBS service and considered on acquiring Dream Satellite TV from A ...

, broadcasting in

1080i 1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the scre ...

at a frame rate of 50 fps (via Sky Direct) or at 60fps. Until May 5, 2020, all Sky Cable and Sky Direct plans in Metro Manila offer ABS-CBN HD. The network including its HD feed went off-the-air on May 5, 2020 at 7:52pm following ''

TV Patrol ''TV Patrol'' is a Philippine television newscast produced by ABS-CBN News. It premiered on March 2, 1987, at the former ABS-CBN television network, replacing ''Balita Ngayon''. ''TV Patrol'' is the flagship national newscast of the network a ...

''. It was replaced by Kapamilya Channel HD on June 13, 2020.

Background

In 2007, ABS-CBN produced the first ever Filipino TV series to be shot in high-definition. This was '' Rounin'', a science fiction, fantasy series created by

Erik Matti Erik Matti (born December 21, 1970) is a Filipino filmmaker. He is known for directing '' On the Job'' (2013), ''Honor Thy Father'' (2015), '' Seklusyon'' (2016), '' BuyBust'' (2018), and '' On the Job: The Missing 8'' (2021). Matti co-found ...

. This was followed by ''

Budoy ''Budoy'' is a Philippine drama television series broadcast by ABS-CBN. It tackles the story of Budoy, who is mentally challenged, and his family, relationships and social issues. It topbills Gerald Anderson, Jessy Mendiola and Enrique Gil. T ...

'' in 2011. Prior to this, big-budget series like ''

Esperanza Esperanza is the Spanish word for hope, and may refer to: Places Philippines * Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, a municipality * Esperanza, Masbate, a municipality * Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat, a municipality United States * Esperanza, Mississippi, ...

'', ''

Mula sa Puso ''Mula sa Puso'' ( en, From the Heart) is a 1997 Philippine primetime melodrama romance television series originally aired by ABS-CBN from March 10, 1997, to April 9, 1999 (the series ended for 2 years in its long-run) replacing '' Maria M ...

'', ''

Pangako Sa 'Yo ''Pangako Sa 'Yo'' (International title: ''The Promise'' / ) is a Philippine primetime soap opera series that aired on ABS-CBN. It stars an ensemble cast led by Kristine Hermosa, Jericho Rosales, Eula Valdez, Tonton Gutierrez and Jean Garcia. ...

'', and ''

Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay ''Kay Tagal Kang Hinintay'' (International title: ''The Long Wait'' / ) is a Philippine soap opera, produced by ABS-CBN and Star Cinema. It started on July 8, 2002 and ended on November 14, 2003, replacing ''Your Honor''. The critically-acclaime ...

'' were shot in

16mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, edu ...

with a 4:3 aspect ratios while low budget series, on the other hand, were shot in smaller formats. The network's last drama series to be produced in 4:3 aspect ratio is ''

Moon of Desire ''Moon of Desire'' is a 2014 Philippine television drama romance fantasy series directed by FM Reyes and Raymund B. Ocampo, starring JC de Vera and Meg Imperial, with Ellen Adarna, Dominic Roque and Miko Raval. The series premiered on ABS-CBN' ...

'' which aired from March 31 to August 15, 2014, while the last program overall to be produced and aired on a said aspect ratio are the

ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs ABS-CBN Integrated News and Current Affairs, known on-air as ABS-CBN News (formerly known as ''ABS-CBN News and Public Affairs'' and later ''ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs''), is the news and current affairs production and distribution divis ...

programs such as ''

Umagang Kay Ganda ''Umagang Kay Ganda'' (, also known as UKG) was a Philippine morning show that aired on ABS-CBN from June 25, 2007, to May 5, 2020. Prior to broadcast stoppage and the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was aired every weekday mornings from 5:00 ...

'', ''

'', and ''

Bandila ''Bandila'' () was a Philippine television late-night news program broadcast by ABS-CBN with simulcast worldwide via TFC, Originally anchored by Korina Sanchez, Henry Omaga-Diaz and Ces Oreña-Drilon. The program premiered on July 3, 2006, ...

'' where they were switched to high definition (

, 16:9

HDTV High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

) format on April 2, 2018. Beginning with ''

Sana Bukas pa ang Kahapon ''Sana Bukas pa ang Kahapon'' (International title: ''Tomorrow Belongs to Me'' / ) is a 2014 Philippine melodrama television series directed by Jerome C. Pobocan and Trina N. Dayrit, the series stars Bea Alonzo in her very first dual role with Pa ...

