Liga (TV channel)

Liga (transl. League) was a Philippine pay television channel owned by Creative Programs, Inc. and ABS-CBN Sports as a content provider. It was the sister channel of ABS-CBN Sports and Action (S+A), it began on January 1, 2018 as test broadcast and officially launched on January 16, as the permanent replacement of three CPI-owned channels, ABS-CBN Regional Channel, Tag TV, and Hero TV (through its channel space).

Liga
CountryPhilippines
Broadcast areaDefunct
NetworkABS-CBN
S+A
Ownership
OwnerABS-CBN Sports
Creative Programs
Sister channels
History
LaunchedJanuary 1, 2018 (2018-01-01) (test broadcast)
January 16, 2018 (2018-01-16) (official launch)
ReplacedABS-CBN Regional Channel (channel space)
S+A (ad interim; expired franchise)
ClosedOctober 30, 2020 (2020-10-30) (closure of sports division)
Replaced byCine Mo! (cable channel space)

Liga was the official broadcast partner of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup European Qualifiers in Russia, along with S+A.[1][2] Aside from FIFA World Cup, the channel also broadcast local and international sports coverage including the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), NCAA, University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), Premier Volleyball League (PVL), Philippine Azkals matches, Pinoy Pride boxing promotions, ONE Championship fights, and classic basketball and volleyball games from the UAAP.

The channel became the interim replacement of ABS-CBN Sports and Action (S+A) which ceased free-to-air broadcast operations as ordered by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on May 5, 2020, due to the lapsing of ABS-CBN's legislative broadcast franchise.

After 2 years and 10 months of broadcast, Liga ceased operations on pay TV on October 30, 2020[3] due to programming redundancies, lack of advertising support, and cost-cutting measures, as well as the implementation of a retrenchment program that covers its business from August 7, following a 70-11 vote by the House of Representatives Representative denied the company a new franchise by congress on July 10 and the dissolution of ABS-CBN Sports on August 31. The last program to air on this channel was a replay of UAAP Season 78 Men's Basketball Finals. After airing a tribute video showing the past sports coverage, local programs and events produced or sponsored by ABS-CBN Sports. Liga channel signed off for the last time on October 29, 2020, ending with Lupang Hinirang, an ABS-CBN's official Philippine National Anthem 2011 video before signed off at 12 midnight on October 30. The channel's cable space was later taken over by Cine Mo!, a complementary movie channel consisting of local films and foreign movies, seen on SkyCable and selected provincial cable providers.

Final Programming

Main programming

Original programming

See also

References
  1. "New Sports Channels and More, Now Availablde on Sky". MySky. January 24, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  2. "ABS-CBN launches new cable sports channel 'LIGA'". ABS-CBN Corporation Social Media Newsroom. February 2, 2018. Archived from the original on February 3, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. "Liga Channel Cease Broadcast". Sky Cable. October 8, 2020. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
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