Hey, History Channel:

[Brigid]

Instead of shows about UFOs, Armageddon (whatever that's supposed to be), monsters that aren't real, pawnbrokers,guys rummaging through junk, and rednecks with shows given to them for no particular reason, how about some actual history? Here's a thought: How about a series about the labor movement in this country -- you know, something relevant? Now there's a thought.

[1620rock]

1. +1

[ddeclue]

2. They already have a network for that.. it's called PBS..

oh wait.. maybe they won't soon..

:cry:

PBS covered the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire the other night.

[hatrack]

41. You mean, they were able to break through the dense undergrowth of Lawrence Welk reruns?

:eyes:

[CatWoman]

47. LOL

My grandma is so in love with Lawrence Welk :rofl:

[Bake]

83. Thank-a ya boyce-ah!

A-one and-a two ...

HI CAT!!!!!!!!

:hug:

Bake

[roman7]

52. truth

as far as truthfull history and truthfull everything else pbs is about as good as it gets

[Ignis]

56. "have" will soon become "had"

:(

[RZM]

3. Don't hold your breath for anything but pure crap over there

If there' s a market for such a stupid network, that's fine, but they should at least give up the name. Of course MTV still has music in its name even though it seems to be nothing but reality shows that have little to do with music.

I'd love some real history on television too. The history channel of 10-15 years ago wasn't always great, but compared to what they have now it looks pretty damn good.

[Hugabear]

4. There does seem to be a proliferation of monster/ghost/UFO shows on TV

Who would have thought, that in the year 2011, we would be clinging to such silly superstitions?

[ddeclue]

7. The ghost monster just landed in a UFO!

:rofl:

[russspeakeasy]

96. May I add: there are 50 hours a week of prison shows.

I have seen 4 or five hours of them and I can't tell them
apart. Maybe I'm watching the same show over and over. Never
mind.

[Plucketeer]

106. Yeah - lotsa people still flock to churces too

There's a clamoring for fantasies that might save us from ourselves.

[Drunken Irishman]

5. History Channel is to history as MTV is to music.

[kentauros]

6. For too many "specialized" cable channels

their name is no longer applicable. Such as "Syfy" "The Learning Channel" and "The History Channel". It's not about niche marketing, it's about "lowest common denominator" also known as "diversifying" in the biz.

Here's a story that was posted in the Science Fiction forum after we learned of the cancellation of "Stargate: Universe". You could probably substitute "Syfy" with any other cable channel name and have the exact same story for all of them.

The Face of Syfy: Howe to Hammer Away a Channel

This part says it all:

When the Sci Fi Channel changed names to Syfy last year it came as a shock to most viewers – especially the fans. In a video by Broadcasting & Cable, Dave Howe explained the change:

"In a lot of respects our new name is catching up with our programming slate. So if you look at the broad landscape of sci-fi/fantasy, it isn't just about space, aliens and the future. It's about fantasy, supernatural, paranormal, superhero, action/adventure, mystery. And I think a lot of our content speaks of that: Ghosthunters, Destination Truth, Estate of Panic. And a lot of shows which are much broader, much more relatable than what people expect from us."

:eyes:

[Hugabear]

8. Amazing how many shows there have been about ghosts

I get that they're easy and cheap to produce. After all, many of these shows only require a simple camcorder with infrared lighting, and a group of bumbling idiots walking around saying "did you hear that" and "what was that". Throw in some faked "evidence", and bingo you have yourself a TV show.

[AlbertCat]

110. Amazing how many shows there have been about ghosts

Ghost Hunters is hysterically lame. They're in a 400 year old building and every board that creaks "OH MY GOD... did you hear that?????"

One of my Fave "French & Saunders" spoofs is when they're in the Ladies Restroom at the Tower Of London....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7Y6AAbRWRc

[gateley]

10. What the statement didn't say, but actually did, is it's about the $$$. More people

will tune in to crap shows than to actual programming with valid content. That's what brings advertising dollars.

