AHC: Keep the History Channel focused on history

[Alex1guy]

I wonder, are the alien quacks any cheaper than say getting random adjunct history professor from a state school?

Because I would think it wouldn't be any more expensive to make actual history documentaries than all that reality TV stuff, Ancient Aliens is basically a kook in a chair talking with some low budget CGI thrown in, why not do the same thing, just talk about real history?

Am I missing something here?

The other side of the issue is that these stupid shows are actually really popular and bring in viewers who aren't interested in history. It's all a cost exercise, "what can we make that is cheap AND has the broadest appeal?".

You could have teacher sitting in a chair discussing the pyramids but that is mostly going to appeal to a viewer interested in the history of Pyramids.

A person with little interest in history is unlikely to watch a show that details the complex corvee system of labor used by ancient Egypt to build the pyramids because that's "BOOOOOORRRRRINNNG" but they might watch a show where Zoltan the Alien used magic beams to lift the pyramids from the earth's bedrock because "WHAAAAAATTT?????".

Or a show where rednecks rummage through piles of supposed lost treasure while trading insults with their Dad or brother or whatever. Or a show where idiots stumble across the world looking for Hitler and again trade insults and interrogate random locals in Spain and Germany. Shitty interpersonal drama is really popular and appeals to a much larger audience.

It's all cheap af to make and it appeals to the to more people and that became the focus of the channel.

The only real way the history channel stays focused is if it has financial backing from an institution that mandates and focuses the programming to be genuinely educational. If they have to be self funded, then creating dumb conspiracy and reality shows (that actually dont ever make a real point or conclusion) will win out.


Edit: side rant, some friends and I once got very stoned and watched like 5 seasons of ancient aliens. First observation, the show itself never claims that aliens did anything, it always says "Ancient Astronaut Theorists ask what if the pyramids were actually XYZ" but also, according to those theorists, LITERALLY EVERYTHING IS DONE BY FUCKING ALIENS! Pyarmids, Aliens. Nazca Lines, Aliens. American Revolution, Aliens,.Kennedy Assassination, Aliens. Painting of a cloud, Aliens. Like fuck, really what the fuck is wrong with you people? It's like they dont understand ANYTHING about ANYTHING? If I threw a brick through their window with my name an address on it they'd think aliens did it. These anti-intellectual fuck heads are social cancer.

 

[Legofan4]

The other side of the issue is that these stupid shows are actually really popular and bring in viewers who aren't interested in history. It's all a cost exercise, "what can we make that is cheap AND has the broadest appeal?".

You could have teacher sitting in a chair discussing the pyramids but that is mostly going to appeal to a viewer interested in the history of Pyramids.

A person with little interest in history is unlikely to watch a show that details the complex corvee system of labor used by ancient Egypt to build the pyramids because that's "BOOOOOORRRRRINNNG" but they might watch a show where Zoltan the Alien used magic beams to lift the pyramids from the earth's bedrock because "WHAAAAAATTT?????".

Or a show where rednecks rummage through piles of supposed lost treasure while trading insults with their Dad or brother or whatever. Or a show where idiots stumble across the world looking for Hitler and again trade insults and interrogate random locals in Spain and Germany. Shitty interpersonal drama is really popular and appeals to a much larger audience.

It's all cheap af to make and it appeals to the to more people and that became the focus of the channel.

The only real way the history channel stays focused is if it has financial backing from an institution that mandates and focuses the programming to be genuinely educational. If they have to be self funded, then creating dumb conspiracy and reality shows (that actually dont ever make a real point or conclusion) will win out.


Edit: side rant, some friends and I once got very stoned and watched like 5 seasons of ancient aliens. First observation, the show itself never claims that aliens did anything, it always says "Ancient Astronaut Theorists ask what if the pyramids were actually XYZ" but also, according to those theorists, LITERALLY EVERYTHING IS DONE BY FUCKING ALIENS! Pyarmids, Aliens. Nazca Lines, Aliens. American Revolution, Aliens,.Kennedy Assassination, Aliens. Painting of a cloud, Aliens. Like fuck, really what the fuck is wrong with you people? It's like they dont understand ANYTHING about ANYTHING? If I threw a brick through their window with my name an address on it they'd think aliens did it. These anti-intellectual fuck heads are social cancer.

I wonder how much of that is just them playing to what is required/asked of them. I mean you could probably tell anyone just spout something random and say that Aliens did. And I'm pretty sure you could pay one of us to do so why not. People do dumber things for money.

 

[Hugh Third of Five]

Main issue there is the format of cable TV is dying all around, and there's simply no way for channels to avoid it. Case in point, The Expanse was the crown jewel of Syfy, but it only became mainstream popular after it moved to Amazon Prime.

The decline of the History Channel (and Discovery for that matter) precedes the widespread popularity of chord-cutting.

