IBC-13 launches Senate TV
MANILA, Philippines — The Intercontinental Broadcasting Corp. (IBC-13) welcomed the launch of Senate TV, a high-definition channel dedicated to the work of the Senate, now available on IBC Digital TV Channel 13.3.
The channel is leased by the Senate from IBC-13, which owns and operates the frequency.
Senate TV joins Congress TV (Channel 13.2), which IBC-13 launched in October 2024. Together, the two channels lay the groundwork for a C-SPAN-style framework for the Philippines: a public affairs service that shows viewers how their government works, with as little editorial filtering as possible.
In its first phase, Senate TV will air hearings and other proceedings of the chamber, following the path Congress TV took at its own launch. The channel will carry the Senate’s work as it happens, without commentary meant to steer how viewers should read it.
The programming is also meant to go beyond the session hall. Senate TV will follow members out of their chambers and into the communities they serve, down to the everyday Filipino.
A second phase is planned, as it was for Congress TV: Senate TV’s own main newscast wrapping up the activities of the Senate and its members, along with niche programs of its own.
C-SPAN, founded in the US in 1979 by Brian Lamb, and the cable industry, is widely regarded as a benchmark for impartial coverage of government.
It points its cameras at congressional sessions, hearings and public affairs events, and it does not employ reporters to interpret them.
Independent media watchdogs such as AllSides and Media Bias/Fact Check rate it as Center or Least Biased, and its audience includes a mix of conservatives, liberals and moderates.
On the launch, IBC-13 president and CEO Jose “Jimmie” Policarpio Jr. said Senate TV joins Congress TV under the franchise of IBC-13, which commits the whole organization to the delivery of accurate and timely information relevant to the needs of the Filipino people.
“Although IBC-13 is part of the integrated state media, we remain wholly committed to non-partisan coverage of events, for the welfare of the nation. We welcome Senate TV in fulfilling this mandate,” he said.
For the Senate, a dedicated channel gives the chamber a permanent, accessible record of its work. Debates, committee hearings and legislative deliberations reach the public in full, rather than only as clips and soundbites that often survive a news cycle.
The launch comes after two years of rebuilding at IBC-13. In 2024, the network settled more than half a billion pesos in retirement obligations that had weighed on it for over two decades, and initiated a corporate reorganization.
In 2025, more than P1.1 billion was mobilized to fund unpaid benefits for 388 employees, complete the reorganization and support the shift to digital.
Senate TV is available on IBC Digital TV Channel 13.3 in areas served by IBC-13’s digital broadcast. Viewers with digital TV sets or set-top boxes may need to rescan channels to find it.
Channel 13.3 had been carrying the dwAN 1206 AM simulcast.
Senate TV will use the channel until IBC-13 activates its fourth digital TV channel, which will then become the home of dwAN, ang Radyo ng Bagong Pilipinas.
