Radio Philippines Network

The Glory Years (1975-1986)

In 1975, KBS formally relaunched as RPN, the acronym for its franchise name, Radio Philippines Network (the RPN name was first used in the provincial stations before the RPN brand would later be used for the Manila station as well; the KBS name was also used for other aspects such as KBS Sports until 1986). The network covered special events such as the Olympic Games, Thrilla in Manila in 1975, and the Miss Universe pageant held in Manila in 1974; and programs such as John En Marsha, Flordeluna and Superstar. RPN became the birthplace and the first humble abode of the now longest running daytime variety show Eat Bulaga! (premiering in 1979). RPN also became the home of the popular and most watched longest running game show on Philippine television Family Kuarta o Kahon hosted by Pepe Pimentel originally aired on ABS-CBN then BBC-2. The show ran for almost 38 years until it finally ended in the year 2000. The network also pioneered the use of computer graphics for their program plugs and station IDs as well as its broadcast of the iconic digital clock shown on the lower left part of the screen during the entire broadcast day except for newscasts, commercials, continuity plugs, station ID, and during sign-off (until it was abandoned in 2007), and after the fire that razed its first studios on June 6, 1973, RPN moved to the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center in the same year, and to its current Broadcast City home in July 1978, alongside sister networks BBC-2 and IBC-13.

RPN also aired anime programming (making them one of the first to do so in the country) and imported and syndicated programs from the United States. RPN-9 is the first network to cover the Philippine Basketball Association games live in 1976, before the broadcasts moved on to BBC-2.

In 1980, RPN-9 began to broadcast primetime programs and Eat Bulaga! (when it was still with the network) through its new domestic satellite (DOMSAT) technology in which the 1980s logo resembles a satellite antenna.^[4] This made RPN the first national network to achieve nationwide program simulcasting via satellite.

The network also became home to, from 1978 up to the early 1980s, the Super Sentai series (making it the first in the Philippines to do so, becoming a pioneer in broadcasting tokusatsu and sentai programs in the country in the process). These made it a reason for the network in 1982 to adopt The Leader as its official slogan, coupled with its Number 9 and the red corporate logos, due to its massive successes as the nation's number one network. In 1986, after the assumption of office of President Corazon Aquino, the government sequestered Radio Philippines Network for allegedly being part of the crony capitalism under the Marcos regime. By then, it was the leading network in the Philippines cornering the highest audience share in the entire country.

First Downfall (1986-1989)

After the People Power Revolution, the stock and assets of RPN, IBC and Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation were sequestered by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). President Corazon Aquino awarded BBC's Channel 2 frequency and its affiliates, through an executive order, to ABS-CBN, and RPN's and IBC's assets were turned over to the Government Communications Group. This was a period when the network lost much of its viewership to GMA Radio-Television Arts, which had rose as the leader in 1986, and PTV, another government-owned network, causing its ratings to slump, thus tarnishing RPN's popularity.

This decline was worsened when one of its pre-1972 rivals, ABS-CBN, which struggled in the ratings upon its reopening in 1986, got a ratings boost in 1987, triggering an unfaltering ascent to No. 1 in 1988, causing RPN to fall to 4th place overall.

During the post-EDSA Revolution era, RPN launched the first Filipino-created animated series, Ang Panday. By 1989, some of RPN's programming such as John en Marsha and Superstar were cancelled, and TAPE Inc.'s daytime programs Eat Bulaga!, Agila and Coney Reyes on Camera (a co-production with Coney Reyes' CAN Television) moved under a co-production agreement to ABS-CBN, as they saw the resurgent network as a vital element in the sustaining of the three shows' success. During this period, it was already clear that RPN was losing its status as a premier broadcaster, resulting in its "The Leader" slogan to lose its purpose.

Telenovela Dominance (1994-2002)

In 1994, New Vision 9 was renamed back as Radio Philippines Network (RPN) and in the same year, RPN became the second television network in the Philippines to broadcast in full surround stereo (after GMA Network introduced StereoVision in 1987). In 1996, though, the network quickly regained its footing when it began to broadcast a Tagalog dub of the Mexican telenovela Marimar, which turned out to be a phenomenal success. The network became the pioneer in Tagalog-dubbed foreign programs and movies and made the popular and turnaround its ratings on the evening prime time. Due to the success, the other networks followed and broadcast telenovelas not only from Mexico but also Spanish language telenovelas from the United States, Colombia (GMA 7's Betty La Fea), Venezuela (GMA 7's Samantha and All My Love) and Argentina (GMA 7's Monica Brava) and eventually even drama series from Brazil (ABS-CBN's Ana Manuela) and Asian drama series from Taiwan (notably Meteor Garden) and South Korea (notably Bright Girl).

Second Downfall (2003-2007)

By mid-2000s, a major network war in the ratings game ensued with the broadcast of Taiwanese/Korean-language television series by the two superior leading networks, ABS-CBN and GMA Network, causing RPN into decline in the telenovelas battle.

RPN renewed its congressional franchise for another 25 years on February 19, 2004. Under Philippine law, no broadcast company will operate without franchise from Philippine congress, an authority that limits and regulates operations of telecommunications and broadcast media such as televisions and radios.