 

[Alex1guy]

I wonder how much of that is just them playing to what is required/asked of them. I mean you could probably tell anyone just spout something random and say that Aliens did. And I'm pretty sure you could pay one of us to do so why not. People do dumber things for money.

In regards to ancient aliens, I think that some of them genuinely believe the stuff theyre spouting, the rest seem to use it as a platform to peddle their weird books as they very often mention books and stuff they've written on the topics, oh jesus I have watched way too much of that stupid show...

Not all the shows are complete garbage, I don't mind some of the ones where folks are antiquing for stuff and they discuss old pop culture, but some are so obviously staged and the people they have seem to be genuine dickheads (see Pawnstars).

 

[LegionoftheUnitedStates]

I loved watching the old History Channel back in the day, although it never really was a shining example of the historian's craft. I remember watching incredulously as History's Mysteries "analyzed" the cold case of the murder of Abel by Cain. And they loved running that Orson Welles-narrated documentary about Nostradamus that predicted the Soviets would convert to Islam and nuke the west no later than 1999. ("Experts agree... it could only be New York!")

View attachment 647999
Even Islamunist Comrade General Sultan seems skeptical.

But I think History Channel's descent into true depravity clearly dates from the foundation of its spin-off Military History channel in 2005. It's a true march to hell from there - Ice Road Truckers (2007), Ax Men (2008), Pawn Stars (2009), Ancient Aliens (2010). This doesn't just happen by accident, clearly this was some sort of strategy by A&E which you'd need to change to preserve more of the original character of the channel.

I don't think good history content is all that expensive to produce, I just don't know if there's a viable mass media audience for a channel of just that. There is a mass media audience for historical drama, though. As noted, The Crown is very popular. Vikings was a decent hit for History (notably, its 'sequel' series will be Netflix exclusive). Just off the top of my head, semi-recently: The Tudors, The Medici, Chernobyl, Marco Polo, The Terror, Downton Abbey, Wolf Hall*. Mix something like that in with the documentaries and some at least vaguely historical reality content like Forged in Fire, and I think that dog'll hunt.

*History Channel did dip its toe in the water with Texas Rising, one of the laziest, dumbest pieces of crap I've ever seen on television, from the second it opens with the wrong date for the fall of the Alamo (how? how????). The John Wayne version where people burst into song was more accurate than that depiction of the "slave-free" (!) central Texas desert (?) beset by marauding Karankawas (‽)

Hey, I liked that Nostradamus documentary when it was running on HBO back in the 80's

 

[UCB79]

Well a diversity of subjects would probably help. Didn't they used to focus mostly on the American Civil War and WW2?

Is(or was)THE HISTORY CHANNEL’s audience mainly American? If so, that explains their(very)short list
of subjects. Interest in these two wars is high in the U.S. Interest in other subjects isn’t- especially when
its the histories of other countries involved, a subject Americans know absolutely nothing of & care about
even less(many Americans these days don’t even seem to know that this world contains other nations be-
sides the good old U.S. of A.). In short, TPTB @ THC felt this is what their audience wanted, so we’d better
give it to them if we want to make $. They probably justify the shit they put on now on the same grounds.

 

[mattep74]

If the History channel only airs historical content it is soon gone becauce there is just so much history that intrest people.

 

[mattep74]

Wasn't there a single person responsible for the decline of both History Channel and TLC?

Anyway, today everyone can get extremely high quality historical content from Youtube, TV is not even needed for anything truly

Agree.

The last years i have found
Timeghost ww1 and ww2 week by week
Bazz battles and Historymarche about battles
Kings and Generals that started out as a purley military channel, but have branched into every aspect of history. A few days ago they released a intresting documentury about the banker Flugger
Historic Travels that talk about ships that sunk
Epic history that ranked Napoleons marshalls
Flashpoint history about the reconqista of Spain

All of these have content the people watching have wished for and the surprise is the varity of subjects since there are people all over the world asking.

 

[Monk78]

Local museum tours of every small town in USA

MILITARY museum tours

Natural history shows

recycling old British documentaries like “the explorers” hosted by David attenbourough

I agree it was too much ww2 but they did some great ones on the presidents and papacy too

 

[Don Corleone]

If the History channel only airs historical content it is soon gone becauce there is just so much history that intrest people.

There are plenty of niche channels on cable.

Might have to sign off at midnight like some TV stations used to do if there isn't enough content, but they're taking the path of least resistance if they say there isn't enough legitimate history to maintain the channel.

 

[mattep74]

There are plenty of niche channels on cable.

Might have to sign off at midnight like some TV stations used to do if there isn't enough content, but they're taking the path of least resistance if they say there isn't enough legitimate history to maintain the channel.

In Sweden there are sports channels that only air when there are sports

 

[wcv215]

Hey, I liked that Nostradamus documentary when it was running on HBO back in the 80's

Which one. The same documentary gets made every few years because every single thing the last one said ended up being full of shit.