Documentary Channel (TV channel)

Documentary Channel
Launched	January 26, 2006
Closed	August 1, 2013
Owned by	Participant Media
Picture format	480i (SDTV)
Slogan	Passionate. Perspective.
Country	United States
Broadcast area	National
Headquarters	Nashville, Tennessee
Replaced by	Pivot

The Documentary Channel was a American digital cable and satellite television channel that featured documentary programming. It aired independent documentary films from around the world, including those never-before-seen in the United States. The channel (along with Halogen TV) was replaced by Pivot, a channel aimed at young adults between 18- and 34-years-old, that will be owned by Participant Media, and debuted on August 1, 2013.^[1] Pivot will continue airing documentaries.

Background

Documentary Channel launched in January 2006. It was founded by Tom Neff,^[2] Oscar nominated and Emmy winning documentarian. Originally, it was supported in part by WNPT, the Nashville PBS station.

Documentary Channel won its first Emmy Award, for Outstanding Documentary, in September 2007, for Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire.^[3]

Documentary Channel's signature series, DocTalk, entered its third season July 1, 2011. DocTalk was a weekly half hour program featuring filmmakers and their newest documentary film projects and releases.

The channel was independently owned and operated until it was purchased by Participant Media in December 2012.

Carriage

Documentary Channel was available via Dish Network and DirecTV, the latter of which added the channel on March 31, 2010. The press release claimed the DirecTV launch doubled DOC's distribution base to 25 million.^[4]

Closure

Documentary Channel built up to the launch of Pivot with a countdown clock in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, where the logo normally is, saying "xx Hours xx Minutes until we Pivot", but there was no special programing taking a look back at the channel's history, instead just showing a normal day of programing.

At approximately 6 p.m ET on Dish receivers, the channel's EPG name changed from "DOC" to "PIVOT", signifying the change happening overnight, in 12 hours time.

At 5:40 a.m ET, the channel's final documentary, 8: The Mormon Proposition, ended. 5 minutes later, the channel's final regularly scheduled program, the channel's original program Doc Talk, began, with the subject being "Full Frame Fest 2". At 5:58 a.m ET, the channel began playing an old style "Indian Head" test card, and started playing Edward R. Murrow's "Wires and Lights in a Box" speech, talking about how television can help people learn, but only if they accept it. Midway through the speech, in the bottom right, a message said:

"Good night, and good luck.

Coming in October pivot.tv

At 6:00:04 a.m ET, Documentary Channel ended, and Pivot begun, with the final words spoken on the network being "Good night, and good luck."

References

External links

• An Idea Whose Time Has Come - DigitalFilmmaker article on Documentary Channel's launch