 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.[1] |
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 1080pHDTV |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Warner Bros. Discovery |
| Parent | Warner Bros. Discovery Networks |
| Sister channels | List
|
| History | |
| Launched | October 7, 1996; 29 years ago (1996-10-07) |
| Former names |
|
| Links | |
| Website | |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Affiliated Streaming Service | HBO Max/Discovery+ |
| Service(s) | Philo,YouTube TV,DirecTV Stream,Vidgo,Sling TV,Hulu + Live TV |
Investigation Discovery (ID) is an Americancable television network. Owned byWarner Bros. Discovery, ID primarily broadcaststrue crime programming, including documentaries and anthology series.
The channel was established in 1996 as Discovery Civilization Network (later Discovery Civilization Channel), which focused on world history. In 2002, the channel was relaunched as Discovery Times as a joint venture withThe New York Times Company, with a focus on programming related to theculture of the United States. TheTimes divested their stake to Discovery in 2006, and the channel took its current name and format two years later.
As of November 2023[update], ID is available to approximately 69 million pay television households in the United States-down from its 2015 peak of 86 million households.[2]
The channel launched in 1996 under the nameDiscovery Civilization Network: The World History and Geography Channel. It was one of fourdigital cable companion networks; Discovery Travel & Living Network (nowDestination America), Discovery Science Network (nowScience Channel) and Discovery Kids (nowDiscovery Family, which has been a joint venture withHasbro since 2010) were rolled out by Discovery Communications simultaneously in October 1996.[3] Plans for the channel had surfaced in November 1994, when its working name wasTime Traveler.[4]
In April 2002,The New York Times Company and Discovery Communications announced a joint venture to run the Discovery Civilization Channel. By then, it was available in 14 million households. The partnership aimed to complement the historical shows, with programming about current events and contemporary history.[5]On March 25, 2003, the channel was rebranded asDiscovery Times, focusing more on theculture of the United States, as well as other miscellaneous programming. The previous name was described as "a little off-message" by executives.[6]
In April 2006,The New York Times sold its stake in Discovery Times back to Discovery Communications, ending its ownership in the channel. Despite The "Times" it was kept in the channels name until January 27, 2008 when Discovery Times was rebranded as Investigation Discovery (ID), shifting its programming focus on true crime documentaries at exactly 12:00am[7][8]
In 2016, owing to a growth in popularity in true crime among the demographic, ID was the second-highest-rated cable network among women 25–54.[9] In 2018, ID was the sixth-highest-rated basic cable network in full-day viewership.[10]
On April 12, 2020, Investigation Discovery introduced a new logo, placing a greater focus on the "ID" initialism to make it better-suited for multi-platform use.[11]
In December 2022, the team responsible for ID also took over responsibility forHLN, which became a sibling channel following the merger of Discovery, Inc. withWarnerMedia to formWarner Bros. Discovery earlier that year.[12] That channel had gradually shifted to a similar true crime-focused format since the mid-2010s after having primarily been a rolling news sister channel toCNN, dropping its last original news programs at the same time as the management change, and had already begun airing repeats of ID programming such asHometown Homicide shortly after the WBD merger.[13]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(September 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Most of ID's programs are original productions, but it also airs re-titled off-network reruns, includingABC's20/20,CBS'48 Hours, andNBC’sDateline.
ID's longest-running series isOn the Case with Paula Zahn which debuted in 2009. Other long-running shows on the network includeDisappeared andHomicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda.
On June 7, 2015, ID aired its first ever scriptedmini-series;Serial Thriller: Angel of Decay chronicled the investigation of convicted (and later executed) serial killerTed Bundy.[14] A second installment,Serial Thriller: The Chameleon, premiered as a two-part miniseries in December 2015, chronicling the crimes that resulted in theexecution ofAmericanserial killerStephen Morin. A third installment,Serial Thriller: The Headhunter, about serial killerEdmund Kemper (which possibly includes the story of serial killerHerbert Mullin), premiered on February 20, 2016.
| This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(September 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Discovery was the first non-fiction channel to embrace digital cable services. Home & Leisure, Science, Civilization, and Kids launched in October 1996.
| Broadcasting and FAST streaming group |
|  | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cartoon Network, Inc. |
| ||||
| Entertainment Group | |||||
| Lifestyle & Factual Group |
| ||||
| Defunct and former ventures |
| ||||