This was initially owned by a consortium made up of Tullamore Beta, Barry family of Barry's Tea and Gowan Group. In its infant stages, the channels consortium invested €14 million to fund the project. The idea behind the channel was to compete with RTÉ's second general entertainment channel RTÉ Two which targets a similar demographic and TV3 Ireland. It was anticipated that Channel 6 would launch
further channels including a Channel 6+1 service and a music channel. The station's first Managing Director was Martin Drake, who left the company after just eight months, and after a period under interim CEO Mark Kellett, the channel's top job was taken by Managing Director Michael Murphy, who later left the channel when it was fully transferred over to TV3 and integrated into the TV3 Group. In June 2008, it was reported that Kish Media were in discussions to sell Channel 6. It was later reported in July 2008 that its rival TV3, would purchase the channel for around €10 million.[5] The deal was given the approval of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, and was approved by the Irish Competition Authority thereafter.[6]
In December 2008, TV3 confirmed they were to rebrand Channel 6 to 3e on January 5, 2009. The channel would utilize existing TV3 programming and provide TV3 audiences with a wider range of programming. 3e provides viewers with a broad mix of US and Australian acquisitions and is often used as a TV3 replay service featuring repeats of previously broadcast programs on TV3 such as Ireland AM, Expose[disambiguation needed] and Midday.
The channel was originally operated by Kish Media's subsidiary Channel 6 Broadcasting Ltd.