As C/S / C/S9 / Solar TV (2007-2011)

C/S9 logo used from October 4, 2008 - November 28, 2009

On March 11, 2007, RPN began a partnership with the Solar Entertainment Corporation, an operator of a number of cable channels in the country. The company began co-producing new programming for the network, such as a local version of the Top Model franchise. The network underwent management changes on December 24, 2007, as Tonypet Albano (undersecretary and executive director of Malacañang's Office of Political Coalition Affairs and Deputy Spokesperson of TEAM Unity, now Vice-Governor of Isabela) was appointed chairman of the network (replacing Education Undersecretary Mona Valisno, incumbent Presidential Assistant for Education). Undersecretary Robert Rivera was appointed director of the board, while the president and chief executive officer became former senator Orlando "Orly" Mercado.^[5]

Mercado's first major move was to expand their partnerships with Solar Entertainment. Programming from Solar's cable network C/S was added to RPN's lineup at the beginning of the new year, and PBA basketball would also return to the network beginning in the 2008-09 season, as part of Solar Sports' new three-year deal with the league after an intense bidding war with ABS-CBN.^[6][7]

In October 2008, RPN's stations ultimately took on the C/S name as part of their permanent branding, and rebranded itself as C/S 9. The C/S 9 name would not last, on November 29, 2009, the network re-branded again under the new name Solar TV. In late 2010, it was revealed that RPN would no longer carry PBA games, due to planned re-launch to occur in 2011, with more "feminine" programming.^[8]

As ETC (2011-2013)

ETC logo from March 2, 2011 - November 30, 2013

In 2010, the Philippine government began to actively consider privatizing RPN and IBC. Ricardo Abcede, member of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, supported the plans, noting that the government should not need to subsidize three state broadcasters when most countries only have one, and could gain a significant profit if they were sold to a major company willing to invest in the stations.^[9]

In January 2011, reports confirmed that Solar Entertainment Corporation, through Solar TV Network, and Roberto Benedicto's daughter Kitchie Benedicto now owned a 34% minority share in RPN.^[10] Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. also began to hold meetings with the network's employees union to discuss the financial state of RPN as part of the planned privatization.^[11] On February 22, 2011, RPN's employees filed a strike notice, protesting a rumored shutdown of RPN on February 25, and accusing the government of attempting to privatize RPN without actively consulting its employees.^[11][12][13]

On February 25, 2011, RPN signed off temporarily in preparation for a relaunch as ETC on March 2, 2011.^[14][15] Additional shares in RPN were sold to Far East Managers and Investors Inc. (FEMI), an organization company affiliated with Ambassador Roberto Benedicto (founder of RPN), and the San Miguel Corporation. The government would retain the People's Television Network to serve as the sole state broadcaster of the country.^[16][17] However, due to privatization, RPN is forced to retrench 200 employees and stopping the production of RPN NewsWatch, its last RPN-produced program, on October 29, 2012 as Solar TV takes over the entire RPN's airtime.^[18][19]

As Solar News Channel (2013-2014)

In November 2013, San Miguel Corporation President and COO Ramon S. Ang declares interest in acquiring Solar Television Network and its stake on RPN but instead acquire a minority stake of the network.^[20]

On November 30, 2013, ETC returned to SBN while Solar News Channel moved to RPN since the following day to widen its nationwide telecast.^[21][22][23] (SBN broadcast ETC from 2008-2011)

As 9TV (2014-2015)

9TV logo from August 23, 2014 - March 15, 2015

On January 3, 2014, RPN and Aliw Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) signed a memorandum of agreement for the expanded coverage of the both TV and radio networks nationwide. Selected DWIZ programs will be simulcast on the Radyo Ronda Network.^[24][25]

On August 20, 2014, Solar Entertainment Corporation chief Wilson Tieng announced that he ceded his entire share on Solar TV Network, Inc., including its 34% majority share on RPN, to Antonio Cabangon Chua (he died almost 2 years later on March 11, 2016), owner of business daily BusinessMirror and Aliw Broadcasting Corporation.^[26][27] Tieng sold Solar TV because they are losing money for operations and he will be focusing instead on the remaining television channels he personally owned through Solar Entertainment.

To reflect the change of ownership, on August 13, 2014, Solar Television Network and RPN announced the rebranding of Solar News Channel into 9TV by August 23, dropping the "Solar" branding.^[28][29] 9TV retained the news and current affairs programming while expanding its weekend programming to cater more audiences with the launching of "Kids Weekend", "Small Acts, Big Stories", "Something to Chew On" and "Boys Ride Out".^[30]

However, the 9TV branding is only a transitional brand to separate "what is Tieng's (the former owner) and what is Cabangon-Chua's". In October 14, 2014, Nine Media Corporation (formerly Solar Television Network) inked a 5-year brand licensing agreement with the Turner Broadcasting System to rebrand 9TV into CNN Philippines, the local franchise of Cable News Network, and the third local CNN channel in Asia (after CNN Indonesia and India's CNN-IBN). CNN Philippines was officially launched on March 16, 2015.^[31]

As CNN Philippines (2015-present)

On March 16, 2015, 9TV started broadcasting on CNN Philippines brand.^[32] CNN Philippines is the seventh rebrand of Radio Philippines Network since its inception as KBS. It dropped the transitional brand 9TV after seven months of operations under such brand. The new brand reflects the CNN format of news reporting on news from the Philippines.