history channel schedule

history channel schedule

The Evolution of the History Channel: From Educational Programming to Reality TV

1. Introduction

Pull-up almost any internet search engine and search for the History Channel. Ignore the snippets and links that take you to the station’s home website and you will probably find a link to the original site of this channel. Many like-minded people—those that remember when the Learning Channel only aired educational content and the Discovery Channel was home to many great and educational programs—are attempting to revive the station most commonly referred to as “the Hitler Channel.” For the purpose of this paper, the History Channel is described as a station that is devoted to airing shows about the history of the world, a definition that historically has prompted many misadventures of null. You see, when the History Channel was started, cable viewers believed that they were going to be educated—what a misnomer! Kathleen Cushing, in her book “Seeing Through the Media: A Religious View of Communications and Cultural Analysis,” was one of the first (if not the first) to adequately categorize this station. “The History Channel, where military history, specifically, is often poised in documentaries that carve history in wars and violence” (154). In other words, for everyone who claimed the station was educational, and believed what they watched, for the most part were watching programs that portrayed events in the past but which all shared a common thread—the violent days of our forefathers, and born out of that same breath came fellow channels like The Military Channel (formerly the Discovery Channel), Motor Trend, The Speed Channel, ESPN, ESPN 2, and ESPN News.

2. The Origins of the History Channel

As The History Channel evolved and benefited from growing support from a range of content producers, it included both instructional media and entertainment. Currently, its programming includes styles ranging from the traditional documentary format with substantial academic input, to “how things are made” type shows that relate how films, series, and other media are produced. Initially, when it was called “The History Channel”, it was managed by experts in communication and academic research. But as it became profitable and new shareholders joined the company to grow and develop the business, the demands of shareholders meant decisions were made in pursuit of profits, which in turn led to experimentation with variations. It was then that they introduced reality television as part of the programming.

When satellite and cable television became widely accessible, the possibilities for programming expanded. The basic model, with its larger number of channels compared to the traditional stack of broadcast stations, disseminated international and national content, but also reached more specific areas and communities of interest. One consequence was the creation of niche channels focused on themes that catered to smaller niches like the people interested in wildlife, weather, the economy, natural disasters, etc. The History Channel was founded in a similar spirit: to deliver material pertinent to people interested in history. According to its own self-description, “The History Channel is a cable television network offering programming related to historical events and people. As a presentational device, The History Channel identifies itself as part of the satellite by showing the Earth and the Sun circling, highlighting the channel’s goal of gathering history.”

3. The Transition to Reality TV

More than half of the programs among the top twenty-five most-watched shows in 2005 were either original series or documentaries. By the following year, the number had ballooned to 68 percent. Although History did see a slight ratings dip in 2006, because of a temporary shift in emphasis to war-related program, it was still one of the top-rated cable channels. Can the network, once known for its high-quality history documentaries, maintain its high ratings with this new emphasis on entertainment-themed programming?

The new direction for History had a major impact on the reputation of the network. The early emphasis on accurate documentaries brought prestige and credibility to History. Before turning to reality shows, the channel had its greatest success with nonfiction programming. Nevertheless, the new shows did very well in ratings. In 2005, the year after History introduced its more entertainment-oriented format, its prime-time viewership was 1.04 million people on average, 5 percent higher than in 2004. The proportion of viewers between 18 and 49, which advertisers covet, increased to 435,000 on average each night, 16 percent higher than in 2004. Many viewers told History that they were tuning in more because of their general interest in programs about the past.

4. Impact on Audience Perception and Historical Understanding

Cable television has become the most powerful tool that can reach the homes of people in every corner of the country. On a practical level, this is good and ideally, the creation of educational programs would serve the common good. Thus, these programs about history and other “serious” subjects could inform the masses, the television-watching “common” American about issues of consequence. This is the ideal scenario, but in order to make these types of informational programs, money is required. Programmers need funds to pay the educational experts to consult, to research the topics, and to produce these high-minded broadcasts. Consequently, the economic realities are that without widespread financial support, these lofty ideals are secured. And, as if by a cosmic summons, the solution to this funding puzzle arrives.

Before providing an analysis of the effects of these controversial programs on the mass audience’s perception of American history and the evolution of its understanding of history, it is imperative to first reiterate the standard definition of history. History is the scientific study of the human lifestyle: its triumphs and tragedies. It is defined as a narrative account of past events. It is this definition of “history” that must be used in criticizing the creation and rise of reality-based historical programming on cable networks.

5. Conclusion and Future Directions

However, the history of the History Channel is in the past and it is fixed in that time, and scholarly understanding of the network should better address this time period in order to begin meaningful analyses of the History Channel, its mission, and history. Although the History Channel was re-launched in 1996, it is important to focus on the emergence of the History Channel in 1985 because this was the period in the channel’s history that included programming that quickly became the central station identity of the cable network community. The recent television network period is but another step in understanding this television network that has a station identity and non-fiction identity based on the History Channel.

The History Channel has significantly evolved over the last 30 years to now only include specialized historical programs shown in between hours of reality television programs to now become essentially a popular culture channel. Our conclusions likely only surprise those unfamiliar with the History Channel’s programming in the mid-1980s or before the pervasive influence of reality television shows and series that are now (and in the future) on the cable channel. In 1985, the network began to redefine itself as a primarily specialized-themed cable channel that focused on history. The History Channel, re-launched as the History Channel on January 1, 1996, giving the channel a channel identity for historical documentaries and related historical programming, including original specials for teachers and educational institutions.