XEM-TV channel 3 signed on from Mexicali on October 2, 1957. It was owned by a joint venture between Telesistema Mexicano, predecessor to
Televisa, XED-AM owner Carlos Blando Obregón, and other partners. While its first full day of programs was October 2, it put out a test transmission on September 15 consisting of the Mexican flag and Independence Day celebrations co-produced with XED, and it signed on October 1 carrying the five-hour-long government report of Governor Braulio Maldonado from the Bujazán movie theater, using a remote control unit borrowed from sister
XETV channel 6 in Tijuana. XEM was the first television station in Mexicali and the second in the region, after
KIVA channel 11 from Yuma. The callsign was changed to
XHBC-TV several years after the station's sign on. In 2014, Televisa Mexicali was consolidated with the rest of the Televisa stations in Baja California, bringing it under closer management to
XEWT-TDT in
Tijuana and
XHS-TDT in
Ensenada. On March 26, 2015, all Mexicali television stations shut off their analog signals. XHBC-TDT remained on digital channel 47, initially mapped to channel 3 via
PSIP. On October 25, 2016, XHBC-TDT moved to virtual channel 4. Channel 3 had been nationally reserved for
Imagen Televisión and its Mexicali transmitter, XHCTME-TDT. == Programming ==