Super 3

Super 3 was an Italian regional television broadcaster based in Rome. It began broadcasting in 1977 under the name Tele Roma Europa (T.R.E.), a name chosen to suggest a 'third channel' at a time when the national public broadcaster RAI still operated only two networks. The station was initially based in via Damiano Chiesa 8 in the Balduina area of Rome, near the train station of the same name. After early commercial difficulties, the founders sold the station to Filippo Rebecchini. In 1995 the station adopted the name Super 3, which it kept until its closure. Super 3 was the first station in Rome to join the Odeon circuit (1987–1991). After resuming independent operations, it chose to air cartoons in the pre-evening slot, an unusual scheduling choice for the time. It launched a contest inviting viewers to submit slogan ideas, which led to the slogan 'T.(ti) R.(erre) E. la TV per tutti e tre'. The contest generated a large volume of letters from children, prompting the creation of a mail segment, 'La posta di Sonia', hosted by Sonia Ceriola and inaugurated in March 1993. A companion segment, 'L'angolo delle chiacchiere', featured Ceriola interviewing children. After a couple of years, a robot named Birillo, created in France by Marc Reynaud, joined as co-host. From 1998 to 2000 Super 3 joined Italia News Network for Telepiù's digital satellite offering. From 1 September 2001 it became part of the Fox Kids circuit, later K-2. In 2005 it was the first local TV in Italy to experiment with digital terrestrial television. From 2007 to 2008 it joined TV della Libertà. In November 2009, during the Lazio switch-over, it was assigned position number 10, reserved for the first local broadcaster in each region. The publisher was Filippo Rebecchini, son of former Rome mayor Salvatore Rebecchini. At the end of 2010 a rapid economic crisis began. After losing positions in Alto Lazio with the loss of the Monte Amiata transmitter and cutting journalists and technicians, the UHF 42 frequency was suppressed and Super 3 remained only on UHF 29, which was shut down in March 2013 after the network was downgraded in the Lazio DTT rankings. On 15 April Super 3 resumed broadcasting on the Telepace mux on UHF 27 with LCN 10, changing its identifier from Super 3 to SUPER 3. On 1 July broadcasts ended and the station transformed into Super 3 Production, a television production company for third parties. On 2 August the numbering changed from LCN 10 to LCN 118, still with a black screen. On 5 September Super 3 was moved to LCN 188, where Canale 21 had been, and Canale 21 moved to Super 3's old position 10. On 31 October 2014 the black-screen signal of Super 3 was definitively eliminated. Ten years after closure, the T.R.E. brand was reused by the publisher of Tele Radio Leo of Orte (province of Viterbo) for a new television network that began broadcasting by 24 June 2024. The new T.R.E. is transmitted in digital terrestrial with LCN 76 (and H.265 video encoding) on the second multiplex assigned in Umbria to operator TRL Media, visible in the province of Terni (and spilling over into the province of Viterbo). T.R.E. is affiliated with the PORT TV circuits (dedicated to information and news on the Italian port system) and Supersix, while on other occasions it repeats another station of the same publisher, RTE ONE.