[Jmaxfie1]

80. I know, that's the sad reality of it all.

More people tune into a show about the search for Bigfoot than a show about WWII.

[Norrin Radd]

23. Syfy is a Polish slang term for sexually transmitted disease.

[kentauros]

26. I thought so!

Considering how everyone I know actually pronounces it: "siffie" :P

[Liberal_in_LA]

54. SyFy has too many ghost / dragon / vampire movies/shows. Not enuff sci fi

[kentauros]

58. And there won't be enough sci fi;

not any more.

The other thing about science fiction is that too many seem to think if they watch a lot of movies in that genre, then they know what makes a great science fiction story. Just have a look on any recent sci-fi movie over on imdb. I seriously doubt more than a handful of them ever read the books...

[Liberal_in_LA]

61. While we are talking 'Sci Fi", what happened to that series "The Event"?

I watched the first season..then it went on hiatus...heard it was returning. Did it?

[kentauros]

62. I saw the ads, but didn't watch it.

I rarely watch "network" TV anymore, so I wouldn't know. Sorry.

[lunatica]

74. It's playing this season

Every Wednesday night. You can catch up on On Demand in the Series section.

[Liberal_in_LA]

95. Thanks

[spedtr90]

108. It is back

After a slow start it has become quite good!

[Bluenorthwest]

75. And there's this...

SyFy was a name they could own and brand and market, SiFi means Science Fiction, and they were told they could not make that name their property, so they changed their name.

[ThatsMyBarack]

101. That includes TV Land

Nuf said

[Blue-Jay]

9. Hey, I like those traveling junk-guys.

But yeah, the rest of that shit is horrible.

Ancient Astronaut Pyramid-Building Space Aliens? Are you fucking kidding me? Even most woo-woos think that stuff is silly.

[SoCalDem]

12. We need a whole new channel..WCS

The Weird Crazy Shit Channel...home of all the oddities now afflicting every channel to some degree..

[jakeXT]

34. ow my balls ?

[Jmaxfie1]

81. I'll admit i do too. I love going to yardsales and fleamarkets and discovering lost "relics". n/t

[Rex]

11. The History Channel does to history what Foxnews does to news.

They started off okay, then immediately dipped into the history of fiction. Now it is the history of garbage.

[SoCalDem]

13. It all changed when the big-guys started buying up all the niche channels

TLC used to be wonderful...so was the History Channel ...so long ago now..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TLC_%28TV_channel%29

from wiki:

TLC (acronym for The Learning Channel) is an American cable TV network which carries a variety of reality-based and some informational programming. Since 1991 TLC has been owned by Discovery Communications, the same company that operates the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and The Science Channel, as well as other learning-themed networks. The channel is one of the few cable networks also legally available in Canada under its original American interpretation.TLC imports a significant amount of programming material from the United Kingdom (such as Junkyard Wars) mostly through its parent company's ties to the BBC. It also produces U.S. versions of some shows (like What Not to Wear, originally a BBC production) as well as original programming (like Robotica).

A High Definition simulcast of TLC was launched on 1 September 2007. It is currently available on Bell TV, Cogeco Cable, Cox, Dish Network, DirecTV, Shaw Cable, Rogers Cable, Mediacom, insight Communications, Bright House Networks, Charter Communications, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS and Comcast.


The channel was founded in 1972 and was originally dedicated to be an informative/instructional network focused on providing real education through the medium of TV. At one point it was known as Appalachian Community Service Network.<1> In November 1980 the channel became known as "The Learning Channel", subsequently shortened to "TLC."<2> The channel mostly featured documentary content pertaining to nature, science, history, current events, medicine, technology, cooking, home improvement and other information-based topics. These are often agreed to have been more focused, more technical, and of a more academic nature than the content that was being broadcast at the time on its rival, The Discovery Channel. The station was geared towards an inquisitive and narrow audience during this time, and had modest ratings except for "Captain's Log with Captain Mark Gray". This was a boating safety series which aired on TLC from 1987 to 1990 and achieved between a 4.5 to 6 in the ratings. "Captain's Log" was also the highest compensated series in the history of TLC receiving over thirty (30) times more compensation than any other series on TLC at that time and was allowed to sign yearly (vs. quarterly) contracts.

