TV3 (pronounced as Tivi Tiga) is a Malaysian free-to-air television channel owned by Media Prima conglomerate. TV3 is the third and third oldest TV station in Malaysia. It was launched on 1 June 1984 as the country's first and oldest private television channel. As of October 2021, TV3 remains to be the most-watched television station in Malaysia with about 17% of its viewing share among other Malaysian television stations, followed by NTV7 and TV9 with 15% of its viewing share, making two of them become the second most-watched television station in the country, despite the declining viewership of 3 free-to-air television channels. History TV3 (Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Berhad) officially began broadcasting in the Greater Kuala Lumpur (the area surrounding Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia) in conjunction the Hijri date of the first day of the holy month of Ramadan year 1404 AH (1 June 1984) at 6:00pm local time. The nation's first privately owned TV station was officially launched with a five-hour broadcast time from 6:00pm to 11:00pm. The television channel used to broadcast from a building in Jalan Liku, Bangsar, Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur before it moved to Sri Pentas, Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor in 1995. Similar to state-owned TV channel RTM TV1, TV3 introduced daily morning transmissions on 1 March 1994, along with the debut of the channel's flagship breakfast television programme – Malaysia Hari Ini (Malaysia Today). On 22 September 2003, both Sistem Televisyen Malaysia Berhad and The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad were spun off from Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad, which owned the companies since 1993 to form Media Prima Group. Criticism and controversy In Singapore, the channel ran into controversy because it broadcast programmes in Cantonese, which ran contrary to the Singapore government's policy of promoting Mandarin instead of other dialects in media. Consequently, it prevented people in government-built housing blocks from installing the special antennas required to receive the channel. In addition, it prevented local newspapers and magazines from carrying listings for TV3, even though these were available for the other Malaysian channels. TV3 was available on Singapore CableVision (now StarHub TV), Singapore's only cable TV operator, until it was removed at 9pm, 22 July 2002 owing to copyright issues. In 2007, a reality television programme broadcast on TV3 called Sensasi was banned amid accusations that host Awal Ashaari "humiliating a person to sensationalise the issue" along with complaints to actress Rosnah