GMA_Affordabox

GMA Affordabox

GMA Affordabox

Philippine digital set-top box

GMA Affordabox is a Philippine ISDB-Tb digital terrestrial television provider distributed and being marketed by GMA New Media, a subsidiary of GMA Network, Inc. The service distributes digital set-top boxes and USB OTG dongles with free-to-air digital TV channels, broadcast markup language, emergency warning broadcast system, functional auto-on alert, digital display, and info display services to select areas in the Philippines.[1]

Quick Facts Product type, Owner ...

History

In June 2010, the National Telecommunications Commission announced that it would formally adopt the Brazilian standard ISDB-Tb for digital broadcasting and issued a circular commanding all the country's television networks to switch-off their analog services on December 31, 2015, at 11:59 p.m. Philippine Standard Time (UTC+8).[2] But due to delay of the release of the implementing rules and regulations for digital television broadcast, the target date was moved to 2023.[3]

In February 2013, GMA Network was able to conduct field tests of digital broadcast using the Japanese standard ISDB-T in digital television on UHF Channel 27 (551.143 MHz), despite they remain unconvinced saying European standard DVB-T2 is superior to ISDB-T.[4] However, in October 2013, the NTC issued a draft memorandum circular adopting the Japanese/Brazilian standard as the sole standard in the delivery of digital terrestrial television (DTT) services in the Philippines.[5]

On May 15, 2019, GMA's digital broadcast was moved to its permanent frequency on Channel 15, due to its former frequency, Channel 27 will used by GMA News TV beginning on June 4, as the blocktime deal between GMA and ZOE terminated, resulting to its said channel's former frequency Channel 11 became silent the following day.[6]

In June 2020, images of GMA's owned DTV set-top box were surrounded online and a teaser was revealed on June 17.[7] GMA Network officially launched GMA Affordabox on June 26, 2020 during Tutok to Win sa Wowowin.[1]

Offered services

GMA Affordabox

GMA Network's flagship product digital set-top boxes intended for home use.

GMA Now

On December 12, 2020, GMA Network released its mobile dongle designed for USB OTG-capable Android smartphone,[lower-alpha 1] dubbed as GMA Now on Lazada and Shopee online.[8] It allows users to watch free-to-air channels on their Android smartphones and has extra features such as a video-on-demand feature to stream GMA's online content, a Groupee Chat (web chat), and interactive promos to join.[lower-alpha 2] It also supports Picture-in-picture mode[lower-alpha 3] and screen recording. GMA Network officially launched GMA Now on February 7, 2021 during All-Out Sundays, and it also announced it will support for iPhone users soon.[9][10]

Channel lineup

UHF Channel 15 (479.143 MHz)1

More information Channel, Video ...

1 For Mega Manila only, channel and frequency varies on regional stations.

Channel and frequency

For the full list of digital television stations channel and frequencies, see List of digital television stations in the Philippines.
More information Branding, Callsign ...

See also

Notes

  1. Requires at least Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) and USB OTG mode.
  2. Internet connection (Mobile data or Wi-Fi) required for extra features only.
  3. The Picture-in-Picture (PiP) feature for TV viewing requires at least Android 8 (Oreo). Only one PiP screen is allowed to continue playback on top of the other apps.

References

  1. [1]
    "GMA Network unveils 'GMA Affordabox' on its 70th anniversary". GMA News Online. June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  2. [2]
    "Business - NTC chooses Japan digital TV standard for RP - INQUIRER.net". Philippine Daily Inquirer. June 9, 2010. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
  3. [3]
    Cabuenas, Jon Viktor D. (February 14, 2017). "Gov't wants analog TV switched off by 2023". GMA News Online. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  4. [4]
    "GMA Network continues to reject Japanese digital TV standard". Inquirer.net. February 22, 2013. Archived from the original on May 3, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  5. [5]
    Amojelar, Darwin G. (October 11, 2013). "Philippines adopts Japan standard for digital TV". Interaksyon. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
  6. [6]
    Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas (May 15, 2019). "GMA Network Starts Digital TV Transmission using permanent frequency". GMA Network.com. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  7. [7]
    "Abangan ngayong June 26 sa Wowowin!". Facebook. June 17, 2020.
  8. [8]
    "GMA Now: Get your first dibs this 12.12!". GMA News Online. 2020-12-12. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
  9. [9]
    "GMA optimistic on 'GMA Now's' launch despite COVID-19 pandemic". GMA News Online. 2021-02-04. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  10. [10]
    "Watch TV for free on your Android device with GMA Now". GMA News Online. 2021-02-08. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
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