By the early 1990s, The Learning Channel was a sister channel to the Financial News Network (FNN) which owned 51 percent of the channel with Infotechnology Inc. After FNN went into bankruptcy in 1991, the Discovery Channel's owners went into talks of buying The Learning Channel. An agreement was made with FNN and Infotech to buy their shares for $12.75 million. The non-profit Appalachian Community Service Network owned 35 percent of the network, and was also bought out.The Learning Channel continued to be focused primarily on instructional and educational programming through much of the '90s, but began to air shows less focused on education and more themed towards popular consumption and mass-marketing; these would be later expanded.

snip

[kentauros]

19. My favorite show back then on TLC was called simply "The Operation"

It was a medical show that a friend of mine and I would watch (he's an artist and knew anatomy intimately, while I have no such background in art or medicine.) It was truly fascinating, and they always picked doctors that understood how to describe what they were doing in ways the audience could understand, without dumbing it down too much. I don't know if it ever made it to DVD, but it's one I'd seek out if I could find it. Youtube has next to nothing from it.

You wouldn't see anything like that outside of PBS today.

Is the state of TV/cable just as bad in other countries as it is here?

[Codeine]

33. Oh god that show was hard to watch.

Compelling but excruciating. I loved it even as I cringed.

[kentauros]

39. I guess not everyone has the stomach for that.

I probably couldn't watch much of it in person, though I did watch my podiatrist cut into one of my ingrown toenails. I couldn't feel anything but the pressure against my foot (he used novocaine to deaden and 100% phenol to kill the root.) It was fascinating to see surgery being done on me and still be awake. Same for my colonoscopy a couple of years ago :)

[Biker13]

67. My Favorite On TLC...

was "Great Books" Beautiful series that covered one book in a hour long show. That was a LONG time ago!

Biker's Old Lady

[Blue_Tires]

73. My dad was a surgeon and even he wanted no part of that show

But yeah, I miss the 'old' TLC, definitely...

[kentauros]

102. You mean because of how explicit it was?

I have nothing to do with the medical industry, have no background in those sciences, and yet I lapped it all up. If I could wrap my brain around the concepts of chemistry and was able to memorize all that medical knowledge, I could see being in that field. Instead, I'm in map-making.

[Blue_Tires]

113. no, i was sort of joking...

he just never watched anything on TV that reminded him of work...

[kentauros]

117. Okay, that makes more sense

:)

[Rex]

25. I just want to go back to the real history of when dinosaurs and men

roamed the earth together! :hi:

[hifiguy]

66. I fondly remember when James Burke's marvelous shows

were a mainstay of The Learning Channel. It's all unwatchable dreck now.

Years ago History was so WWII-centric that I had friends who quipped that "the H must stand for Hitler." But I do like "American Pickers" and "Pawn Stars".

[SoCalDem]

71. I bought each one of our sons a boxed set of all the "Connections"

They LOVED watching those shows..as did we..

I found them online & gave them to them for Xmas the last year we did the gift exchange thing

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rads&gbv=2&sout=1&biw=642&bih=321&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iw#q=connections+james+burke&hl=en&newwindow=1&gbv=2&sout=1&prmd=ivnsbo&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=tCWeTbGNNMfIgQe_irneDw&ved=0CFoQrQQ&biw=599&bih=394&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=9a3f219192ef7bea

[Blue_Tires]

76. One of my HS teachers would show us videos of 'The Day The Universe Changed'

been a fan of him ever since...

