After 73 years of analog broadcasting since the first television broadcast in the Philippines (which began on October 23, 1953, as DZAQ-TV Channel 3), analog broadcasting in Mega Manila (covering Metro Manila, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, and Bulacan) will end in November 2026, in accordance with the governing law enforced by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).
A promo broadcast aired on ALLTV2, which carries several ABS-CBN shows under a licensing agreement since April 2024 (for Jeepney TV, It’s Showtime, and TV Patrol) and January 2026 (for all other ABS-CBN shows, replacing Jeepney TV), on Analog RF Channel 2 (NTSC-M) and Digital RF Channel 16 DT 2.1 (ISDB-T) (both of which are operated on the former frequencies of the Kapamilya network until May 5, 2020), announced that their analog transmissions will stop on October 30, 2026, and will only air exclusively on digital television after that date.
Additionally, other Mega Manila television stations broadcasting on analog will also switch off in October and November if they have aired a promotional broadcast about the analog switch-off. To date, as of September 2026, apart from ALLTV2, other television channels in Mega Manila are still operating on analog alongside the digital service, including PTV-4 (Analog RF 4/Digital RF 14 DT 4.1), TV5 (Analog RF 5/Digital RF 18 DT 5.1), GMA (Analog RF 7/Digital RF 15 DT 7.1), RPTV (Analog RF 9/Digital RF 19), A2Z (Analog RF 11/Digital RF 20 DT 20.21), IBC (Analog RF 13/Digital RF 17 DT 13.1), NET25 (Analog RF 25/Digital RF 28 DT 25.1), GTV (Analog RF 27/Digital RF 15 DT 7.2), One Sports (Analog RF 41/Digital RF 18 DT 5.3), and INCTV (Analog RF 48/Digital RF 49).
Before the analog switch-off developments and announcements, some channels had transitioned to digital broadcasting or began doing so directly on digital television, including SBN/Solar Entertainment (Digital RF 21 DT 0.x), Aliw Broadcasting (Digital RF 23 DT 23.x), RJTV (Digital RF 29 DT 29.2x), BEAM TV (Digital RF 31 DT 31.x), ZOE/Light TV (Digital RF 33 DT 33.x), UNTV (Digital RF 38 DT 55.x), and Gateway UHF TV (Digital RF 45 DT 45.x).
Viewers still watching analog television may need to switch to digital television, subscribe to a pay TV service (i.e., Sky TV, Cablelink, Cignal, GSat, or other provider), or continue watching through live streaming (for networks that offer live streaming over the internet, i.e., YouTube, Kapamilya Online Live, iWant, Kapatid Livestream, CignalPlay, BlastTV, Kapuso Stream, GMA Play, etc.).
To switch to digital television, if your TV is not digital-ready (i.e., a CRT TV or an older TV set without a DTT tuner), you may need to buy a digital set-top box (STB) that has an ISDB-T tuner (i.e., ABS-CBN TVplus, GMA Affordabox, TV5 Sulit TV, Baron DTT Box, etc.). Your DTT box includes an antenna. You may also use your existing outdoor antenna (UHF) to pick up more digital channels in your area (this may vary depending on your setup and coverage area), just by connecting it to the “RF In” or “Antenna In” port of your DTT box. If your TV is digital-ready (i.e., a smart TV with a built-in ISDB-T digital tuner), you may use your existing antenna.
To scan all available digital channels in your area, press the “SCAN” button on your remote control that came with the DTT box or digital-ready TV set. After switching to digital television on a non-digital-ready set, use only the DTT box remote to switch channels, and not the TV remote.
Additionally, analog broadcasting outside Mega Manila will soon be phased out in the coming months or years, under the same governing directive involving the digital switchover in the Philippines. The ISDB-T Digital Broadcast System has been adopted not only in the Philippines, but also in Japan, the Americas (except the Caribbean, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Colombia, and Suriname), Botswana, and Angola.
As the Philippines is among the countries of Southeast Asia, Brunei was the first Southeast Asian country to transition its television broadcasts from analog to digital on December 31, 2017, followed by Singapore (January 2, 2019), Malaysia (October 31, 2019), Thailand (March 26, 2020), Vietnam (December 28, 2020), and Indonesia (August 1, 2023).
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© 2026 DRPS Philippine Commercial Archives (DRPS PHCA). All Rights Reserved. PHCA CID: PHCA-2026H2-4211/September 1, 2026.
