| History | |
|---|---|
| Launched | January 1, 1995 |
| Owned by | A&E Television Networks (Hearst Corporation (42.5%), Disney-ABC Television Group (42.5%), NBCUniversal (15%)) |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV) |
| Slogan | "History: Made Every Day" |
| Headquarters | New York City, United States |
| Formerly called | The History Channel (1995–2008) |
| Sister channel(s) | H2 A&E Network Biography Channel Military History History en Español Lifetime Crime & Investigation Network |
| Website | www.History.com |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Selective TV Inc. (Alexandria, MN) |
K52DZ (Channel 52) |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | Channel 269 (SD/HD) Channel 1269 (VOD) |
| Dish Network | Channel 120 (SD/HD) |
| Dish Network Mexico | Channel 409 (956 in HD) |
| DStv | Channel 254 |
| Astro (Malaysia) | Channel 555 (SD) Channel 575 (HD) |
| Skylife (Korean) | Channel 82(HD) |
| Cable | |
| Available on most American cable systems | Check local listings for details |
| Verizon FiOS | Channel 128 (SD) Channel 628 (HD) |
| Time Warner Cable | Channel 40 |
| IPTV | |
| AT&T U-verse | Channel 270 (SD) Channel 1270 (HD) |
History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.
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History was launched on January 1, 1995 (as The History Channel).[1] The channel is owned by A&E Television Networks, a joint venture of Rogers Media, Disney-ABC Television Group (the Foxtel), and NBC Universal (Liberty Media and Shaw Media),[2] and operates, in various forms, in the Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Ireland, Israel, Spain, Poland, Italy, Turkey, the Netherlands, Belgium, Romania, Serbia, South Africa and Latin America. The network was also available in South Asia under a deal between STAR TV and AETN International until November 21, 2008. The channel has consistently produced prime time ratings in the U.S. comparable to or higher than the A&E Network itself. Bell TV and Shaw Direct
On February 16, 2008, a new logo was launched on the flagship American network. While keeping their trademark "H", the triangle shape on the left acts as a play button for animation and fly-outs during commercials and shows. On March 20, 2008, The History Channel dropped the "The" and "Channel" parts of its name to become simply "History".[3]
Programming covers a wide range of periods and topics, while similar topics are often organized into themed weeks or daily marathons. It is seen in more than eighty million households. Subjects include military history, medieval history, the 18th century, the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, modern engineering, historical biographies, metaphysical subjects, Hairy Bikers, mythical creatures, monsters, UFOs, aliens, truck drivers, alligator hunters, pawn stores owners, people who crawl through old barns, angels, disaster scenarios, and the "coming apocalypse"; a number of these documentaries are narrated by Edward Herrmann. Many programs compare contemporary culture and technology with the past, while some programs have a more esoteric focus such as conspiracy theory, religious interpretation, UFO speculation, or reality television. In particular, the History Channel has aired a number of films on Nostradamus,[4] as well as a special series on doomsday that promulgates various popular 2012 theories, including films such as Decoding the Past (2005–2007), 2012, End of Days (2006), Last Days on Earth (2006), Seven Signs of the Apocalypse (2007), and Nostradamus 2012 (2008).[5]
History has been jokingly referred to as "The Hitler Channel"[6] for its extensive coverage of World War II. Recently, much of its military-themed programming has now been shifted to its sister network, Military History, and the network's programming now covers a diverse range of topics on history and hypothetical future events.
The U.S.-based network has also been criticized for devoting most of its coverage to historical topics concerning the Western world and the United States in particular. Though another former sister network, History International, covered more extensively history outside the US. In 2011 History International was rebranded as H2 and now has more to do with the US.[7]
The network was also criticized by Stanley Kutner for airing the controversial series The Men Who Killed Kennedy in 2003; Kutner was one of three historians commissioned to review the documentary, which the channel disavowed and never aired again.[8] It is also not reliable. On the other hand, programs such as Modern Marvels have been praised for their presentation of detailed information in an entertaining format.[9]
Also some of the network's series, including Ice Road Truckers, Ax Men and Pawn Stars garnered ratings in the U.S., while receiving criticism over the series' non-historical nature. Critics argued that the historical value of such programming was largely non-existent.
In his book 2012: It's Not the End of the World Peter Lemesurier describes the channel's Nostradamus series, in which he was invited to participate, as 'largely fiction' and 'lurid nonsense'. He also lists numerous misleading suggestions made in its films on the alleged Mayan 'end of the world' and the 'rare' galactic alignment that is supposed by John Major Jenkins to accompany it in 2012,[10] while Jenkins himself has described Decoding the Past as '45 minutes of unabashed doomsday hype and the worst kind of inane sensationalism.'[11]
History is not to be confused with a similar, independently-owned, Canadian service, History Television. Indeed, the phrase "Not available in Canada" became a de facto slogan for the channel in its early years, as a result of its use in promotional ads on American channels imported to Canadian systems, such as A&E (which is available in Canada).[13]
A Polish version was launched on April 9, 2008. It is available on cable networks Aster, Dialog, Toya and UPC Polska. Since November 2, 2009 it has also been available on Cyfra+ platform.
A Scandinavian version was launched in September 1997, broadcasting for three hours and later four hours, per day on the analogue Viasat platform. Initially time-sharing with TV1000 Cinema, it was later moved to the Swedish TV8 channel and continued broadcasting there until November 2004 when Viasat launched their own history channel, Viasat History, in the Nordic region and closed down the History Channel. On February 1, 2007 the History Channel returned to Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden when the UK version was launched as a stand-alone channel on the Canal Digital satellite platform.
The History Channel launched on February 1, 2007 on the Canal Digital DTH satellite package for viewers in Norway, Sweden, Denmark & Finland. The channel is being launched by The History Channel UK, A&E’s joint venture with BSkyB. Although it will broadcast in English, the channel will be scheduled separately from the UK version. There are already separate versions of The History Channel in sub-Saharan Africa and Greece. The Biography Channel and Crime & Investigation Network are also to be launched in the Nordic market.
The History Channel started its operations in India in late 2003, with News Corp's STAR as its sales partner, managed by National Geographic until November 21, 2008.[14] The History Channel India closed down on November 21, 2008. In 2011 History channel was granted permission to relaunch services in India. A joint venture of AETN and Astro All Asia Networks is launching the History Channel in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brunei in the second and third quarters of 2007, and in Taiwan and China by the end of the year.[15] Some other Asian countries such as Israel and Japan have their own versions of the network. On September 1, 2008, History Channel Asia was officially launched in Singapore and Hong Kong, followed by Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.[16][17][18][19]
The Latin American version was launched in 2001. It is owned by A&E Network and controlled in the region by HBO Latin America Group. It airs the same programming as the U.S. version, translated to Spanish or Portuguese or in English with Spanish or Portuguese subtitles. Also it develops some local programming in Spanish made from and for Latin American countries. All Latin American programming is under the supervision of Tom Golden, the Executive Producer for International Programs at A&E Television Networks, and the Discovery Channel which uses HBO Latin America Group for Latin American broadcasts.
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