In June 1973, Roberto Benedicto, a crony of then-President Ferdinand Marcos and owner of the Kanlaon Broadcasting System (KBS), took over the ABS-CBN frequencies and facilities in Quezon City.

The Cebu and Bacolod stations switched affiliations to GTV (Government Television; later the Maharlika Broadcasting System) in 1978 and reverted to their original call letters respectively.

At the height of the People Power Revolution in 1986, the operations of the Benedicto networks were halted after reformist soldiers disabled the transmitter that was broadcasting Marcos' inauguration from Malacañang Palace.

[2] The Presidential Commission on Good Government approved the return of the network's flagship station Channel 2 and a portion of the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center to the Lopezes in June 1986.

[3] The Lopez family continued to own ABS-CBN during the Marcos regime and all lease arrangements it entered into with the Philippine government and the Benedicto group for the use of its frequencies and facilities were never entirely recovered.