Channel 7 or Channel 7 HD, fully known as Bangkok Broadcasting & Television Company Limited Channel 7 (Thai: ช่อง 7 เอชดี Formerly known as สถานีโทรทัศน์สีกองทัพบกช่อง 7), is a Thai state-owned free-to-air television network that was launched on 27 November 1967. It is the first colour television broadcast in Mainland Southeast Asia. It is currently owned by the Royal Thai Army through Bangkok Broadcasting & Television. It is headquartered in Mo Chit, Chatuchak, Bangkok.
Country | Thailand |
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Broadcast area | Thailand Malaysia (Perlis, Kedah, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu) Myanmar (eastern and southern portions) Cambodia (western portion) Laos |
Headquarters | Chatuchak, Bangkok, Thailand |
Programming | |
Language(s) | Thai |
Picture format | 1080i HDTV |
Ownership | |
Owner | Bangkok Broadcasting & Television |
History | |
Launched | 27 November 1967 25 April 2014 (Digital System) 2 December 2015 (Satellite and Digital System) | (Analog System)
Closed | 16 June 2018 (Only Analog System) |
Links | |
Website | www |
Availability | |
Terrestrial | |
Digital | Channel 35 (HD) (TV5 MUX2) |
Streaming media | |
BBTV's Official | Watch live Thailand only (It can be accessed with a VPN overseas) |
TrueID | Watch live Thailand only (It can be accessed with a VPN overseas) |
Channel 7 officially launched broadcasts in Bangkok on 27 November 1967 at 7:00 pm Bangkok Time. The channel's broadcast area was only limited to Bangkok Metropolitan Area (Bangkok, capital of Thailand, and the surrounding areas) only. It was presided over by the then Prime Minister of Thailand Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn. The first programme to air was the 1967 Miss Thailand Pageant. Channel 7 was known back then as "Bangkok Colour Television Network", with callsign HSB-TV,[1] airing on Channel 5 and was the country's first colour television station using PAL colour. On 1 January 1972, it started broadcasting nationwide.[2][3] In 1974 it switched frequencies to VHF Channel 7, swapping with Royal Thai Army Television.
A regional station opened in Phuket on 9 October 1980. Up until then Phuket only had one television station, an MCOT/PRD station on channel 11.[4]
Channel 7 launched its high-definition television feed on 25 April 2014 on its digital terrestrial television system (DTT) on channel 35. Three years later, on 19 June 2017, Channel 7 was given authorisation from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission to shut down its analogue frequencies in the rest of the country, in order to replace them with its digital channels on DTT. Thus, the network was expected to stop broadcasting on analogue 1 January 2018, but the process was postponed to 16 May 2018 and eventually completed on 16 June.
In July 2020, the Election Commission requested Channel 7 cease broadcast of the television drama series 'Love Song of the Gun Crack' over one of the actors, Krungsrivilai Sutin Phueak, stepping forward as a candidate for a Minister of Parliament for Samut Prakan's 5th District. The series was then suspended from 30 July to 9 August.[5]