[MikeW]

90. I happen to like some of their shows.

[rationalcalgarian]

14. Remember A&E?

Back in the 80's and into the 90's, A&E was the reason I got cable! Biographies, documentaries, history, science, concerts, British comedies and dramas..... then, something happened. And A&E transformed into a black hole of crappy "reality" cop shows, some bounty hunters and pretentious, predictable crime "dramas". No arts. No entertainment. Just cops and crimes and not very interesting ones at that. I haven't tuned in A&E in over ten years.
History Channel is spiraling down that same black hole and, like A&E, betraying its mandate. It is getting harder and harder to find something of interest to watch on that channel. I'm glad I have better things to do!

[snot]

16. Have to wonder whether it was bought out by conservatives, like so much else that used to work.

[kentauros]

17. Remember Lovejoy ?

A British crime-dramedy with art as the theme! It would never work even as an American remake today, but I ate it up when I had access to A&E. I should get the series on DVD... :)

[rationalcalgarian]

22. Yes!

Yes I certainly do remember Lovejoy! :applause:

[myrna minx]

42. Ian McShane was so wonderful in that role.

:loveya:

[Biker13]

69. The Lovejoy Books Are Even Better!

A&E also used to be commercial free, and ran uncut movies. God, I miss those days!

Biker's Old Lady

[kentauros]

72. I didn't know there were books.

Are they hard to find? I've had a fair amount of art history courses, but I still managed to learn something whenever I watched :)

[Biker13]

92. Not At All!

Written by Jonathan Gash. Amazon has most of them.

You'll love them!

Biker's Old Lady

[kentauros]

100. Thank you!

I will look for them now :D

[smirkymonkey]

115. I loved that show! I also loved Midsommer Murders, in fact

I think the only television I like is British.

[YOHABLO]

18. The OMG the end is near Channel

How many times have I watched a program about biblical prophecy, Nostradamus, and let's not forget: What the world will look like "WHEN WE ARE GONE" series. I suppose that's after the rapture .. for sure. Now we are seeing survival information for when a terrorist attack is let loose on Washington D.C. ... all you folks in the D.C. area better have your bomb shelters dug. Yeah. So is this what the History Channel viewership wants to see? I think it is all part-and-parcel to trying to scare the American public to death. You know it's easier for the fascists to take over that way. You boys in the Pentagon sure do know how to work it.

[kentauros]

21. Supposedly, the "After People" series was highly-rated.

I suppose it would be to the average History Channel consumer, but I didn't see the point of it, other than to show off their graphics systems.

I watched one episode and learned next to nothing. Out of 44-45 minutes of show, there was maybe fifteen minutes of unrepeated content. "Repeat" seemed to be the middle name of the show. Let's see that building collapse again. Sure, we've shown it collapse five times already, but we just want to make sure you saw it. Oh, and because we just had a commercial break, let's recap everything from the previous segment and then give you a teaser of what's to come in the next segment. Here's two minutes more of content and then we'll repeat it again after the next commercial break.

TV today appears to be marketed to those with no short-term memory...

[myrna minx]

43. Welcome to DU.

:hi: At least we'll know what to do should the Yeti piloted Nazi Luftwaffe take on the "grays" over the Illuminati constructed Nasca lines as foretold by Nostradamus to take place in 2012: stock up on peanut butter for the life after people. Whew.

[Liberal_in_LA]

55. A&E is the Drug Intervention / Hoarding channel now - those hoarding shows are amazing

[ceile]

65. Biography, Poirot, original movies with Patrick Stewart

and Kenneth Branagh. I miss those days- even the Law & Order reruns were better than the crap they show today. Sigh.

[Pacifist Patriot]

68. +1000

[Blue_Tires]

77. Yeah, there used to be like 5 different channels where I could watch

British murder mysteries, and now they aren't ever broadcast? WTF?

[snot]

15. self-delete [dupe]

[Kablooie]

20. But Nostradamus is relevant, isn't he?

[Norrin Radd]

24. No offence to fans of Mad Men, but

I thought AMC was superior when it was commercial free and showing golden age Hollywood movies.