Super 3 originated in 1977 as Tele Roma Europa (T.R.E.), a local television station in Rome. The acronym T.R.E. was intended to position it as a 'third channel' when RAI still had only two networks. Its first headquarters was in via Damiano Chiesa 8, in the Balduina area near the station of the same name. In 1974, before the official founding, it successfully participated in a festival of local TVs organized by TV Sorrisi e Canzoni, then directed by Gigi Vesigna. Despite moderate success in the capital, the founders did not achieve the hoped-for commercial results and sold the station to Filippo Rebecchini. In early 1979, programs such as Playboy di mezzanotte, Portami tante rose, Auto Italiana, and Dica 34 (produced by Rizzoli and distributed by GRT) began airing on T.R.E., followed by cartoons, films, and TV series from the TV Port circuit. Super 3 was the first station in Rome to join the Odeon circuit, from 1987 to 1991. After resuming independent operations, to face competition, the network chose to air cartoons in an unusual time slot for the era, preferring the pre-evening slot over the more traditional early afternoon. The station then launched a contest inviting viewers to write ideas for a slogan. Sonia Ceriola, who already worked for the station as a secretary and had done voice-overs for ads, announced it on air. The resulting slogan was 'T.(ti) R.(erre) E. la TV per tutti e tre'. The contest generated many letters from children, leading to the idea of a mail segment; about a year later, in March 1993, 'La posta di Sonia' was inaugurated, hosted by Sonia Ceriola. Later, 'L'angolo delle chiacchiere' aired, in which Ceriola interviewed children who asked to participate and whom she invited by calling them at home. After a couple of years, Birillo, a robot created in France by Marc Reynaud, joined Sonia as co-host of the mail corner. From 1998 to 2000, Super 3 joined Italia News Network for Telepiù's digital satellite offering. From 1 September 2001, Super 3 became part of the Fox Kids circuit, later K-2. In 2005 it was the first local TV in Italy to experiment with digital terrestrial television. From 2007 to 2008 it joined TV della Libertà. In November 2009, on the occasion of the switch-over in Lazio, it was assigned position number 10, reserved for the first local broadcaster in each region. The publisher was Filippo Rebecchini, son of former Rome mayor Salvatore Rebecchini, to whom the street was dedicated where the station had moved in its last years, at Parco de' Medici. At the end of 2010, a rapid economic crisis began. After having already lost positions in Alto Lazio with the loss of the Monte Amiata transmitter and having experienced a corporate crisis with the cutting of various journalists and several technicians placed on temporary layoff, the UHF 42 frequency was suppressed and Super 3 remained only on UHF 29, which was shut down in March 2013 after the network was downgraded in the Lazio DTT rankings. On 15 April Super 3 resumed broadcasting on the Telepace mux on UHF 27, still with LCN 10, changing its identifier from Super 3 to SUPER 3. On 1 July broadcasts ended and the station transformed into Super 3 Production, a television production company for third parties. On 2 August there was a numbering change for Super 3, which moved from position 10 to LCN 118, still with a black screen. On 5 September Super 3 was again moved to LCN 188, where Canale 21 had previously been tunable, and Canale 21 moved to Super 3's old position 10. On 31 October 2014 the black-screen signal of Super 3 was definitively eliminated. Ten years after closure, the T.R.E. brand, corresponding to the station's name until 1995, was reused by the publisher of Tele Radio Leo of Orte (province of Viterbo) for a new television network that began broadcasting by 24 June 2024. The new T.R.E. is transmitted in digital terrestrial with LCN 76 (and H.265 video encoding) on the second multiplex assigned in Umbria to operator TRL Media, visible in the province of Terni (and spilling over into the province of Viterbo). T.R.E. is affiliated with the PORT TV circuits (dedicated to information and news on the Italian port system) and Supersix, while on other occasions it repeats another station of the same publisher, RTE ONE.

• 2024

  T.R.E. brand reused for a new network by Tele Radio Leo, broadcasting by 24 June.

• 2014

  Black-screen signal definitively eliminated on 31 October.

• 2013

  UHF 29 shut down in March; broadcasts end on 1 July and station becomes Super 3 Production.

• 2010

  Rapid economic crisis begins at the end of the year.

• 2009

  Assigned LCN 10 during the Lazio switch-over in November.

• 2007

  Joined TV della Libertà (until 2008).

• 2005

  First local TV in Italy to experiment with digital terrestrial television.

• 2001

  Became part of the Fox Kids circuit (later K-2) on 1 September.

• 1998

  Joined Italia News Network for Telepiù's digital satellite offering (until 2000).

• 1995

  Adopted the name Super 3.

• 1993

  'La posta di Sonia' mail segment inaugurated in March.

• 1987

  First station in Rome to join the Odeon circuit (until 1991).

• 1979

  Programs such as Playboy di mezzanotte and Dica 34 begin airing.

• 1977

  Founded as Tele Roma Europa (T.R.E.) in Rome.

Family-friendly local television for Rome and Lazio, known for children's programming and viewer interaction.

• Local television broadcasting

• Television production services (Super 3 Production)

1. 1Super 3 - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2Super 3 - Wikipedia (Italian)it.wikipedia.org