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 The Millennium Transmitter in 2016 | |
| Alternate names | ABS-CBN Tower AMBS Tower |
|---|---|
| Location | Quezon City,Metro Manila,Philippines |
| Tower height | 219.5 m (720 ft) |
| Coordinates | 14°38′25.36″N121°02′12.08″E / 14.6403778°N 121.0366889°E /14.6403778; 121.0366889 |
| Commissioned | March 21, 1969; 56 years ago (1969-03-21) |
| Decommissioned | July 9, 2025; 4 months ago (2025-07-09) |
| Owner | ABS-CBN Corporation (1969–1972; 1986–2025) Kanlaon Broadcasting System/Radio Philippines Network Inc. (1972–1978) Banahaw Broadcasting Corporation (1973–1986) People's Television Network Inc. (1974–1992) |
TheMillennium Transmitter is a soon-to-be-demolished 219.5-meter (720 ft) tall mast transmitter owned byABS-CBN Corporation and operated byAdvanced Media Broadcasting System located at theABS-CBN Broadcasting Center, Mother Ignacia Street corner Sgt. Esguerra Avenue, Barangay South Triangle,Quezon City. The transmitter was used by AMBS to serve as the platform for television transmission ofAll TV onanalog Channel 2 and digital Channel 16 (frequencies formerly used byABS-CBN itself as its flagship stationDWWX-TV and transmits from this tower before it ceased broadcast operations on May 5, 2020).[1] It was also used as the main transmission site for ABS-CBN-ownedDWAC-TV Channel 23, the flagship station ofS+A, before shutting down on May 5, 2020 and itsfrequency reassigned toAliw Broadcasting Corporation and its radio stationDWRR until it was relocated to Antipolo when the transmitter was upgraded by the end of 1999.
The Millennium Transmitter, also known as the ABS-CBN Tower, and provisionally called as AMBS Tower (from 2022 to July 9, 2025), was constructed at the corner of Mother Ignacia Street and Sgt. Esguerra Avenue, within theABS-CBN Broadcasting Center, at the time of its construction, it was one of the tallestlattice towers in the world. Construction began in the third quarter of 1968. On March 21, 1969, the tower became operational, transmitting television and radio for ABS-CBN and also used to beamcolor broadcasts inMetro Manila, and to nearby provinces. Aftermartial law was declared on September 21, 1972, as ABS-CBN suspended their operations the following day, the facility was taken over by the crony-ownedBBC-2 from 1973 to 1979; state-run People's Television's predecessorsGTV/MBS-4 also occupied the tower from 1974 to 1992 to beam their programs. When theEDSA Revolution happened, both the tower and Broadcast Plaza were stormed by reformist rebels as escalating battle occurred on February 24, 1986. After the revolution, the tower was returned to ABS-CBN. Since then, the tower became the primary source of transmission for bothDWWX-TV andDWRR and later it began transmitting the company's sister UHF stationDWAC-TV in 1996.[citation needed]
Its previous height was 650 ft (198.1 m), until ABS-CBN started a major reconstruction and rehabilitation of the whole tower, which included changing cylinder antennas to the more powerful dipole antennas with reflector, and increase of its height which was finished by the 3rd quarter of 2009.[2][unreliable source?]
On June 30, 2020, the transmitter was shut off due to acease and desist order from theNational Telecommunications Commission afterABS-CBN's legislative franchise expired on May 4, 2020.[3][4]
After two years of being non-operational for transmission, ABS-CBN granted the request of AMBS to use the transmitter for the analog and digital broadcasts ofAll TV. This was confirmed byWillie Revillame on his showWowowin.[1] ALLTV later beginning simulcasting several ABS-CBN programs, such asTV Patrol,Magandang Buhay andIt's Showtime, since April 15, 2024. This marked the return of ABS-CBN's operations to the transmitter tower after four years since its shutdown in 2020, albeit as an airtime lease operator.[5][6][7][8]
On February 27, 2025, ABS-CBN announced that it would sell most of theBroadcast Center toAyala Land, pending regulatory approval to thePhilippine Stock Exchange.[9][10] On March 2, 2025,Ogie Alcasid shared a post on social media, where he casually confirmed that the Millennium Transmitter would soon be demolished.[11] On July 9, 2025, the Millennium Transmitter was closed in preparation for demolition,[12][13] the first to be dismantled before theBroadcast Center, just 5 years after the new franchise was rejected by the Congress.[14] On August 20, 2025, ABS-CBN and Ayala Land have signed the deeds of absolute sale for the purchase of the sold properties.[15]
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The tower usesdipole antennas withreflector, and UHF panel antennas for wide coverage of analog (VHF and UHF TV) and digital (ISDB-T) TV reception inMetro Manila some nearby provinces in both grades A and B, for the broadcasts ofDWWX-TV andDWAC-TV respectively. Despite the name, the Millennium Transmitter is not a transmitter of its own, but rather a communications tower with antennas connected to multiple transmitters.[citation needed]
The transmitter facility housed bothDWWX-TV andDWAC-TV that contained sets of transmitter equipment imported byHarris and Jampro of theUnited States.[citation needed]
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