i Want TV
 | |
| Available in | Filipino, English |
|---|---|
| Area served | Philippines |
| Owner | ABS-CBN |
| Services |
video on demand video streaming pay per view |
| Slogan(s) | "Anytime. Anywhere!" |
| Website |
www |
| Advertising | Yes |
| Registration | Subscription to ABS-CBN Mobile, PLDT, or Smart is needed for premium content. |
| Users | 6 million (August 2016)[1] |
| Launched | 2011 |
| Current status | Active |
I Want TV (formerly iWanTV!) is an over-the-top content platform exclusively available in the Philippines that is owned and operated by ABS-CBN Corporation. It allows users who registered to the service to watch either a live video streaming or on demand contents of ABS-CBN on any screen and device. iWant TV users can watch the live video streaming of ABS-CBN, ABS-CBN News Channel, ABS-CBN Regional Channel, DZMM TeleRadyo, My Only Radio, O Shopping, and Pinoy Big Brother as well as on demand contents from ABS-CBN, ABS-CBN News Channel, ABS-CBN Regional, ABS-CBN Sports (S+A), Kapamilya Box Office, Pinoy Big Brother, selected local and foreign films and TV series and specials, and other exclusive and premium contents such as exclusive behind-the-scenes video clips, interviews, documentaries, bloopers, and Pinoy Big Brother 360° videos. The original name iWanTV! is a portmanteau of either the sentence I want TV!, or the Tagalog word iwan (English: to leave behind) and TV, pertaining to the service helping viewers being able to catch up show episodes they had left behind.
Users can access the contents of iWant TV through either the website interface or through the iWant TV app available in iOS, android, Windows and LG Smart TV.[2][3] Although the service is free of charge, exclusive contents are only available to premium users who registered using their ABS-CBN Mobile accounts[4][5] The iWant TV app can be access through either the ABS-CBN Mobile 3G network or through Wi-Fi.
From the launching until the 30th of August, 2015, I Want TV has foreign contents from many pan-regional television channels such as NatGeo, the Food Channel, E!, CNN, and Cartoon Network. This particular contents are now diverted into a new service called Sky On Demand which is exclusive to Sky subscribers. On August 31, 2015, iWant TV, together with StarFlix (a new division of Star Cinema) and Wattpad released Must Date the Playboy starring Kim Chiu, Xian Lim, and directed by Mae Czarina Cruz-Alviar, the first movie to be released exclusively through the iWant TV and ABS-CBN Mobile service.[6]
On September 26, 2016, a partnership with PLDT and its subsidiary Smart Communications was announced during a signing ceremony attended by Eugenio Lopez III (Chairman of ABS-CBN), Carlo Katigbak (President and CEO of ABS-CBN), Manny Pangilinan (Chairman of PLDT) and other ABS-CBN, PLDT and Smart executives. The partnership will enable PLDT and Smart customers to access the I Want TV website and mobile apps.[7]
References
- ↑ "ABS-CBN's iWant TV widens reach with PLDT, Smart partnership". ABS-CBN. September 26, 2016.
- ↑ "ABS-CBN's iWanTV IS NOW ON LG SMART TV!" (Press release). LG Philippines. July 15, 2011.
- ↑ "LG Smart TV expands entertainment options with Netflix, and more". Manila Bulletin. February 1, 2016.
- ↑ Pe, Roger (January 31, 2013). "Which media will survive?". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
- ↑ Red, Isah (July 18, 2015). "Secret behind success of ABS-CBN programs". Manila Standard Today.
- ↑ Mendoza, Arvin (September 2, 2015). "IN PHOTOS: Kim Chiu, Xian Lim star in 'Must Date the Playboy'". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
- ↑ "ABS-CBN partners with PLDT to offer iWant TV". BusinessWorld Online. September 27, 2016.
