MANILA, Philippines - GMA Network, Inc. said on Wednesday that the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) rule limiting the commercial load of programs to 18 minutes per hour will push commercial airtime prices up.

The network, which left the KBP in 2003, also said that the cap violates Philippine laws.

“A limitation on the supply of the very limited resource of commercial airtime would push commercial airtime prices upwards. Thus, time standard disrupts market forces that dictate supply and demand and is anti-competition,” GMA said in a statement.

Manipulative

Citing local and US laws, GMA also said that limiting the number of minutes per hour for commercials, among others, “had the actual effect of manipulating the supply of commercial television time.”

The network views the time standard “as a form of combination in restraint of trade and therefore violative of the Constitution and the Revised Penal Code.”

GMA officials could not be reached for comment regarding the network’s ad load, revenue from ads, and ad rates.
Full support
Last month, KBP member ABS-CBN declared full support for the ad load cap.

“The limit safeguards the public from possible abuse by broadcast organizations,” ABS-CBN corporate communications head Bong Osorio said in a statement.

“Limiting the number of TV and radio spots lessen the advertising clutter; thereby, making the ads more effective,” he added.

ABS-CBN head for business analysis Vivian Tin said on Tuesday that the ad load limit will not pull down the company’s ad revenue. “Last year, though KBP gave a little bit of leeway to the cap—to 20 minutes— we did not go beyond that out of respect for the audience. Between the price increase and the increase in number of minutes that’s coming out in terms of demand ... we think airtime revenues will grow healthily even at 18 minutes.”

Last Tuesday, ABS-CBN announced that it is raising ad rates by 15 percent, subject to negotiation with advertisers.