The Philippines’ most successfully distributed canned TV series worldwide, “Pangako sa ’Yo” (“The Promise”), will soon be localized in Cambodia after Cambodian Television Network (CTN) bought its format from ABS-CBN, the Philippines’ leading and largest multimedia conglomerate.
“Pangako sa ’Yo,” produced by ABS-CBN in 2000, is one of the network’s top-raters of all time, headlined by premiere Filipino actors Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa as Angelo (Rosales) and Yna (Hermosa). The main characters will soon have their Cambodian counterparts as CTN targets to start production by the first quarter of 2013.
The adaptation of “Pangako sa ’Yo” in Cambodia marks a milestone in Philippine broadcasting history, particularly for ABS-CBN that is known as the Philippine leader in producing world-class TV drama series. ABS-CBN now joins the ranks of the world’s most competitive content suppliers with this format buy.
The landmark deal between ABS-CBN and CTN was made possible by ABS-CBN’s International Distribution Division, which to date has sold over 30,000 hours of content, making it available to over 50 territories worldwide.
ABS-CBN International Distribution head Leng Raymundo said the content ABS-CBN shows appeals to viewers from different parts of the world as more and more dealers express interest and acquire the network’s various canned programs.
She added that the success of these international runs have turned some of the Filipino actors and actresses into celebrities in other countries. Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa now have foreign fans from different countries after their series “Pangako sa ’Yo” was distributed in over 20 territories since 2002. The show was aired onChina’s national television and rated second in overall local and foreign programs airing in the country.
Rosales recounted during one of his trips to Ghana how he was overwhelmingly received by his African fans. He was caught off guard and was so surprised that they would want to have their photos taken with him and would even call him by his character name. He was widely recognized in the territory that he didn’t get to leave his hotel room for security purposes.
With its growing recognition in the global media distribution landscape, ABS-CBN International Distribution further expands its line-up of high-caliber programs and movies and offers them to more territories in the world.