Destination America
| Destination America | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Launched | October 1996 |
| Owned by | Discovery Communications |
| Picture format |
1080i (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
| Slogan | Our Country. Our Stories. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Silver Spring, Maryland |
| Formerly called |
Discovery Travel and Living (1996–1998) Discovery Home and Leisure (1998–2004) Discovery Home (2004–2008) Planet Green (2008–2012) |
| Sister channel(s) |
Discovery Channel TLC Hub Network Animal Planet OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network Science Investigation Discovery Military Channel Discovery Fit & Health Velocity Discovery en Español Discovery Familia |
| Website | www.destinationamerica.com |
Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | 286 (HD/SD) |
| Dish Network | 194 (HD/SD) |
| C-Band | AMC 11-Channel 615 (4DTV Digital) |
| Cable | |
| Available on many U.S. cable providers | Check local listings for channels |
| Verizon FiOS |
668(HD) 168(SD) |
| IPTV | |
| Sky Angel | 315 |
| AT&T U-verse |
1465 (HD) 465 (SD) |
Destination America is an American digital cable and satellite television channel that is owned by Discovery Communications. The channel features lifestyle, historical and travel programming focusing on the culture of the United States.[1]
As of August 2013, approximately 59,616,000 American households (52.2% of households with television) receive Destination America.[2]
History
The space was originally used for one of the four digital cable networks launched by Discovery Communications in 1996. The new networks were first announced in November 1994, with a launch planned for Spring 1995. At the time, the network had the working title Living and was described as "a home repair network".[3] The launch was delayed, and the channel made its debut in October 1996, originally known as Discovery Travel & Living and offering programming including do-it-yourself projects, cooking, interior design and landscaping, and party planning.
By 1998, it had settled on the name Discovery Home & Leisure, but the "Leisure" part of the name was dropped on March 29, 2004, when the channel became Discovery Home. Much of the travel-related programming was dropped in the process to provide more focus on home improvement and cooking.[4]
Planet Green
Facing increased competition in the home-oriented programming sector, Discovery Communications planned a 24-hour channel focused on eco-friendly living in an attempt to capitalize on a rising environmental movement.[5] Discovery Home was relaunched as the environmentally-themed Planet Green at 6:00 p.m. ET on June 4, 2008; the only program from Discovery Home to continue on after the relaunch was the HGTV Canada-produced Holmes on Homes, which immediately moved to the American HGTV network.[6][7] The channel focused on environmental issues and ecological living, and Discovery invested $50 million in original programming for the rebranded channel with shows such as a weekly eco-newscast series with Bob Woodruff of ABC News.[8][9]
The project began after the Discovery Channel bought the website Treehugger.com from owners Graham Hill and Ken Rother.[10][11] At its launch, Planet Green was available in 50 million U.S. households and included 250 hours of environment-related programming with a programming budget of US$50 million.[12]
In March 2010, Planet Green's programming was broadened to include non-ecology themed shows; despite this broadened focus, in February 2011, Discovery Communications executives were acknowledging the channel's failure. Discovery chief executive David Zaslav stated in a conference call with investors "We think we can probably do something else with that that would be more meaningful."[13] Shortly thereafter the channel had abandoned its theme, rerunning programs from other Discovery Communications channels and featuring programming blocks such as "Paranormal Fridays". Discovery announced a probable rebranding of the channel by the start of the summer of 2012.[13]
Destination America
On April 4, 2012, Discovery announced through the early release of an article in USA Today that Planet Green would be rebranded as Destination America, targeted mainly towards Middle America and featuring mainly American-centric travel, food, and natural history programming that has been without a home on any Discovery-owned network since Discovery Communications' 2007 sale of the Travel Channel to Cox Communications, along with other Discovery archive content that fits the Destination America format. The channel was originally expected to have a Memorial Day launch on May 28, 2012.[14] The channel's trademark and logo were registered by Discovery Networks on February 28, 2012 through the United States Patent and Trademark Office.[15]
Destination America launched at 12:00 a.m. ET on May 26, 2012 and is available in most areas of the United States through satellite and cable providers such as Dish Network, DirecTV, Comcast, Charter Communications, Verizon FiOS, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, and WOW!. The high definition version of the network is widely available as well.
