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History
History logo in the United States
Launched	January 1, 1995
Owned by	A&E Television Networks
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Headquarters	New York City, United States
Formerly called	The History Channel (1995-2008)
Sister channel(s)	History International, A&E Network, The Biography Channel, Military History Channel, History en Español, Crime & Investigation Network
Website	www.history.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 269 Channel 1269 (VOD)
Dish Network	Channel 120
Cable
Available on most cable systems	Check local listings for channels

History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American satellite and cable TV channel, with shows on historical events and persons—often with observations and explanations by noted historians as well as reenactors and interviews with witnesses. Some of the original programming is also shown on History Television in Canada.

History

The History Channel launch logo, used from January 1, 1995 until February 16, 2008 in the United States. Still used in other markets.

Launched on January 1, 1995, the channel is owned by A&E joint venture (Hearst, Disney, NBC)¹ and operates, in various forms, in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Israel, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands and Latin America. The network is also currently available in South Asia under a deal between STAR TV and AETN International until November 21, 2008. Interestingly, the channel has consistently produced prime time ratings in the U.S. comparable to or higher than the A&E Network itself.

In 2007 The History Channel launched "Take a Veteran to School Day," designed to foster relationships between U.S. military veterans and students; R. Lee Ermey is the spokesman for the initiative.

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. The former logo form remains in place for the rest of the world. On March 20, 2008, The History Channel dropped the "The" and the "Channel" parts of its name to become History. ²

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by History (TV channel)

Programming covers a wide array of periods and topics, while similar topics are often organized into themed weeks or daily marathons. Subjects include military history, medieval history, the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, modern engineering, and historical biographies; many 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. The History Channel maintains a corporate initiative called Save Our History, dedicated to the preservation of history and historical sites and artifacts, similar in spirit but not to be confused with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Criticism and evaluation

The History Channel received the nickname "the Hitler Channel"³ for its extensive coverage of World War II, though much military-themed programming has now been shifted to its sister network, the Military History Channel, and the network's programming now covers a diverse range of topics on history. The U.S.-based network has also been criticized for devoting most of its coverage to US and Western history.⁴ Their sister network, History International, does focus primarily on non-US history however. The network has also received criticism for emphasizing the history of relatively recent times, as opposed to ancient or medieval eras.

The History Channel has been reproved for giving too much attention to arguably non-historical subjects, such as UFOs⁵ and Nostradamus. Also, the network's Ice Road Truckers⁶ and Axmen series garnered record ratings in the U.S. despite its debatably non-historical nature.

The network has won praise from professional historians such as Stanley Kutner for its willingness to examine the biases of its own programming – in particular, a series on the John F. Kennedy assassination.⁷ Programs such as Modern Marvels have been praised for their presentation of detailed information in an entertaining format.⁸

The History Channel is sometimes humorously and critically referred to as "The Armageddon Channel" for its seeming focus on the apocalypse (In the series "Decoding The Past" alone, there are four episodes about it.) and other issues not related to the subject of history. "Monsterquest", "Sandhogs", and "The Lost Book Of Nostradamus" are recent examples of programs on the History Channel that offer no clear, credible historical information or inquiry.

Other media

DVD

• The Unknown Hitler DVD collection,⁹ including Hitler and the Occult
• Dogfight: Season 1 DVD set

Video games

• The History Channel: Great Battles of Rome
• The History Channel: Civil War - A Nation Divided
• The History Channel: ShootOut! - The Game
• The History Channel: Dogfights - The Game
• The History Channel: Battle for the Pacific
• The History Channel: Lost Worlds
• The History Channel: Battle of Britain 1940
• The History Channel: Crusades - Quest for Power
• The History Channel: Alamo - Fight for Independence
• The History Channel: Civil War - Great Battles
• The History Channel: Digging for Truth

International

Canada

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, at least those aired on A&E (which is available in Canada).¹⁰

Asia

The History Channel started its operations in India in late 2003, with News Corp's STAR as its sales partner, managed by National Geographic.¹¹ A joint venture of A&E and Astro All Asia Networks plc 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.¹² Some other Asian countries such as Israel, Japan and South Korea currently have their own versions of the network.

Scandinavia

A Scandinavian version was launched in September 1997, broadcasting for three 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.

United Kingdom, Nordic, Ireland and Netherlands

A English speaking version of the History Channel is a joint venture between A&E and British Sky Broadcasting; a high-definition version was launched at 8pm BST on Thursday October 26, 2006, on the Sky HD platform in the United Kingdom.

See also

• A&E Television Networks
• The Biography Channel
• History International
• Military History Channel
• List of DirecTV channels
• List of Dish Network channels
• List of documentary channels
• The History Channel (India)

References

External links

• Dr Anna Keay - Historian and History Channel Presenter
• History Channel Official Site
• The History Channel UK
• The History Channel Italy
• The History Channel Australia
• The History Channel Asia
• The History Channel India
• The History Channel Portugal
• The History Channel New Zealand
• The History Channel Around the World
• The History Channel Germany
• The History Channel International
• Save Our History
• MediaLifeMagazine website (source of cable network ratings)

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 1 December 2008, at 23:01.

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