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History Channel

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History
HeadquartersNew York City, United States
Ownership
OwnerA&E Television Networks (Hearst Corporation (42.5%), Disney-ABC Television Group (42.5%), NBCUniversal (15%))

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that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.

History

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 Hearst Corporation, Disney-ABC Television Group (the Walt Disney Company), and NBC Universal (Comcast and General Electric),[2] and operates, in various forms, in the United States, 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.[citation needed]

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

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

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, angels and disaster scenarios; 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. History maintains a corporate initiative called Save Our History, dedicated to the preservation of history and historical sites and artifacts, similar to in spirit but not to be confused with the National Trust for Historic Preservation.[citation needed]

Criticism and evaluation

History has been jokingly referred to as "The Hitler Channel"[4] 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.[5]

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.[6] On the other hand, programs such as Modern Marvels have been praised for their presentation of detailed information in an entertaining format.[7]

Also some of the network's series, like 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.[who?]

Other media

DVD

  • The Unknown Hitler DVD collection,[8] including Hitler and the Occult
  • Dogfight: Season 1 DVD set
  • The Great Depression DVD collection

Video games

International

North America

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 on American channels imported to Canadian systems, such as A&E (which is available in Canada).[9]

Europe

Poland

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.

Scandinavia

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

Asia

Main article: History (South East Asian TV channel)

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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12][13][14][15]

Latin America

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.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ Winfrey, Lee. "Golf Channel tees off Tuesday, joining History Channel as new cable fare", Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, January 16, 1995. Retrieved February 28, 2011 from HighBeam Research.
  2. ^ "About AETN". AETN.com. Retrieved August 4, 2007.
  3. ^ International Herald Tribune Television's The History Channel Drops 'The' and 'Channel' from Its Name, Keeps History March 20, 2008
  4. ^ Schone, Mark. "All Hitler, All the Time", Salon.com, May 8, 1997).
  5. ^ "Time traveler's guide to the Roman Empire". Channel4.com. Retrieved August 4, 2007. The History Channel: The website of the American cable channel has a bias towards American history, as evidenced by Extreme History with Roger Daltrey {{cite web}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 21 (help)
  6. ^ Stanley Kutner (July 4, 2004). "Why the History Channel Had to Apologize for the Documentary that Blamed LBJ for JFK's Murder". History News Network. Retrieved August 4, 2007. The History Channel has made a start in the right direction as it has totally disavowed the program and publicly promised it never will be shown again.
  7. ^ Scott Weinberg (May 29, 2007). "Modern Marvels: Technology". DVD Talk. Retrieved August 4, 2007. If you're trying to throw your kids a little education, but in a fast-paced and colorful presentation, these "Modern Marvels" series come pretty highly recommended. Then again, I'm a mid-30s guy and I'm learning tons of new stuff from these programs. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ The History Channel Online Store: The Unknown Hitler DVD Collection
  9. ^ "Librarian and Information Science News". LIS News. Retrieved August 4, 2007. I always wondered why the History Channel commercials said not available in Canada.
  10. ^ "Indiantelevision.com's interview with NGC India managing director (South Asia) Zubin Jehanbux Gandevia". Indiantelevision.com. December 20, 2003. Retrieved October 15, 2007.
  11. ^ "A&E Television Networks & Astro Form Joint Venture". April 16, 2007. Retrieved June 8, 2007.
    "The History Channel Expands Through Asia". February 10, 2003. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
  12. ^ History HD channel launched on SkyLife in Korea retrieved via www.medianewsline.com May 5, 2009
  13. ^ History HD to launch in Japan retrieved via www.aetninternational.com 09-30-2008
  14. ^ History Channel Asia HD launched on SkyCable Philippines retrieved via www.skycable.com September 6, 2009
  15. ^ The History Channel HD to launch in Singapore and Hong Kong retrieved via www.aetninternational.com 08-26-2008
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