GMA Network Inc., the country’s top broadcast network, is taking steps to recover its ratings and profitability, on air and in the digital space, after seeing its earnings drop by 35 percent last year.

“Efforts are underway to address the dip in our TV ratings as we work toward further strengthening our responsiveness to our audience’s changing preferences,” said GMA President and CEO Gilberto R. Duavit Jr.

He added that, “Separately, initiatives envisioned to bolster our competitiveness as a content provider to the digital viewer are also in the works, as we see great opportunities to enhance the audience base, increase viewer engagement, and improve monetization.”

Meanwhile, Duavit said that, “In parallel with our increasing content and distribution collaborations and partnerships, we commissioned eight new DTT stations and one upgraded analog TV station over the year, further cementing our superiority in broadcast terrestrial reach and solidifying our value as a broadcast TV platform, with a total of 115 analog and digital TV transmitter stations nationwide.”

He stressed that, “As we go forward, no effort is spared toward achieving our objective of value optimization in the broadcast and digital spaces, keeping a keen eye out to ensure our continued leadership and competitiveness in both.”

During the network’s annual stockholders’ meeting, Duavit noted that “The past year was a period of challenges with factors such as the high cost of goods, unfavorable economic conditions, the dip in our TV ratings, and the continued holdback from some of our major advertisers, all negatively affecting our trade revenue.”

While GMA’s television and radio broadcasts continued to be the dominant stations, he said “Consistent with the global trend, our international subscription-based channels, continued to lose ground against AVOD options and OTT-delivered streaming services.”

Amid shifts in media consumption, Duavit said their efforts to build a solid viewer base within the highly fragmented digital audience were met with relative success.

In 2024, GMA led all media and entertainment companies in Southeast Asia and the Philippines in Tubular Labs’ Leaderboard for media and entertainment properties for 11 consecutive months, based on aggregate video views generated on Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.

With over 45.5 billion video views generated in 2024, GMA’s monthly numbers resulted in Tubular global monthly rankings between 15th to 20th place within the year, placing it in a list that includes global content giants such as Walt Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros., Comcast, and Sony Pictures.

“By year-end we grew GMA’s total subscribers, followers, and users across all online properties by 14 percent, with digital revenue increasing at an equivalent rate—up by 14 percent versus the prior year.