H2 (formerly History International) was an American specialty television channel that was owned by

A+E Networks A&E Networks (stylized as A+E NETWORKS) is an American multinational broadcasting company that is a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company through its General Entertainment Content division. The company ...

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

between the

Hearst Corporation Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, televis ...

and the

Disney–ABC Television Group Disney General Entertainment Content, doing business as Walt Disney Television, is an American entertainment company that oversees television content and assets owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Forming the company's General Enterta ...

), available on multi-channel television providers. Launching in 1998 as History International, a spin-off of the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

focused on international history, it re-launched as H2 in September 2011, primarily carrying reruns of documentary programming previously seen on its parent network from the mid-2000s onward, original historical and popular science

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

, and pseudoscientific entertainment programs. The channel ceased operations on February 29, 2016 and was subsequently replaced by

Viceland Viceland (stylized in all caps), and Vice TV in the United States, are brands used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. Viceland launched on February 29, 2016, with two branded cable channels; the American version (rebra ...

History

The network launched on November 16, 1998 as History Channel International (abbreviated as "HI" or variations on "H-INT"). It originally focused mainly on programs and specials focusing on world history. History International occasionally featured shows in languages other than

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, such as French or

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for use with the

National Cable & Telecommunications Association NCTA – The Internet & Television Association (formerly the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, and commonly known as the NCTA) is the principal trade association for the U.S. broadband and pay television industries. It represents ...

Cable in the Classroom Cable in the Classroom was an American division of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association that assisted the cable television industry in providing educational content to schools. The organization was founded in 1989. A Canadian organ ...

initiative. By 2010, this was reduced to an hour-long Spanish language program on weekday mornings titled (the English translation of ''The History Channel''). On September 26, 2011, the network was rebranded as H2, with its programming being refocused to feature documentary content from sister network History prior to that network's shift towards more reality programming, along with original programs (such as the special ''The Universe: Beyond the Big Bang'' and the first-run series ''America's Book of Secrets''), as well as exclusive new episodes of the former History series ''

The Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Ac ...

'', ''

Ancient Aliens ''Ancient Aliens'' is an American television series that explores the pseudohistorical and pseudoarchaeological ancient astronauts hypothesis, past human- extraterrestrial contact, UFOs, government conspiracies and related pseudoscientific topi ...

'' and ''

Modern Marvels ''Modern Marvels'' is an American worldwide television series that formerly aired on the History Channel and is currently shown on Story Television. The program focuses on how technologies affect and are used in modern society. It is History's f ...

'', in addition to international-focused programming. H2 did not have plans to add reality series as its sister channel has done. Newer documentaries more recently seen on History migrated to the network as part of the rebrand, which would rotate with the documentaries from History International that primarily span from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s. In August 2014, A&E Networks acquired a 10% stake in

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); V ...

, and on November 3, 2015, A&E announced that H2 would be "replaced" by

, a new lifestyle-focused network programmed by Vice Media. H2 signed off on February 29, 2016 at 6:00 a.m. ET, being replaced by pre-launch programming for Viceland.

Availability

, H2 was available to 70.1 million households in the United States.

References

{{A+E Networks A&E Networks Television channels and stations established in 1998 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2016 Defunct television networks in the United States

History

Availability

See also

References