Sans political ads, GMA fumbles in H1

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August 17, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Broadcast leader GMA Network Inc. is struggling to grow its business outside the election cycle, nearly wiping out its profit in the first half due to the absence of political ads.

In its financial report, GMA said its profit has fallen by 95 percent to P89.93 million as of June, from P1.97 billion a year ago, as the network suffered a revenue decline.

GMA recorded a 35-percent decrease in revenue to P6.61 billion, blamed largely on the absence of campaign ads from 2025 that contributed more than P2 billion to its top line.

Worse, even if the election gains are excluded, GMA would have still suffered a 17-percent drop in revenue. The network attributed the income decline to the challenging economy, discouraging advertisers from making placements.

GMA also said the geopolitical conflict in the Middle East has forced several advertisers for fast-moving consumer goods to wind down spending. This is why GMA’s advertising revenues have shrunk by 37 percent to P5.89 billion.

GMA also said even the government has reduced its ad spending in line with efforts to prioritize urgent measures.

“Beyond the ongoing structural shift in consumer media consumption from traditional free-to-air channels to internet protocol-based platforms, overall advertiser spending was adversely affected by a challenging macroeconomic environment during the period,” the network said.

In response, GMA responded with an expenditure reduction of 11 percent to P6.71 billion in the six months to June.

Broken down, GMA trimmed production costs by 14 percent to P3.65 billion, with the network shaking up its program portfolio. General and administrative expenses also fell by seven percent to P3.06 billion, as spending was slashed across the board, from personnel to facilities.

The bright side for GMA is it sustained its free TV dominance, with core channel GMA-7 taking the crown in both urban and total Philippines. Features program Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho stayed as the country’s most-watched program, followed by 24 Oras and The Master Cutter.

Online, GMA remains the highest ranked media outlet in Southeast Asia, beating the likes of ABS-CBN, Thailand’s GMM Grammy Plc and Indonesia’s Kompas.

Likewise, GMA has grown its YouTube following to above 41 million subscribers as of June, as the network moves to solidify its online channels to diversify revenue sources.