[Brigid]

27. That would be TCM.

Check that out.

[kentauros]

28. I would say, too, that TCM today

is superior to AMC back when they were a similar channel. I missed the Movie Moguls series, but saw plenty of good posts about it around here. I don't think AMC ever did any equivalent series back then.

[Norrin Radd]

29. I see your point, but old AMC showed stuff that would

never see the light of day on TCM, as they don't go off the beaten path of what's considered the best often enough. Lots of forgotten gems were shown on AMC (heck even seeing fair to mediocre oldies was an education).

[kentauros]

40. TCM does show a lot of that kind of thing.

You just have to watch either really late at night or very early in the morning. This past Sunday I was watching something called "Unseen Cinema" which was nothing but films by early film-makers. Much of it was either historic stuff of the time or experimental, including one animation done to Franz Liszt :)

[Bluenorthwest]

79. TCM shows silents. Too many for my taste, and I used to

be a regular at a silent movie theater. Silent is off the beaten path by definition.

[Lindsey]

30. I truly don't even know how they can call it The History Channel..

it's awful.

[Hugabear]

50. No shit. Amazing how many of the movies they show are less than 20 years old

And quite a few of those movies, calling them "classics" is a severe stretch.

[Arrowhead2k1]

31. These networks are in the game of making loads of money.

And the fact of the matter is, most of the trash you see on TV today actually sells, and it sells well.

Atleast we still have the internet...

[Courtesy Flush]

57. Yes, but

When you name your network The History Channel, you not only set expectations for viewers, but you conscoiusly decide that huge profits are not part of the business plan. When you choose a name that implies a non-public version of PBS, you have to know it won't be as mainstream as HBO.

I think they just lost sight of their initial mission.

[kentauros]

60. That's just it:

it's not about the "mission" any more. Read my post above (post #6) to get an idea of why the names of these networks are really no more than just words now. They'll keep the name for recognition, but they have no intention of adhering to the channel's former mission. That's just not profitable enough.

[rpannier]

32. You left out lumberjacks and a guy takinga chainsaw to junk to show us the inside

I like "After People"
Alien Archaeologists annoys the f*ck out of me.

[jakeXT]

35. Sex in the ancient World was interesting

Pompeji
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWaCx2H6hZg

Egypt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5nxTc1Qgns

[HughBeaumont]

36. I cannot rec this enough.

There hasn't been a single cable channel worth my while lately. Seems that every channel is either designed to make us stupid, distract us, make us scared of everyone from black people to fat people to Arabs to teenagers, discourage us from asking questions, hate Democrats, love corporations or drool over shiny objects.

Everything's a "competition" or a "war"; even the mere act of coexistence is a contest where people get voted off. What the hell sense did THAT ever make?

And those ghost shows are SUCH theatrical bullshit. Yet my sister and other relatives are GLUED whenever there's a "marathon".

I wonder if anyone was brave enough to fund a "TRUTH" channel, would people tune in to it?

[Blue_Tires]

78. Link TV?

[underpants]

37. Tonight! on the History Channel! "Did Confederate ghosts advise Hitler?"

My brother's observation on the History Channey programming

[deutsey]

51. Yes they did, while flying in their UFOs

:evilgrin:

[underpants]

38. For a few years the Discovery Channel became the Welding Channel

:eyes:

[Shagbark Hickory]

44. I believe it used to be that way. They have to make it entertaining and sugar coat it so it goes

down easy.

They also have a number of long special series such as the history of the united states from time to time.

[tammywammy]

45. History Channel has an excellent show on the Dust Bowl they air every now and then

I highly recommend it. I believe it's called "Black Blizzard".

[ipfilter]

46. I used to find some value in those channels.

After they lost their way, one by one, I noticed I wasn't watching them any more while my TV bill kept getting higher. So, I dropped pay TV and just watch my antenna. It's free and the HD quality over the air is far superior to cable or satellite. I don't miss wading through a guide full of crappy shows and save $80 per month.

