| A&E Network | |
|---|---|
| Launched | February 1, 1984 |
| Owned by | A&E Television Networks |
| Slogan | Real Life. Drama. |
| Headquarters | New York City, U.S. |
| Formerly called | ARTS |
| Sister channel(s) | The History Channel, History International, The Biography Channel |
| Website | aetv.com |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | Channel 265 Channel 1265 (VOD) |
| Dish Network | Channel 118 |
| Star Choice | Channel 520 |
| Cable | |
| Available on most cable systems | Check Local Listings for channels |
A&E is a cable and satellite television network with headquarters in Manhattan and offices in Stamford, Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, and London. A&E stands for Arts and Entertainment, which, for many years, was in the channel's full title. The network also airs in Canada and Latin America.
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The channel, which originally focused programming on biographies, documentaries, and drama series (especially crime dramas and mysteries), and has expanded to include reality television programming, reaches more than 85 million homes in the United States and Canada. A&E is a joint venture of the Hearst Corporation (37.5% ownership), The Walt Disney Company (37.5%), and NBC Universal (25%). The network is a result of a merger in 1984 between the ABC Arts and (pre-General Electric merger) RCA-owned Entertainment cable channels.[1]
The A&E channel is the flagship of the A&E Television Networks group, which also includes The History Channel and The Biography Channel. It had often shown programming from abroad, particularly BBC network productions from the United Kingdom.[1] Examples of British programming prominently broadcast on the channel include documentary Freud.[1]
However, the use of British programming has diminished greatly since A&E began scheduling more reality shows. For example, the network waited almost a year and a half to show the fourth season of MI-5, programmed it after prime time on Friday nights at 11pm Eastern, then stopped showing it after only two episodes, and programmed the rest of the season in one day on October 21, 2006.[2]
Its fine arts programs have also been completely retired. Thursday nights once featured an anthology series called A&E Stage, hosted by John Mauceri, which featured telecasts of notable plays, concerts, full-length documentaries related to the arts, and complete operas, although shown with commercials. Such programs as Otto Schenk's 1978 production of Fidelio, with Leonard Bernstein conducting, were rebroadcast on this anthology. The final fine arts-related show to air on the network, Breakfast with the Arts, once featured a higher quantity of classical music than in its final years, and fewer interviews. The show was cancelled in July 2007.
A&E was formally a programing block on Nickelodeon that ran from 1984 to 1985 to fill the network's primetime and late night schedule. The channel was originally called ARTS. In 1985, A&E was replaced by the current programming block Nick at Nite.
Between 2003 and 2007, the channel gradually retired several long-running series, moving Murder, She Wrote and Agatha Christie's Poirot to The Biography Channel and cancelling Breakfast with the Arts, in favor of reality programming such as Dog The Bounty Hunter, Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Growing Up Gotti, Family Plots, Airline, Inked, King of Cars, and Criss Angel Mindfreak. In addition, A&E has garnered favorable notice for "true-crime" documentary series such as Cold Case Files, American Justice, City Confidential, Investigative Reports, and The First 48. The station has also cut back on its broadcasts of Biography from originally twice daily to weekend mornings only.[3] Notably, the station also retired its long-held slogan "Time Well Spent." The changes are apparently an attempt to lure higher ratings, as reality programs have done for other stations. However, the changes have been criticized as causing A&E to become an aberration of its original focus on fine arts programming. A&E's most-watched program was the docudrama Flight 93, about the hijacking of the plane which crashed in Pennsylvania during the September 11, 2001 attacks. According to Nielsen, the program attracted 5.9 million viewers for its initial telecast on January 30, 2006. The previous record-holder for the network was a World War II docudrama, "Ike: Countdown to D-Day", starring Tom Selleck and broadcast in 2004, with 5.5 million viewers.[4] A&E has acquired rerun rights to The Sopranos from HBO. The program has garnered very good ratings for the network, as its A&E premiere on January 10, 2007 averaged 3.86 million viewers, making it the most-watched premiere of a rerun off-network series in cable television history.[5] The series has continued to perform well for A&E, and the network now regularly ranks in the top ten basic U.S. cable channels in prime time ratings.[6] On February 20, 2008, A&E announced that they will be resuming production on Dog the Bounty Hunter which was canceled after Duane "Dog" Chapman was caught on tape using the word "nigger" and his son sold it to the National Enquirer. On May 14, 2008, A&E announced that Dog the Bounty Hunter returns to the air on June 25, 2008.
A&E has stated that they will be filming Season 4 of Gene Simmons Family Jewels.
On Memorial Day in 2008 in conjunction with the premiere of the original film The Andromeda Strain, A&E rebranded with a new logo and slogan, Real Life. Drama., with the new logo using a thin Helvetica font which has a look resembling the older logo, along with a full-size ampersand equal to the letters, and a visual style equivalent to the logo for USA Network [7].
A&E HD is a high definition simulcast of A&E Network that launched on September 4, 2006. It has found a home on many cable and satellite systems in Canada but was until recently, rare in the US. However, A&E HD is in the process of becoming more widely available in the United States, since Comcast, the largest US cable provider, is expanding the number of systems including A&E HD in its lineup in preparation of greater competition from HD satellite service. As of January 31, 2007, A&E HD is available via Dish Network on channel 9419. A&E HD is also on DirecTV Channel 265 with an HD set-top box. Verizon FiOS carries A&E HD on channel 842.