Oh, I'm with you. I remember History channel from the mid-90s when I was in college, when they would play stuff like "Connections," which I found genuinely fascinating (if a bit shall we say "stretched" in the historical connections).
As the years have gone on they have swayed more toward programming that's a bit more enterntainment than history -- after "300" it seemed like every historical documentary they'd show featured the same stupid "300"-esque computer graphics of comic-bookish he-men battling it out in ancient times.
But then came "Ice Road Truckers".... I read an interview somewhere with the History Channel's VP of Programming who said that the numbers they got for "Truckers" far exceeded any of their other content. He basically apologized to longtime viewers and said that future content, then, would be along similar lines. Now we have bs like "Swamp People" and "Only In America" and "Pawn Stars." It seems the rednecks of America have spoken.
As for the conspiracy junk, History Channel has been doing that since inception. They used to have a show in the '90s with some heavyset UFO hunter, I believe he was Australian, who would globetrot and point out "conspiracies." There was one where he went to Area 51 and kept making a big deal about the sign outside which stated that "prosecutors will be shot," not getting it that the damn place is a MILITARY INSTITUTION.
So it seems that History Channel now caters to two (overlapping?) demographics: the hicks and the conspiracy nutjobs. If only they could combine the two!
reply
share