Election ad spending drives up GMA profit in 2025

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

April 17, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — Broadcast leader GMA Network Inc. returned to expansion mode in 2025, boosting its profit by six percent on the back of higher revenue driven by political ads.

Based on its financial report, GMA’s net income improved by six percent to P2.2 billion in 2025, from P2.07 billion in 2024, placing the network back on track financially.

GMA hiked its revenue by three percent to P18.12 billion, gaining from political ads during the 2025 midterm elections.

GMA’s advertising sales accounted for more than 90 percent of its revenues at P16.57 billion, as the segment jumped by two percent from P16.24 billion. The network’s consumer revenues also increased by 17 percent to P1.55 billion.

However, GMA said revenues would have gone down by five percent without the political ads. It is becoming challenging for the network to draw more clients, as advertising shifts online in the age of streaming.

“Election-related placements in both periods provided the much-needed boost, [although] minus the extraordinary inflow in between years, consolidated revenues from all platforms fell short by five percent from regular and recurring sources,” GMA said.

Core channel GMA-7 led all units in attracting the bulk of election ads, propelled by its position as the country’s broadcast leader with an audience share of 44.4 percent in urban markets.

“Without this boost and aggravated by the tepid second half performance, advertising revenue of the main channel settled with a single-digit cutback from regular customers,” GMA said.

Likewise, GMA grew its radio revenues by 15 percent on the balance expansion of political and regular placements. GMA’s flagship radio channel Super Radyo dzBB also marked its 75th year in 2025, with sales going up by 64 percent.

On the other hand, GMA booked a five-percent increase in expenses to P15.54 billion. The network spent six percent more for production costs to invest primarily on high-demand shows like “Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Collab Edition” and “Encantadia Chronicles: Sang’gre.”

On top of this, GMA recorded a six-percent climb in personnel spending to P4.01 billion to cover the salary hikes of both rank-and-file and confidential employees.

As announced last year, GMA is undertaking a lineup revamp to persuade viewers to still watch free TV, and the network is strengthening its program roster in online channels.