'' on June 16, 2014, all of ABS-CBN's TV series were all produced in high-definition format. ''

Ningning ''Ningning'' () is a 2015 Philippine comedy-drama television series directed by Jeffrey Jeturian, starring Jana Agoncillo. The series premiered on ABS-CBN's ''PrimeTanghali'' noontime block and worldwide on The Filipino Channel from July 27, 2 ...

'' was the first Filipino TV series to be broadcast in HD on October 5, 2015, while '' Maalaala Mo Kaya'' was the first mini-series to do so the day before. On the other hand, the first ever locally produced live entertainment program to be broadcast in HD was the musical variety show '' ASAP'' on October 4, 2015. The aspect ratio of the network's break bumper was changed from 4:3 to 16:9 on June 13, 2016. Overall, TV broadcast contents on ABS-CBN in 4:3 aspect ratio were originally aired until April 1, 2018. Since April 2, 2018, broadcast contents on ABS-CBN are now all in 16:9 aspect ratio thus the network phased out the production of contents in 4:3 ratio on the said date. On April 19, 2009,

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

announced the acquisition of ABS-CBN of 24 units of its Sony high-definition

professional video camera A professional video camera (often called a television camera even though its use has spread beyond television) is a high-end device for creating electronic moving images (as opposed to a movie camera, that earlier recorded the images on film). ...

s through a press release published on Sony's official website. On July 11, 2009, ABS-CBN launched a high definition feed of Balls in

SkyCable Sky Cable (stylized as SKYcable) is a cable television service of Sky Cable Corporation in the Philippines. It covers areas across the country with both digital and analog cable services, and it has 700,000 subscribers, controlling 45% of ...

under the name Balls HD, the first local high-definition TV channel in the history of Philippine television. In the same day, Balls HD broadcast the first locally produced coverage of an event in high-definition, the

UAAP Season 72 UAAP Season 72 was the 2009–2010 season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. It was hosted by Far Eastern University, with opening rites on July 11, 2009 at the Araneta Coliseum. The men's basketball tournament and the wom ...

basketball game which was produced by

ABS-CBN Sports ABS-CBN Sports was a sports division of the Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN, which aired some of the notable sporting events in the Philippines. ABS-CBN Sports began in 1998 as the main broadcaster for the network-backed basketball leagu ...

. In addition, two of its three news helicopters are capable of transmitting high-definition live feeds from its 5 axis gimbal HD camera mounted on the aircraft. On April 20, 2010, Ikegami, a Japanese manufacturer of professional and broadcast television equipment announced the acquisition of ABS-CBN of 75 units of Ikegami high-definition professional video cameras for

electronic news gathering Electronic news-gathering (ENG) or electronic journalism (EJ) is usage of electronic video and audio technologies by reporters to gather and present news instead of using film cameras. The term was coined during the rise of videotape techno ...

. On October 3, 2015, ABS-CBN launched a high-definition feed in

SkyCable Sky Cable (stylized as SKYcable) is a cable television service of Sky Cable Corporation in the Philippines. It covers areas across the country with both digital and analog cable services, and it has 700,000 subscribers, controlling 45% of ...

and

under the name ABS-CBN HD. This marked the Philippines' first commercial television network to be launched in high-definition. The said channel would broadcast selected shows of ABS-CBN in true high-definition picture while the remaining shows would be broadcast in upscaled standard definition picture with pillarbox to preserve its original 4:3 aspect ratio. On May 5, 2020, ABS-CBN HD was dissolved at 7:52pm after ABS-CBN was forced to go off-air due to cease and desist order from the

National Telecommunications Commission The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC; fil, Pambansang Komisyon sa Telekomunikasyon) is an attached agency of the Department of Information and Communications Technology responsible for the supervision, adjudication and control over a ...

after its broadcast franchise expired the previous day. It was replaced with Kapamilya Channel HD on June 13, 2020.

References

{{ABS-CBN ABS-CBN Assets owned by ABS-CBN Corporation High-definition television Television channels and stations established in 2015 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2020 2015 establishments in the Philippines 2020 disestablishments in the Philippines ABS-CBN Corporation channels Filipino-language television stations Defunct television stations in the Philippines