 | |
| Country | United States Canada |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Elizabeth, New Jersey |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV (downscaled toletterboxed480i for theSDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Warner Bros. Discovery |
| Parent | Warner Bros. Discovery Networks |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | July 15, 1998; 27 years ago (1998-07-15) |
| Former names |
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| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
American Heroes Channel (formerlyMilitary Channel and originallyDiscovery Wings Channel) is an American multinationalpay televisionchannel owned by theWarner Bros. Discovery Networks unit ofWarner Bros. Discovery. The network carriesprograms related to the military, warfare, and military history and science.
As of November 2023[update], AHC is available to approximately 28,000,000 pay television households in the United States-down from its 2014 peak of 62,000,000 households. Along withBoomerang,Cooking Channel,Destination America,Discovery Family,Discovery Life, andScience Channel, American Heroes Channel is among the less prevalent networks of Warner Bros. Discovery.[1]
In recent years, AHC has lost carriage with the growth of streaming alternatives including its parent company'sHBO Max, and has generally been depreciated by Warner Bros. Discovery in current retransmission consent negotiations with cable and streaming providers.
The channel launched in July 1998, asDiscovery Wings Channel; it originally focused on programs relating toaircraft andaerospace. During its early years, the network also aired a weather segment near the top of each hour featuring aviation forecast data from theNational Weather Service. Discovery Wings Channel became available to television providers inCanada starting on September 7, 2001.
Discovery Communications filed a trademark application with theUnited States Copyright Office for the use of the name "Military Channel" in 2002, after the trademark was abandoned by an unrelated start-up cable network based inLouisville, Kentucky, also namedThe Military Channel, which wentdark in 1999 and later went bankrupt. That network – which focused on the heroes, history and hardware of the international military scene – experienced difficulty raising capital, despite early success.
On January 10, 2005, the network was rebranded as theMilitary Channel.[2] Carrying over from its original format, many of the network's programs as the Military Channel were dedicated to aerial warfare and related technologies and issues. In 2005, the channel aired its first live program fromPhiladelphia at the site of theArmy–Navycollege football game, two hours before that game's kickoff, in whichFox Sports commentatorChris Myers hosted from a set outside ofLincoln Financial Field.
On March 3, 2014, the channel was rebranded asAmerican Heroes Channel, with the intent to "provide more history based, narrative-style documentary programming."[3] The network is a sponsor of theUnited Service Organizations (USO) and frequently runs commercials for that organization.
Many of the programs featured on American Heroes Channel arewardocumentaries, the contents of which deal in large part withmodern warfare, and in particular theU.S. military fromWorld War II onward. While theA+E Networks-ownedHistory,Military History andH2 air similar programming, those networks tend to show more programs about other time periods and cultures (ancient,Roman,Medieval,Eastern, and other forms of warfare). AHC has a more contemporary subject matter than those competitors, but it occasionally presents historical programming as well. ActorDennis Haysbert serves as the network'scontinuity announcer for its on-airpromotions.
In addition, the channel also presents feature films with a military theme (usually within the hosted movie seriesAn Officer and a Movie, which is hosted byLou Diamond Phillips), as well as individual episodes of other shows (such asBelly of the Beast,Build It Bigger,Extreme Machines,Timewatch andUnsolved History), which incorporate military-related content. These are often shows that were produced for other Discovery Communications-owned channels.
Some programs are available to stream on Max.
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| The Cartoon Network, Inc. |
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| Defunct and former ventures |
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