The channel was first launched in 2000 as a cable-only television station under the longer name Iglesia ni Cristo Television, carrying the Church's long line of evangelical television programs that had begun in mid-1983 on the People's Television Network and Radio Philippines Network and later on other TV networks in the country. The arrival of Net 25 in 1999, joined by the launch of the cable station, unified all the shows into two stations, one on cable and one on FTA television. In mid-2005, the cable station was relaunched as GEM TV (Global Expansion Media Television), with a mix of religious and secular programs — which includes selected shows from Deutsche Welle and operated with a power of a meager 1 kilowatt. Owing likely to budget considerations, over-the-air operations were limited to just 12 hours a day (between the hours of 6 a.m. and 12 noon, and 6 p.m. and 12 midnight); its existing cable presence allowed the channel to continue broadcast round-the-clock during OTA off-air hours.
From September 1 until 7, 2009, GEM TV, along with EBC-owned Net 25, were the only stations airing the live coverage of the wake and funeral of Iglesia ni Cristo's executive minister Eraño Manalo.[2][3]
On October 9, 2012, channel 49 once again conducted test broadcasts as part of CEBSI's purchase of the station's new transmitter equipment, increasing its transmission output to 30 kilowatts. It also began to broadcast over-the-air in the afternoon hours, which was impossible with its decommissioned transmitter. On October 31, 2012, coinciding with the birth anniversary of Iglesia ni Cristo's Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo, who took over upon his father's death three years ago, GEM TV ceased broadcast and merged itself with the existing INC TV channel on cable, making the religious channel available on free television. Since the relaunch of INCTV, religious programs of the Iglesia ni Cristo are the only programs shown on the station, as secular content was removed from its schedule.
TV Network
Philippines
It is broadcast on both Channel 48 on analog terrestrial TV, and on Channel 49 (or LCN 25.01) on digital terrestrial TV in Metro Manila; and as a digital subchannel in Baguio, Lucena, Naga City, Cebu City, and Davao, via Net 25 Digital TV. This station is also carried by major cable operators in the country led by SkyCable (in Mega Manila, INC TV is available on Channels 20 and 136), Cablelink, SatLite, G Sat and Cignal.
In time for the INC Centennial Year, new programs were created for the channel. The year 2014, also saw the start of the channel's new tradition - themes for the month, which are also promoted in Net 25 as well since recently.
From 2014, INC TV became the first Filipino religious TV network, and the third television network — following RPN and PTV — to broadcast its floatable digital clock during the course of the network's broadcast. The said move, however, finally abandoned in January 2018, as the network finally transitioned to full High Definition (HD) 16:9 screen ratio.
In 2015, two DZEM radio programs began to be shown on the channel as well.
In 2016, INCTV, the newest member of the Anak TV, bagged the most number of child-friendly television program awards (23 in all) in the Anak TV Seal Awards, the biggest for a young channel as this.[4]
In 2018, the channel's news programming was revamped, and currently several of these are now bilingual to serve the needs of the church's local and international membership.
On April 16, 2020, INCTV was removed from DirecTV with the reason given that the channel had ceased operations.[citation needed]
DirecTV's message when IncTV was removed.
On July 27, 2022, in conjunction with the celebration of Iglesia ni Cristo's 108th anniversary, INC TV unveiled its newest station ID, which features its newest logo and its slogan, "Changing Lives Through God's Words."
During its GEMTV days, DZCE was the first broadcast television station in the Philippines to broadcast using the ISDB-T system in 2009.
From September 7, 2017, in time for its 8th year since INC's Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo entered office, INCTV was granted a "special authority" from the National Telecommunications Commission to move its analog feed from UHF Channel 49 to Channel 48 (prior to this, the Channel 48 frequency was being used by People's Television Network, Inc. for their trial transmissions in digital TV until 2015) to allow the former channel to simulcast digitally in full-time, which began two days earlier (September 5). The shift was arranged for the station until its management announce its intention to permanently shut down analog broadcasts and go digital-only.
^Bevans, Stephen B.; Schroeder, Roger G. Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today (American Society of Missiology Series). Orbis Books. p. 269. ISBN1-57075-517-5.