Programming
Planet Green
Planet Green programming included ecologically themed shows built around celebrities including: Ed Begley, Jr., Emeril Lagasse, Adrian Grenier, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ludacris, Tommy Lee, Tom Bergeron, SuChin Pak, Maria Menounos, Bob Woodruff and Discovery Channel producer Tom Golden. In addition, celebrities gave 'green' tips within network bumpers that transitioned into and out of commercial breaks. The channel was programmed in eight-hour blocks, which repeated three times per day until April 2010. Lacking separate satellite feeds for the East and West coasts of the United States, prime-time programs ran from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time and were then repeated.[12]
Shows previously seen on Planet Green include:
- 30 Days 4
- A Haunting 1
- Airplane Repo
- Blood Sweat and T-Shirts
- Blue Planet: Seas of Life 2
- Born Dealers
- Coastwatch
- Conviction Kitchen
- Cool Fuel
- Dean Of Invention
- Dresscue Me
- Emeril Green
- Famous, Rich and Homeless
- Fast Forward
- The Fabulous Beekman Boys
- Future Food
- G Word
- Go for the Green
- Gutted
- In Search Of Perfection
- L.A. Ink 3
- Living With Ed
- Lobster Wars 1
- Lost Tapes
- Operation Wild
- Planet Mechanics
- Prehistoric1
- Renovation Nation
- Storm Chasers 1
- Stuff Happens
- Total Wrecklamation
- Treehugger TV
- Wa$ted!
- Whale Wars 2
- What Sank Titanic? 1
- 1 originally shown on Discovery Channel
- 2 originally shown on Animal Planet
- 3 originally shown on TLC
- 4 originally shown on FX
Current Destination America programming
- A Haunting
- Alien Mysteries
- American Factory
- American Loggers
- Armageddon Arsenals
- Auction Kings
- BBQ Pitmasters: Father vs. Son
- BBQ Pitmasters
- Buying Alaska
- Cheating Vegas
- Destroyed in Seconds
- Disney's Animal Kingdom
- Disney Cruise Line: Behind the Magic
- Disneyland Resort: Behind the Scenes
- Epic Homes
- Fast Food Mania
- Flip That House
- Food Factory
- Ghost Town Gold
- Hidden in America
- Hillbilly Blood
- Last Call Food Brawl
- Mega Engineering
- Mighty Ships
- Monsters and Mysteries in America
- Mountain Monsters
- Railroad Alaska
- Swamp Loggers
- UFOs Over Earth
- Ultimate Walt Disney World
- United States of Bacon
- Walt Disney World Resort: Behind the Scenes
- What Went Wrong
- When Ghosts Attack!
References
- ↑ "New Cable Network: Destination America". USA Today. May 2012.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (August 23, 2013). "List of How Many Homes Each Cable Networks Is In - Cable Network Coverage Estimates As Of August 2013". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
- ↑ "Discovery plans launch of four newly created nets". Multichannel News. November 21, 1994.
- ↑ "Leisure Time Is Over". Multichannel News. February 29, 2004.
- ↑ NY Times
- ↑ Growth Plan at Discovery
- ↑ GM and Discovery Communications Form Media Partnership on First-Ever 24/7 "Green" Network, Planet Green, Discovery Communications, May 21, 2008.
- ↑ Discovery Communications press release
- ↑ Bob Woodruff to Anchor New Series on Planet Green
- ↑ TreeHugger Home Page
- ↑ green-treehugger-champion/ Ken Rother - VP of Planet Green & TreeHugger Champion Interview
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Stelter, Brian (March 10, 2010). "Planet Green Moves Away From Its Eco Theme". New York Times (The New York Times Company). Retrieved March 12, 2012.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Schneider, Michael (February 12, 2011). "Discovery Plans to Revamp Planet Green". T.V. Guide (Lionsgate). Retrieved March 12, 2012.
- ↑ Levin, Gary (April 4, 2012). "Discovery Networks to launch Destination America". USA Today. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
- ↑ "DESTINATION AMERICA - Trademark Details". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Justia.com Trademark Database. Retrieved April 4, 2012.