JEDDAH, 5 September 2005 — The party’s over for those who had been illegally tapping programs of The Filipino Channel (TFC). And the paying customers are happy.

TFC put an end to the thievery last month when it replaced its old encoding system with a new one, providing new decoders and smart cards for subscribers in the Middle East.

Jet Gonzalez, TFC senior manager for operations, said his office was pleasantly surprised by numerous telephone calls and e-mails extolling the new system.

The paying customers felt that they were being given a raw deal because they seemed to be subsidizing those who were illegally acquiring TFC signals, he said.

“We are very gratified by the overwhelming support of the vast majority of our subscribers, many of whom appreciate our latest move of using a new encoding system,” he said.

He said TFC has also solved most of the signal problems the network had been experiencing for the past months.

“These have been largely solved. We apologize to our valued subscribers for the temporary inconvenience,” he said. “Thank you very much for bearing with us and for cooperating with us.”

True to expectation, the emerging rivalry between TFC and newcomer Pinoy Plus has been beneficial to viewers.

In addition to its improved services, TFC had also been sweetening its offers to subscribers. In Saudi Arabia, it is now offering a “Summer Promo” for new customers, allowing an individual to acquire a one-month subscription plus complete equipment and installation for an initial payment of only SR499. For the next 11 months, the subscriber need to pay only the monthly subscription fee of SR76 to complete the first subscription contract.

Gonzales said that in the past eight years since it opened operations in the Middle East, TFC has invested heavily to establish offices and designate distributors and dealers across the region where about 1.5 million Filipinos work.

TFC is part of the Philippines’ ABS-CBN Broadcast Network. Pinoy Plus, which is part of Orbit Channel, airs programs of GMA-7, the archrival of ABS-CBN.