History (TV channel)

For the Canadian equivalent of this channel, see History Television. For the British equivalent of this channel, see History (UK TV channel).

History
Launched	January 1, 1995 (1995-01-01)
Owned by	A&E Television Networks Disney-ABC Television Group (42.5%) Hearst Media (42.5%) NBCUniversal (15%)
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV)
Slogan	"History: Made Every Day"
Headquarters	New York City, United States
Formerly called	The History Channel (1995–2008)
Sister channel(s)	H2 A&E Network The Biography Channel Military History History en Español Lifetime Crime & Investigation Network
Website	www.History.com
Availability
Terrestrial
Selective TV Inc. (Alexandria, MN)	K52DZ (Channel 52)
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 269 (SD/HD) Channel 1269 (VOD)
Dish Network	Channel 120 (SD/HD)
Dish Network Mexico	Channel 409 (956 in HD)
DStv	Channel 254
Astro (Malaysia)	Channel 555 (SD) Channel 575 (HD)
Skylife (Korean)	Channel 82(HD)
Cable
Available on most American cable systems	Check local listings for details
Verizon FiOS	Channel 128 (SD) Channel 628 (HD)
Time Warner Cable	Channel 40
IPTV
AT&T U-verse	Channel 256 (SD) Channel 1256 (HD)

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that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.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

The History Channel ident used from launch until 2008.

History was launched on January 1, 1995 (as The History Channel). The channel is owned by A&E Television Networks, a joint venture of Hearst Corporation, Disney-ABC Television Group (The Walt Disney Company) and NBCUniversal (Comcast/General Electric), and operates, in various forms, in Canada, 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".

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, mythical creatures, monsters, UFOs, aliens, truck drivers, alligator hunters, pawn stores, pickers, religions, disaster scenarios, and the apocalypse scenarios; a number of these documentaries are narrated by Edward Herrmann. Some of the aired programs compare contemporary culture and technology with the past, while other programs focus on subjects such as conspiracy theory, religious interpretation, UFO speculation, and reality television. In particular, the History Channel has aired a number of films on Nostradamus, as well as a special series on doomsday that promulgates various popular 2012 theories, including films such as Decoding the Past (2005–2007), 2012, End of Days (2006), Last Days on Earth (2006), Seven Signs of the Apocalypse (2007), and Nostradamus 2012 (2008).

Criticism and evaluation

History has in the past, particularly during the 1990s, been jokingly referred to as "The Hitler Channel" 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 having "a bias towards American history", although 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.

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

Also some of the network's series, including Ice Road Truckers, Ax Men and Pawn Stars garnered ratings in the U.S., while receiving criticism over the series' non-historical nature. Forbes.com contributor Brad Lockwood criticized the History Channel's addition of "programs devoted to monsters, aliens and conspiracies" and wrote that ratings trends have influenced the network to focus on entertainment rather than actual historical programming. U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley is a frequent critic of the channel and its lack of historical or educational programming, showing particular disdain for Ax Men and Pawn Stars.

In his book 2012: It's Not the End of the World Peter Lemesurier describes the channel's Nostradamus series, in which he was invited to participate, as 'largely fiction' and 'lurid nonsense'. He also lists numerous misleading suggestions made in its films on the alleged Mayan 'end of the world' and the 'rare' galactic alignment that is supposed by John Major Jenkins to accompany it in 2012, while Jenkins himself has described Decoding the Past as '45 minutes of unabashed doomsday hype and the worst kind of inane sensationalism.'

In December 2011 Politifact gave the History Channel's claim that the United States Congress stayed open on Christmas Day for most of its first 67 years of existence a "pants on fire" rating, the lowest of its ratings, noting that its own research showed that both the Senate and the House had only convened once in those 67 years on a Christmas Day and adding that since there's a 1/7 chance of Christmas falling on a Sunday(where Congress did not meet in order to attend church) the claim that they would have convened almost every Christmas is "ridiculous". The claim had first been broadcast on the History Channel's show "Christmas Unwrapped – The History of Christmas", before being subsequently picked up by the American Civil Liberties Union's website on the "Origins of Christmas", and by Comedy Central's program The Daily Show. The Daily Show responded the next day by stating it was their fault for trusting the History Channel, and satirized a clip from the History Channel about UFOs and Nazis by stating, "The next thing you know we'll all find out the Nazis did not employ alien technology in their quest for world domination".

Other media

DVD

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

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
• History Civil War: Secret Missions
• 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

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).

Europe

Benelux

The Dutch version was launched on May 1, 2007. This version is distributed by Chello Benelux (a subdivision of Chellomedia). In January, 2008 History HD was launched in the Netherlands. It is available on cable networks UPC Netherlands and Ziggo. It's also available on IPTV KPN.

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 (Southeast Asian TV channel)

The History Channel started its operations in India in late 2003, with News Corp's STAR TV as its sales partner, managed by National Geographic until November 21, 2008. 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. 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.

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]}

External links

• History Official Site
• Dr Anna Keay – Historian and History Channel Presenter
• History UK
• History Italy
• The History Channel Australia
• History Asia
• History India
• Canal de Historia (History Spain)
• Canal de História (History Portugal)
• The History Channel New Zealand
• History Latin America
• History Brazil
• The History Channel Around the World
• The History Channel Germany
• The History Channel International
• Save Our History
• MediaLifeMagazine website (source of cable network ratings)