TV5, GMA7 MERGER -- NO DEAL! YET

MANILA, Philippines - There are kinks in the ongoing negotiations for a deal between the country's second and 3rd largest media groups. Owners of GMA-7, operated by GMA Network Inc., and the group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan, who chairs TV5, are currently in talks for a possible deal that both camps aim to finalize before 2012 ends. "There are outstanding issues other than pricing. Right now, we are not moving in the same direction," GMA-7 chair and CEO Felipe Gozon told reporters at the August 14 briefing on the network's financial performance in the first 6 months of the year. "We have not issued a joint statement that we are terminating talks," he added. This is the 3rd time the two groups are negotiating since about a decade ago.

 Source: RAPPLER