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 August 17, 1971, they started broadcasting in full color.

Three is known for airing experimental entertainment, cultural, and informational programs, such as: NewsJournal Three, Top 3, Afternoon Movies, Chef, Three Originals, which are divided into three segments (Three Comedy, Three Drama, and, Three Horror and Suspense) 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.

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.

On September 23, 1972, the station 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. Omega Television was reinstated as a programming block on January 1, 1974, retaining Omega 1 and Omega 2. The programming block was discontinued on November 16, 1977.

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 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm.

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On November 8, 1974, Television Three revived E Television's weekends experimental variety program Life!. The show then aired on Fridays. It became popular amongst viewers, peaking up to 400,000 viewers during its first episode. The show's runtime of 45 minutes was increased to 60 minutes. The show ran until Christmas 1981.

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 September 4, 1978, 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 December 30 of the same year, NewsJournal Review, which gives an in-depth review of the major events on a particular day, debuted on the said programming block.

1980s
The network's Midnight Television block was not that successful. Simply because the station didn't know what other programs to air in the block, aside from NewsJournal Review and some imported shows. Many of the viewers criticized the programming block because of it.

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, 1984. 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: Three's original animation and friendly rivalry against MegaManila Television
On March 30, 1980, Television Three launched an animation studio in its television production department. The animation team has 471 people, 68 of whom are animators. They would often collaborate with other animation studios nationwide.

Between April 9 and June 16, 1980, they opened for submissions, looking for simple storyboards, pitch bibles, and fully animated shorts from independent animators and artists to make a full TV series from it. The network had received 39 tapes of animated shorts, 58 storyboards and 60 pitch bibles. The TV executives would later invite to interview the creators who have submitted their works in order to pitch them. A pitch bible is required for the interview.

The sent storyboards that the executives approved of were made into animated shorts by the network's animation studio. They also invited in the creator in order for them to direct the pilot.

Between February 16-18, 1981, Television Three aired a three-part live television special called Watch This!, airing the finished animated pilots that were approved by the TV executives. The three-part special aired twenty pilots/shorts overall, ranging from 10-21 minutes. The pilots' animation style varied, from traditional 2D animation to stop-motion animation. Another short, Faces, was known for using a cutout animation style.

After each short, the hosts would later ask the viewer to rate the animated shorts from 1 to 10, by calling them via the phone number shown on screen, or mailing them a letter. The viewers are allowed to rate multiple pilots.

The top 5 shorts with the highest rating will be greenlit into a full TV series. The final results were: Production for all five of these shows (only the first seasons) took more or less than one year. The production team can only produce two or three animated shows at a time.

Three's animated programs aired from 1982-1985 proved successful. At some point, 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.

David Lynch short films
On August 7, 1971, they launched a weekly segment that showcases short films (usually two per episode). This was called Television Three Shorts. The program showcased psychedelic/motion graphic based films (formerly), live-action and animated short films, and short documentaries.

On their second episode on August 14, 1971, the program showed two of David Lynch's experimental short films, The Alphabet and Six Men Getting Sick, which has caused controversy.

David Lynch's Six Men Getting Sick short was abruptly cut after less than one and a half minutes, later closing to the segment logo.

It was because one of the employees complained that the two shorts they are airing might be too distressing for the viewers. After the segment, the viewers called the station concerned about what they were airing. Since that episode, they stopped showing experimental/surrealist short films.

Many people thought that the station was hijacked during that time. Some people said that their neighbors panicked watching the station and others were confused. Some people thought that during Six Men Getting Sick, there were some sort of alarm superimposed within the short. When in reality, it was just part of the short film.

The show ended on September 4, 1971 after five episodes.