Television Three

Television Three (also known as Three) is a Filipino television network based in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. It is owned and operated by the Teleradio Broadcasting Company.

The network was launched on January 3, 1970, though in black and white broadcasts. The station started color broadcasts on March 20, 1970 on select programs, and on September 26, 1971, they started broadcasting in full color.

Three is known for airing experimental entertainment, cultural, and informational programs, such as: NewsJournal Three, Within the Depths of Space, Life!, Sound and Vision, among others.

E Television: 1966-1969
See also: E Television

On December 17, 1966, the Teleradio Broadcasting Company launched The Entertainment Television (branded as E Television) on channel 6. It was an experimental/general entertainment television network that broadcasts for 8 hours a day, from 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

It mostly airs comedy shows, game shows, movies, news, cultural, and live talk shows. They have two separate programming blocks: TBC 1 broadcasts comedy shows, movies, and news from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm, and TBC 2 broadcasts news, game shows, cultural shows, and live talk shows from 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm.

They ceased broadcasting on December 25, 1969, in favor of moving the station to channel 3. The network was supposed to retain its branding, but was named Television Three instead. The flagship station DWES-TV was renamed to DWTX-TV.

E Television's documentaries and cultural shows are known for its experimental nature and were considered 'eccentric' during its time. One of E Television's popular programs were Life!, a weekly satirical cultural show that features a music show, human interest stories, a talk show, and several comedy skits. It was loved by viewers because of its energetic nature.

Television Three (1st era): 1969-1972
On November 1969, DZAQ-TV, a flagship station of ABS-CBN, moved from channel 3 to channel 2. On December 30, 1969, TBC took over the channel 3 frequency with DWTX-TV as its callsign. During that time, they only displayed several slides consisting their logo and texts about their launch.

On January 3, 1970, at 6:00 pm, Television Three was launched. The launch night consists of several prominent singers and bands at the time, a talk show, musical performances, and a celebration. It lasted 3 hours. A day after their launch, the network would broadcast for 14 hours a day, from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm. The network retained most of E Television's programs and its programming blocks: TBC 1 and TBC 2.

On January 4, 1970, they launched their flagship news program, NewsJournal Three. It features two editions, a 12 pm edition (NewsJournal 1), and a 6 pm edition (NewsJournal 2).

On January 15 and 23, 1970, DYCE-TV 8 and DXDS-TV 10 were launched as "Television Eight" and "Television Ten", respectively.

Television Three started broadcasting in color only for selected programs on March 20, 1970, with NewsJournal Three being the first one. They would later start broadcasting in full color on September 26, 1971.

On July 25, 1970, Television Three launched a weekly program called Television Three Specials, featuring short films from independent artists, borrowed television specials, and live television specials.

Starting 1970, the TBC 2 programming block runtime was stretched to 12:30 a.m. every December 31, as the network debuted their own live new year television specials. Their 1971 New Year's Celebration program was the network's first live television program to be in color.

On September 23, 1972, Television Three was closed down, like most other television stations, due to the implementation of martial law in the Philippines by Ferdinand Marcos.

Omega Television: 1972-1973
See also: Omega Television

The government allowed the station to operate weeks after the shutdown, and the station was reinstated on November 29, 1972. They launched as Omega Television, which broadcasts in mornings and evenings only. The television network's programming was divided to two parts: Omega 1, which broadcasts at 5:00 am to 11:45 am, and Omega 2, which broadcasts at 2:45 pm to 9:30 pm. The television network was closed down on February 16, 1973, to be rebranded back to Television Three the next day.

Television Three (second era): 1970s
On February 17, 1973, they relaunched as Television Three, still retaining the schedule of the previous network. However this time, they omitted the 3 hour break from between. Around this time, viewers and TV critics considered Television Three's golden era of 'progressive' programs. Between 1974 and 1977, Television Three has produced and created several variety, cultural, lifestyle, and infotainment programs, such as Interesting, Within The Depths of Space, Life in the Islands, Around the World, The Weekly Magazine, Business Talk, and Three at Seven.

On that same day, NewsJournal Three was updated: Edition 1 airs every 7:30 in the morning, Edition 2 airs at 12:00 noon, and Edition 3 airs at 8:00 in the evening. Since then, the schedule for the program became permanent.

In April 2, 1974, Television Three extended its broadcast hours from 5:00 am - 9:00 pm to 5:00 am - 11:00 pm.

On November 8, 1974, Television Three revived E Television's weekends experimental variety program Life!, with its pilot episode aired as a special presentation. It became popular amongst viewers, peaking up to 400,000 viewers during its first episode. The show's initial runtime of 45 minutes was increased to 60 minutes. The show aired every Friday after NewsJournal Three.

Three Early Morning Show debuted on July 7, 1975, which features four segments throughout its 2 and ½ hour runtime (in order of appearance): a short film, a weather report, a talk show, and a cooking show. It is a live broadcast and it airs 5:00 in the morning. It is subsequently followed by the first edition of NewsJournal Three.

On November 28, 1977, Television Three launches a programming block named Midnight Television, which broadcasts on 11:30 pm to 4:30 am, making them the first television station in the Philippines to have the longest broadcast duration: 23 ½ hours a day. On that same day, the TBC 1 and TBC 2 programming blocks were replaced by three new programming blocks; Television Sunrise (airs 5:00-9:45 am), Daylight Delight (airs 9:50 am - 4:25 pm), The Primetime Program (branded as primetime - airs 4:30 - 11:25 pm). The 5-minute break in between includes commercials, continuities, and promos.

The network's reformatted programming received favorable feedback form viewers, except for the Midnight Television programming block. The said block was widely criticized for the lack of original programs in it. The programs being shown in the block are mostly borrowed from foreign TV channels.

1980s
On January 5, 1980, Television Three produced a live television program called Why Are You Still Awake?. It premiered on the entirety of the Midnight Television program block. The show is hosted by Martin Pangilinan. The majority of the show is filmed in his office. The show is known for its low-key tone and deadpan humor. The show had three segments: One-on-One Talk, Watch and Listen, and Movie Poll. The show ended on December 31, 1983. The show gained a fanbase throughout its run.

According to Martin Pangilinan, during the show, the headquarters of the station closes down at 11:30 in the evening, leaving only him, the TV announcers, and some of the television production crew. He sometimes roam around the whole building in some of the episodes.

1980-1985: Rivalry against MegaManila Television
The network had a friendly rivalry against then regional television network, MegaManila Television (now MBN 12), during this time. Viewers from MegaManila Television pointed out that Indigo, was a response to Rover, another popular animated show. Though critics gave the first season of Indigo a more favorable review than the fifth season of Rover.