[-..__...]

48. You mean... like back in the days when it was called "The Hitler Channel"?

All Dolph... all the time.

It's bad enough that 90% of the programming is non-relevant to "history" (although I will admit to enjoy watching "Pawn Stars" and "American Pickers"),
but now they've spawned "spin-off" shows...

Pawn Stars >>> American Restoration

Ice Road Truckers >>> IRT Deadliest Roads

Alaska: Dangerous Territory >>> Mounted in Alaska


Another irritating trend is the 'copy cat' shows on other cable channels ...

American Pickers >>> Storage Wars

Pawn Stars >>> Hardcore Pawn

Ax Men >>> Swamp Loggers >>> American Loggers

Alaska: Dangerous Territory >>> Flying wild Alaska

[glinda]

49. Letterman made some pretty good jokes about their awful gator killing shows and

basic "low life" idiotic programs about guns, gators, lumberjacks, etc....

[Logical]

89. They have been funny!

[Ganja Ninja]

53. Is this some kind of dig at Larry the Cable Guy?

:wtf:

[Brigid]

84. If you want to take it that way, be my guest.

But no, I don't like Larry the Cable Guy.

[Hugabear]

103. Not to mention that he's a rethug

And not a very funny one at that

[DainBramaged]

59. Guys hunting gators, now THAT'S interesting

:spray:

[Buns_of_Fire]

63. It's fixed. The gator NEVER wins... nt

[DainBramaged]

114. I noticed, just like rasliing....

[JonLP24]

64. Love Pawn Stars

Agree about the rest but I kinda like the junkyard show.

[Jmaxfie1]

82. Pawn Stars and American Pickers are great, I also like Storage Wars. n/t

[MessiahRp]

85. Pawn Stars, unlike most of the rest of the above mentioned shows, talks about history

They always give us lessons on the items they find, telling us when it was created, what it was used for... it's actually fairly informative. Sort of like a more entertaining Antiques Roadshow.

[felix_numinous]

70. K&R Shhhh-

--people are being programmed to forget that old history, that takes about 20 years to happen, meanwhile it is being slowly rewritten. Next- the US will incorporate itself and wage war on intelligence, or did that happen already?

[Le Taz Hot]

86. I remember when TLC

really WAS the Learning Channel and I could actually, you know, LEARN something. Discovery Channel was the same way. I remember when Bravo and A & E featured actual art and artistic performance. And Biography. So many thousands of fascinating people throughout history and what do they show? Endless profiles of Charlie Sheen. Where's Catherine the Great? Elizabeth I? Eleonore of Aquatain? Fascinating characters in history and we're stuck with this idiotic over-aged frat boy.

[Wait Wut]

87. I used to love History Channel.

I'd like to recommend this twice. I've even written them (and Discovery) several emails.

[slay]

88. Syfy channel doesn't show sci-fi either - nor does foxnews show news

it's just all about making money and whatever show will draw the most mindless consumer zombies to it - they go with. like mtv not showing music vids - way more profitable to show jersey whores. quality be damned - it's all about profit now - no matter what. :(

[apocalypsehow]

91. I miss that show "100% Weird" on TNT. Loved that kooky, kitschy stuff.

:thumbsup:

[Populist_Prole]

93. I like military history but HS is WAY too jingoistic

The more well read I've become the more I see the History Channel as a bunch of rah rah USA USA factually incorrect fluff. Absolute garbage.

The WW2 themed shows constantly misquote ( really cherry-pick, or quote out of context ) those from axis powers personnel, and play down the contributions of our allies.

'Dogfights' is especially egregious: Poorly researched, factually flat out WRONG many times, and a definite droolfest for the "The USA won the war" crowd.

Another extremely annoying feature is the way they decontent through repetition: Showing the same clips over and over, After a commercial, 2 minutes of repeating what was just said before the commercial.

Being a history geek I've become quite a snubbing snob whenever someone else tries to talk history, and I can tell they are basing their "knowledge" on History Channel bullshit. I tersely correct them as I despise the willingly uninformed.

