Television in the Philippines became the first national Philippine television network to broadcast in high-definition on cable. In 2018, GMA Network also launched its own digital set-top box service under the generic name "digibox". Television in the Philippines Television in the Philippines was introduced in 1953. But even before that, during the late 1940s, a number of academic experiments had been done and replicated by Filipino engineers and students. From 1975 to 1978, the Sinag Awards were given by the Philippine Academy for Television Arts and Sciences (PATAS). On the other hand, the Star Awards for Television is the oldest existing television awards in
1st Genie Awards 1st Genie Awards The 1st Genie Awards were presented on March 20, 1980, and honoured films released in 1979. They were given out at a gala event at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto with Bruno Gerussi as host. A luncheon the day before the gala saw the non-feature film awards presented. The first time they were presented as the Genie Awards instead of the Canadian Film Awards, the 1980 ceremony also marked the first time the awards were presented by the newly organized Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. The show was broadcast on CBC Television and was noted