Greater East Media

Greater East Media Inc. (stylized as GEM) is a publicly traded Filipino broadcast company headquartered in Makati City, Philippines.

After a merger with Universal Stations Group, NBCUniversal shareholders have taken a majority share in the company. It also merged its television portfolio with VGC's TV station group.

History
GEM was formed on June 17, 1979 as the Del Fonso Company spun off into two companies—a publishing arm holding the Del Fonso name, and the broadcast arm which had a new name.

As an NBS affiliate partner company
In the early 1980s, the NBS network had to sell many of its stations to other companies, including GEM, as a cost-cutting measure as they have lost money after years of defections and globally panned programming that resulted in a loss of ratings and profits. After a change of managerial positions and a major overhaul in its programming, the network managed to become strong once again by the time the EDSA Revolution was happening. Newly-appointed NBS CEO Enrico Salvacion wanted to take back the owned-and-operated stations they have sold earlier in the decade. He thought by landing a major affiliate would help build the network back to its original glory.

In 1987, NBS hired Manuel Avenido as its "affiliate consultant" to look for companies they could enter deals with. After an unsuccessful ₱157 million deal to purchase Greater Luzon Television, Avenido contacted stations group head Robert Javier to assist him in their search for big affiliates. With a very good past in regional broadcasting, Javier suggested talks with GEM for a partial stock deal, ultimately purchasing 20% of the company.

In 2005, GEM purchased several independent stations to secure NBS affiliations, after Central Communications launched its TV network and moved to its stations, some of which are NBS affiliates.

After NBS's purchase of CNP, GEM acquired some of its stations to comply with NTC regulations.

Universal Stations Group, Greater East Media v. The San Juan & Associates; merger with NBC's Philippine stations
In November 2020, the Supreme Court ruled The San Juan & Associates unfit to be a broadcaster, and was revoked of its franchise, after allegations that TSJA had been illegally using transmission facilities from GEM and Universal Stations Group stations. As a result, the company sold its stations to a joint venture between GEM and the NBC-owned Philippine broadcast arm. 2 of the stations were later sold to NBS directly.

In January 2021, GEM and NBCUniversal announced a quick merger. The new company would be majority-owned by NBCUniversal and Comcast shareholders, with the remaining shares being transferred to a Filipino investor, but would adopt the Greater East Media name. The merger was completed on the 12th, and resulted in the former San Juan stations to be effectively consummated by GEM.

VGC merger
While GEM still retains full ownership of its radio stations, GEM spun off its television stations into a joint venture with VGC, which was completed on June 30, 2021, resulting in some stations being sold, switching affiliations, and DXPA-TV shutting down. Their NBS and CNP affiliates were also sold to the networks as a result of the merger.