ABS-CBN Corporation is set to build state-of-the-art soundstages and backlots that will enable the Kapamilya network to meet its expansion plans and its growing needs to serve the viewing public.

“The first soundstage will be up before the end of 2012 in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan,” said chief technology officer Raul Bulaong, who is responsible for ABS-CBN’s production, postproduction, animation and transmission.

ABS-CBN pioneered the construction of state-of-the-art soundstages among local TV networks, as it was also the first to build state-of-the-art TV studios in the 1990s.

Aside from soundstages, Bulaong said ABS-CBN will also be constructing backlots, areas adjacent to a soundstage that will enable them to shoot exterior or outdoor scenes, like a slum area or a street in New York City, without traveling to far-off places.

Bulaong also said consumers stand to benefit from the plan. “ABS-CBN is producing a lot of TV shows aired on Channel 2, Studio 23, cable TV channels like ANC, movies by Star Cinema.”

And when the National Telecommunications gives the go-signal for local networks to shift to digital TV, ABS-CBN will be launching five more new channels. This would mean more content and more shows that ABS-CBN should be able to produce efficiently