GMA 7 TV5 merger report not true, TV5 owner Manny V Pangilinan and CEO Atty Ray Espinosa confirm

> Manila, Philippines – TV5 ‘Kapatid’ Network owner Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP), along with TV5 President and CEO Atty. Ray Espinosa, denied on Monday, June 4, 2012 earlier reports that GMA ‘Kapuso’ Network and TV5 Network have merged.

As reported earlier, columnist Ricky Lo on his Funfare post at PhilStar.com on Monday at 12 a.m. (local time), MVP “virtually confirmed” the merging of GMA7 and TV5 during the presscon last Saturday in San Francisco and allegedly to be formally announced by the end of November this year.

Nevertheless, TV5 talent Arnell Ignacio tweeted about three hours later, along with a photo of his phone with the text message which he said came from MVP himself, and gave him permission to post his message.

Text message of TV5 owner Manny V Pangilinan to
Arnell Ignacio about the GMA 7 TV5 merger report
Image Credit: Arnell Ignacio Twitter

“You know, Arnel, all I said was: ‘Please support TV5 here in the States. And, by the way, please support GMA-7, too (since Dish carries GMA).’ That was all. No mention of merger, investment, combination” The text message of MVP reads.

“Certainly no mention of a November deadline, or any deadline at all. Sure some people speculated and all I said was, ‘I can now say we [are] under discussion but nothing finalized at this time.’” The message added.

Later, News5 journalist DJ Sta. Ana also tweeted a message from TV5 President and CEO Atty. Ray Espinosa, also confirming that GMA7 and TV5 have not merged and that Manny V. Pangilinan was only misquoted.

“TV5 chairman Manny V. Pangilinan was misquoted re: TV5 & GMA7 merger. Not true, says TV5 Pres. Atty. Ray C. Espinosa. Atty Espinosa: ‘MVP was misquoted; he did not say there was an agreement to merge TV5 & GMA7.’” DJ Sta. Ana (@djstaana) tweeted about two hours ago.

“The TV5-GMA7 bundled offering of the Dish Network is a marketing strategy to provide shows to Pinoys. This does not mean that TV5 & GMA7 have agreed to merge. There is no such thing as a Nov deadline. The interest remains on GMA7 but any deal depends on reaching a meeting of the minds on price, etc.” DJ Sta. Ana further tweeted, quoting the statement of Atty Espinosa.

source & image credit: http://www.batangastoday.com

Posted in: Arnell Ignacio, Atty Ray Espinosa, GMA 7, GMA 7 TV5 merger, Kapuso Kapatid merging, Manny V. Pangilinan, news, Philippine Star, philippines, Ricky Lo, TV5 Network