[kentauros]

99. I think this is my single biggest problem with them and other channels:

Another extremely annoying feature is the way they decontent through repetition: Showing the same clips over and over, After a commercial, 2 minutes of repeating what was just said before the commercial.

This is just a guess, but I would bet if you counted all the non-repeated minutes, you'd get no more than 15-20 total. Out of 44 minutes! I never knew people had such problems with short-term memory to require a recounting of information so often.


I will say that I happened to catch a show on this channel a few years ago that was compelling enough to keep me watching. It was about a method developed by a deaf person that allowed the vocalizations of silent films to be realized. Now, they weren't using this for what we know of as the silent film era. No, being The Hitler Channel, it was to put complete dialogue into the silent films of Hitler. The reason the show kept my interest is that this man's software was able to determine what was being spoken even when the person talking wasn't facing the camera, and even with no lips visible! It was really an amazing work of engineering he had accomplished and I hope it's been put to even better use since then :D

[and-justice-for-all]

94. Planet Green has more history relevant programs than the history channel..nt

[smiley]

97. once upon a time...

I believed in the history channel. Rarely now.

[Jamastiene]

98. Last time I ever even saw the History Channel,

they were still showing Hitler and the Nazis endlessly. You mean they show something else now?

You make a good point, though. K&R

[ErikJ]

104. Dumbing Down conspiracy

I've wondered about that for a while now. The main owners Disney and GE almost make it a certainty.

The channel is owned by A&E Television Networks, a joint venture of Hearst Corporation, Disney-ABC Television Group (the Walt Disney Company), and NBC Universal (General Electric),<2>

[totodeinhere]

105. Here's why they program what they do.

On the heels of notching its best monthly ratings performance in 15 years, History showed no sign of slowing down as the calendar rolled over to March.

The cable channel, riding high on its pawnbroker reality series "Pawn Stars," delivered the most-watched program on ad-supported cable for the week ended March 7, according to Nielsen ratings data issued Tuesday.

"Pawn Stars" delivered 5.34 million viewers at 10:30 p.m. last Monday, breaking its own series record for the network.

http://community.history.com/reply/27958/t/.html#reply-27958

The pawnbroker shows get the ratings. Pure history shows do not. They are a profit making enterprise that caters to the bottom line.

[SHRED]

107. good luck

[stockholmer]

109. solution, read books, especially original source history,even if you have to go to a uni library

telly is shite

[bluestateboomer]

111. Yeah!

The promise of cable TV to bring us hundreds of channels to choose from has devolved into a hundred versions of crap reality shows. You can thank the lack of rules that support diversity in content and the corporate mandate for profit. Gotta program to the lowest common denominator. It doesn't matter if it's the "History Channel" or "The Learning Channel" or "Arts and Entertainment" or "Bravo", Gotta pull in the eyeballs and make the maximum profit.

:tv: :banghead:

[Marr]

112. Ever seen Simon Schama's History of Britain?

It was on the BBC and I watched several episodes when I was over there last time. Really well done. Entertaining, and full of actual history.

The "History Channel" is a joke. Whenever I see a show on that channel that looks history-related, five seconds reviewing it invariably proves it to be about some loony alien crap or something about the Bible.

[Brigid]

119. Yes. A long time ago.

And believe it or not, I saw it on the History Channel, as I recall.

[Motown_Johnny]

116. how about some union members who are abducted by monsters on a UFO

purchased from a pawn shop and forced to rummage through redneck junk in preparation of Armageddon?


Now there's a thought!

[Rabrrrrrr]

118. If you want history, you need to go to PBS. For cooking, go to Bravo. Music is on FOX.

Shows about relationships are on MTV. Cops shows are on A&E and movies have moved to ... well, I'm not sure, but they don't seem to be on any of the movie channels. And if you want science fiction, well, you're fucked, because SyFy is about monsters and UFOs.