QUEZON CITY, Philippines — Despite maintaining its dominance in Philippine television ratings, GMA Network slipped into a ₱77.4 million net loss in the third quarter as plunging ad revenues overwhelmed its cost-cutting measures, reversing the ₱102 million profit recorded during the same period last year.
According to the network’s latest financial statements, third-quarter revenue dropped 21% to ₱3.06 billion from ₱3.89 billion. For the first nine months of the year, net income plummeted 98% to just ₱32.9 million, resulting in a razor-thin profit margin of 0.3%.
Despite the sharp decline in earnings, GMA distributed nearly ₱2 billion in cash dividends during the period—roughly 60 times its net income.
Overall revenue for the nine-month stretch fell 31%, heavily impacted by a 33% drop in advertising sales, which account for nearly 90% of the company’s total revenue.
GMA attributed part of the downturn to the absence of political advertising windfalls from the 2025 midterm elections, alongside broader economic headwinds.
Regular advertisers reined in their marketing budgets due to inflation, higher fuel prices, supply disruptions, and weaker consumer spending.
GMA noted the “continued shift of audiences and advertising budgets from traditional media to digital platforms” as a major business pressure. Furthermore, the network stated:
“Supply constraints affecting petroleum-based materials also disrupted the production of cleaning products, packaging, plastics, fertilizers, and other consumer goods. As a result, some clients in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector temporarily suspended advertising placements for selected product lines. Government advertising spending likewise declined as agencies adopted a more prudent approach to budget utilization and expenditure priorities.”
In response, GMA trimmed its total operating expenses by 13% to ₱9.93 billion over the nine-month period, driven by an 18% reduction in production and direct costs. However, general and administrative expenses declined by only 5% to ₱4.64 billion, leaving savings well short of covering the ₱4.32 billion drop in revenue.
Consequently, EBITDA plunged 68%, narrowing the EBITDA margin from 33% to 15%.
Despite the financial slump, GMA retained its commanding lead in television viewership, backed by top-performing programs 24 Oras and Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho. Its digital presence also remained robust, ranking 17th worldwide in Tubular Labs’ August digital video rankings, with its primary YouTube channel crossing 41 million subscribers by June.
However, these digital achievements have yet to generate sufficient ad revenue to offset the broadcaster’s ongoing earnings decline.