Suria (Sun) is a Malay-language free-to-air terrestrial television channel in Singapore, owned by state media conglomerate Mediacorp.

The channel currently broadcasts from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. SGT daily; a simulcast of Mediacorp's Malay radio station Ria 897 is carried after sign-off.

Beginning on 30 March 1973, the two services began to focus on two languages each, with Channel 5 handling English- and Malay-language programmes.

Such an arrangement would cause greater flexibility for the SBC to carry live Singapore Symphony Orchestra performances or other features making more use of the evening airtime.

[5] On December 22, the channel's launch was announced for a January 31, 1984 date (pushed back from 1 February due to concerns regarding the Lunar New Year celebrations),[6] and was built upon the pillars of quality (regardless of language) and accessibility (as the service would use the 8-10pm time slots to catch up with the highest possible number of viewers including students unable to stay awake later).

[11] Expatriates living in Singapore saw mostly-favourable comments about the new service, while still believing that the channel would be improved to a level similar to that of BBC 2 at the time.

An SBC spokesman assured that Channel 12 was "a long-term project", with its viewership growing depending on the rising interest of the local population in the types of programming it was going to offer.

[14] In an attempt to lure away from a heavy highbrow output, SBC executive Sandra Buenaventura decided to cut the number of operas on the channel to one a month from March 1985.

Since launch, none of its programmes managed to reach the twenty most-watched, despite the issues within the corporation and from viewers, Sandra Buenaventura showed potential for its content.

The channel ended 1984 with an average 17,000 viewers tuning in, and the addition of Asian films and Chinese operas helped stabilise.

Sandra Buenaventura hoped that SBC 12's viewership would increase from 35,000 to 50,000 from Tuesdays to Thursdays, when the slots dedicated to sporting events would air.

[20] Between June and September of 1989, SBC 12 began airing plays, feature films and drama serials based on textbooks to assist O and A level students who take English Literature.

[25] Effective 1993, the CDIS blocktime slot produced by the Ministry of Education would be aired as part of the Channel 12 programming schedule.

The Malay news bulletin, Berita, was set to expand from 20 minutes to a half hour slot upon the move.

[27] On 26 August 1994, Minister for Information and the Arts George Yeo announced the plan for the creation of a fourth free-to-air television channel in Singapore, offering a predominantly cultural lineup.

Sandra Buenaventura, CEO of TV12, said that the two channels were "like a tin of assorted biscuits", reflecting the individual nature of the specialist programming of the new services.

Malay news was moved to 8 p.m. while the newly relocated Tamil newscast now aired at a "higher-profile" 7:30 p.m. and expanded to 30 minutes.

The channel would also air the European art-house films slot Cinematheque on Wednesday nights and self-improvement and lifestyle programmes for four hours on weekdays.

[42] In 1998, Prime 12's Malay programming featured the first locally-made animated series, Jo Kilat (which won an award in December 1998)[43] and the first local soap opera produced for the channel, Gelora.

[45] Suria planned to broadcast internationally via satellite in three years' time, reaching to 200 million people in the Malay archipelago.