ABS-CBN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III admitted that the controversy involving host Willie Revillame does have a “financial impact” on their network.
"There are ongoing discussions now with Willie, and we prefer to keep these discussions at this point between ourselves and Willie. Suffice it to say that we are cognizant of the financial impact that a star like Willie brings to the network,” he explained during the ABS-CBN’s stockholder’s meeting on Thursday, May 27.
It was the first time that the network's head honcho spoke on the matter.
Gabby made the statement in response to a stockholder who expressed exasperation over Revillame.
In a footage aired on “TV Patrol World,” May 27, the stockholder blurted: “When I saw he was pointing finger at the management, that’s something else already. If I were Mr. Gabby Lopez or Ms. [Charo Santos-]Concio, I’ll kick him out right away.”
Lopez related networks like ABS-CBN “will deal with stars all the time. And stars come and go, but the institution stays… He is not the first or the last star that will reflect this kind of behavior. It goes with the territory."
As of now, Revillame is on an indefinite break, a decision which resulted during a closed-door meeting between him and the management last Monday, May 24. Nevertheless, his contract with the Kapamilya network---which is good until 2011---holds.
While there is no word yet if he will be back to hosting “Wowowee,” the management, through a statement released on Tuesday, said that Revillame will not be allowed “to perform similar work for any person or entity in direct competition with ABS-CBN.”
Prior to this much-anticipated meeting, Revillame sent Lopez and Santos-Concio (ABS-CBN President) a letter on May 12 asking to be released from his contract with the station. In the same letter, he also addressed his health problems, which he said resulted in the process of performing on the show.
“Wowowee” is said to be one of, if not, the highest earning shows of ABS-CBN, bringing in hundreds of millions of pesos for each episode. Revillame, likewise, became one of showbiz industry’s multi-millionaires since he started hosting the show in 2005.
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