.svg) | |
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Toronto,Ontario |
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV (downscaled toletterboxed480i for theSDTV feed) |
| Timeshift service | The History Channel East The History Channel West |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Alliance Atlantis (1998-2008) Canwest (2008-2010) Shaw Media (2010-2016) Corus Entertainment (2016-Present) (branding licensed fromA&E Networks) |
| Parent | History Television Inc. |
| Sister channels | Historia History2 |
| History | |
| Launched | October 17, 1997 (1997-10-17), 27 years ago |
| Former names | History Television (1997–2012) |
| Links | |
| Website | history |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| StackTV | Internet Protocol television |
| RiverTV | Channel 7 |
The History Channel (also known asHistory) is aCanadianEnglish-languagediscretionaryspecialty channel that primarily broadcasts programming related tohistory and historical fiction. It is owned by History Television, Inc., a subsidiary ofCorus Entertainment.
History was launched on October 17, 1997, asHistory Television under the ownership ofAlliance Atlantis. Through various ownership changes, the channel adopted its current name in 2012, with theHistory Channel branding used under a licensing agreement withA+E Networks. The History Channel operates twotime-shifted feeds: East (Eastern Time) and West (Pacific Time). The West Coast feed was launched on September 1, 2006.
Licensed by theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on September 4, 1996, asThe History and Entertainment Network, the channel was originally owned byAlliance Atlantis Communications and launched asHistory Television on October 17, 1997.
On January 18, 2008, a joint venture betweenCanwest andGoldman Sachs Capital Partners known as CW Media bought Alliance Atlantis and gained AAC's interest in History Television. On October 8, 2009, Canwest launched ahigh definition simulcast of History Television.[1] History Television HD initially only had one national feed operating from theEastern Time Zone. It is available through all major TV providers in Canada.
On October 27, 2010, ownership changed again asShaw Communications gained control of History Television as a result of its acquisition of Canwest and Goldman Sachs' interest in CW Media.[2][3] On May 30, 2012,Shaw Media announced that History Television would be rebranded as a Canadian version of U.S. cable channelHistory on August 12, 2012, through a wider licensing agreement withA+E Networks. Fellow Shaw network,The Cave, was also rebranded as a Canadian version of spin-off networkH2.[4][5]
On April 1, 2016, History and its sister channel H2 were sold toCorus Entertainment. An HD feed for the network in western Canada was launched on September 18, 2019. In January 2022, the network converted its imaging to the current American logo introduced in the fall of 2021, and like the American network, it uses "History" and "The History Channel" interchangeably.[citation needed]
The channel's programming includes documentaries, reality shows, films, and human interest series. In addition to shows acquired from its American counterpart, History also produces and commissions several original programs of its own, includingRestoration Garage,Yukon Gold, andVikings.
The channel also frequently commissions original documentary television films on historical topics, with noteworthy examples having included the World War II documentariesThe Real Inglorious Bastards[6] andCheating Hitler: Surviving the Holocaust,[7] the four-partBlack Canadian history seriesBLK, An Origin Story,[8] and theIndigenous Canadian historyTrue Story.[9]
Under theHistory Television branding, the network also aired a special calledFact & Film, which shows a program on a topic and then a movie on the same subject.
