History , formerly known as The History Channel , is an international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts programs regarding historical events and persons, as well as various metaphysical, pseudoscientific, and paranormal phenomena—-often with observations and explanations by noted historians, scholars, authors, esotericists, astrologers, and Biblical scholars as well as reenactments and interviews with witnesses.
History
Launched on January 1, 1995, the channel is owned by A&E joint venture (Hearst, Disney, NBC) and operates, in various forms, in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Israel, Spain, Poland, Italy, The Netherlands, 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.
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 .
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, historical biographies, metaphysical subjects 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. 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" 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 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. Their sister network, History International, also seems to have a focus on American history. 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 also been criticized for paying too much attention to non-historical subjects such as UFOs and for spreading disinformation about Nostradamus, as well as for playing a major role in propagating the 2012 Doomsday prediction myth, usually with scant reference to established scholarship, with the result that it has also been dubbed "The Mystery Channel" or "The Pseudo-History Channel", as well as "The Hysteria Channel."
The network has nevertheless 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. Programs such as Modern Marvels have been praised for their presentation of detailed information in an entertaining format.
Also, the network's Ice Road Truckers , Ax Men , and Life After People series garnered record ratings in the U.S. despite their non-historical nature.
History is continuing the apocalyptic trend mentioned above with a highly interpretive new series, Nostradamus Effect , which premiered on September 9, 2009 and involves a supposed "Third Antichrist" and a "Da Vinci Armageddon."
Despite these criticisms about History's less-than-historical subject matter, examples of programs that more appropriately suit the channel are Ancient Discoveries and Cities of the Underworld .
Other media
DVD
- The Unknown Hitler DVD collection, 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
The History Channel maintains a website at www.history.com which among other features maintains several message boards including the History of Christianity, WWII, the Civil War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Current Events.
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).
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. The History Channel India has been closed down on November 21, 2008 and it has been replaced by Fox History & Entertainment, which is the first FOX Network channel available 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, Japan and South Korea currently have their own versions of the network. On September 1, 2008 History Channel Asia was officially launch their own History HD Asia channel in Singapore and Hong Kong, followed by Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.
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.
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-Sahran Africa and Greece. The Biography Channel and Crime & Investigation Network are also to be launched in the Nordic market.
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.
See also
- A&E Television Networks
- The Biography Channel
- History International
- The History Channel (India)
- Military History Channel
- List of DirecTV channels
- List of Dish Network channels
- List of documentary channels
References
- ^ "About AETN". AETN.com . http://www.aetn.com/about.html . Retrieved 2007-08-04 .
- ^ International Herald Tribune Television's The History Channel drops 'the' and 'channel' from its name, keeps History March 20, 2008
- ^ "All Hitler, all the time" by Mar
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