History (TV channel)

History (TV channel)

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History (TV channel)

History, formerly known as The History Channel, is a 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
Programming
Criticism and evaluation
Other media

DVD
Video games

International

Canada
Asia
Scandinavia
United Kingdom

See also
References
External links

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. 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

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 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 UFOs.^[5] Also, the network's Ice Road Truckers series garnered record ratings in the U.S. despite its debatably non-historical nature.^[6]

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 nothing tangible to 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

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.^[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

A British 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.