# Channel 3 (Thailand)

Channel 3 HD (Thai: ช่อง 3 เอชดี, formerly known as สถานีโทรทัศน์ไทยทีวีสีช่อง 3, lit. 'Thai Television Color Channel 3') is a Thailand and Bangkok's first commercial free-to-air television network that was launched on 26 March 1970 as Thailand and Bangkok's first commercial television station. Channel 3 is operated by BEC Multimedia Company Limited ("BECM") a subsidiary of publicly traded company BEC World. The network is headquartered in the Maleenont Tower of Bangkok. Its slogan is คุ้มค่าทุกนาที ดูทีวีสีช่อง 3 ("Worth every minute, watch color television Channel 3").

## History

Bangkok Entertainment Co., Ltd. was founded on 10 November 1967 by the Maleenont family to joined hands with government agencies in operating 625-line color TV station under a joint investment agreement submitted for establishment of the TV station on 3 December 1967, and entered into an agreement with Thai Television Co., Ltd. (now MCOT) on 4 March 1968. In early 1969, the groundbreaking ceremony of its facilities was held at Nong Khaem district alongside a training program given to Japanese staff. Following this, a CCIR PAL 625-line transmitter was constructed. By March 1970, the budget of the network was of 75 million baht.
Channel 3 made its first off-air tests on 16 February 1970 with the first recorded program, the first test broadcasts were conducted on 11 March for two hours between 7 and 9pm; four days later a longer test transmission was held from 9:30am to 11:55pm. The channel was officially launched in Bangkok as Thailand's first commercial television channel on 26 March 1970 at 10:00 Bangkok Time by Prime Minister Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn and is the fourth oldest television station in the country. The channel's broadcast area was limited to Bangkok Metropolitan Area (Bangkok and the surrounding areas) only at the time. With the dissolution of the Thai Television Company and the creation of MCOT, MCOT became responsible for Channel 3's transmission, with BEC being the operator.
On 16 July 1987, it established a joint broadcasting equipment with Channel 9, to expand the signal of Channel 3 to a national scale by 1992. With this contract, the license was now renewed from 1990, for a period of 30 years. The expansion project took place between 1988 and 1989 and went out in phases.
During its early years, Channel 3's airtime lasted 6-hours, broadcasting from 16:00 to 22:00, and later expanded to the daytime hours. For a short period of time, it started broadcasting 24 hours in March 1997 and closed the station again in August 1997, but was scuttled due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. And the network resumed its 24-hour airtime on 1 January 2005.
On 1 January 2001, Channel 3 was the first station in Thailand to broadcast a 3D film. The movie, Jaws 3-D, required a pair of 3D glasses bought from certain stores partnered with the network for the event or attained from elsewhere.
In the late 2000s, the channel's philosophy was the development of the quality of all types of programs in order to bring more variety to the viewer.
On 16 September 2009, due to a wastewater treatment failure, the generator room was flooded, leading to all broadcasts to be suspended at approximately 4:04pm due to the lack of power. At 5:32pm, a test card was shown with the National Anthem, and at 5:37pm, programs returned.
In September 2018, Channel 3 (owned jointly by BEC and MCOT) was the last broadcaster to broadcast analog television services in Thailand. The network made the move to digital television in late 2019 on VHF while analogue television ceased transmission on 26 March 2020 at 00:00 am (UTC+7), exactly 50 years after the channel's launch. This also marked the end for MCOT's contract, as it stated that all analog broadcasting equipment must be returned to them.
In 2021, all entertainment programs produced by Tero Entertainment were transferred to Channel 7 HD.