National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

and flagship channel owned by the

National Geographic Global Networks National Geographic Global Networks (formerly National Geographic Channels Worldwide and National Geographic Channels International) is a business unit within National Geographic Partners (a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and the Nat ...

unit of

Disney General Entertainment Content Disney General Entertainment Content, Trade name, 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 Gen ...

and

National Geographic Partners National Geographic Partners, LLC is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns 73% of shares) and the namesake non-profit scientific organization National Geographic Society (which owns 27%). The company oversees all commercial ...

, a joint venture between

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

(73%) and the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

(27%), with the operational management handled by

Walt Disney Television 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 ...

. The flagship channel airs non-fiction television programs produced by National Geographic and other production companies. Like

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

(which was 50% owned by Disney through

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 o ...

) and

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

, the channel features

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 ...

with factual content involving

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

, science, culture, and history, plus some

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

and

pseudo-scientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable claim ...

entertainment programming. Its primary sister network worldwide, including the United States, is

Nat Geo Wild National Geographic Wild (shortened as Nat Geo Wild and abbreviated NGW) is a global pay television network owned by National Geographic Partners, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (73%) and the National Geographic Society (27%). T ...

, which focuses on animal-related programming, including the popular ''

Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan ''Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan'' is a reality television series that featured dog trainer Cesar Millan's work with problem dogs. After nine seasons, the series finale aired on September 15, 2012. Episodes of ''Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan ...

''. As of February 2015, National Geographic is available to approximately 86,144,000 pay television households (74% of households with television) in the United States.

Overview

In the United States, the National Geographic Channel launched on January 7, 2001, as a joint venture of National Geographic Television & Film and

Fox Cable Networks Fox Networks Group (FNG) is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company that oversees international television assets that were acquired from 21st Century Fox. It produces and distributes more than 300 entertainment, film, sports and factual chan ...

. National Geographic provides programming expertise and the Fox Networks Group provides its expertise on

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations * Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...

, marketing, and advertising sales. National Geographic Channel

'' The ’90s: The Last Great Decade'', a documentary series narrated by

Rob Lowe Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom ''A New Kind of Family'' (1979–1980). Following numerous television roles in ...

, pulled in 1.10 million viewers, and was the second highest-rated July telecast in the National Geographic Channel rating history. ''The 2000s: A New Reality'', also narrated by Lowe, premiered on July 12, 2015. On November 14, 2016, National Geographic Channel was rebranded as simply National Geographic, dropping the "Channel" from its name. On December 14, 2017, in a

deal A deal, or deals may refer to: Places United States * Deal, New Jersey, a borough * Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * Deal Lake, New Jersey Elsewhere * Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia * Deal, Kent, a town in England * Deal, ...

announced it would buy the majority of

21st Century Fox Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., doing business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), was an American multinational mass media corporation that was based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, f ...

. Disney would assume control of Fox's controlling stake in the National Geographic partnership thereafter. Following the acquisition, National Geographic and its sister channels were folded into

, with the president of the National Geographic Partners reporting directly to the Walt Disney Television chairman. Disney officially closed the deal on March 20, 2019, having then added Nat Geo into its portfolio of networks.

TV shows

National Geographic Channel's TV shows, in alphabetical order: *''

Abandoned Abandon, abandoned, or abandonment may refer to: Common uses * Abandonment (emotional), a subjective emotional state in which people feel undesired, left behind, insecure, or discarded * Abandonment (legal), a legal term regarding property ** Chi ...

'' *''

Access 360° World Heritage ''Panasonic Presents: Access 360° World Heritage'' is a television show produced by the National Geographic Channel that highlights UNESCO World Heritage sites. It broadcasts in 193 countries. Episodes have covered The Great Barrier Reef, ancient ...

'' *''

Air Crash Investigation ''Mayday'', entitled ''Air Crash Investigation'' in Canada (alternatively known as ''Air Crash Investigations'' on Seven Network), New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom (alternatively known as ''Air Crash: Disaster Revealed'' on 5Selec ...

'' *''

Alaska State Troopers The Alaska State Troopers, officially the Division of Alaska State Troopers (AST), is the state police agency of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a division of the Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS). The Alaska State Troopers is a full- ...

'' *''American Chainsaw'' *''American Colony: Meet the Hutterites'' *''

American Genius ''American Genius'' is an American documentary series focusing on the lives of inventors and pioneers who have been responsible for major developments in their areas of expertise and helped shape the course of history. Consisting of eight episod ...

'' *''

American Gypsies ''American Gypsies'' is an American reality television series on National Geographic Channel. The series debuted on July 17, 2012, and follows the family of John, a Gypsy family in New York City. Plot Is about a Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to ...

'' *''American Weed'' *''America's Lost Treasures'' *''Amish: Out of Order'' *''

Ancient Secrets ''Ancient Secrets'' is a series on the National Geographic Channel. As the show unfolds, it attempts to investigate the world's most enduring – and infamous – structures, legends, and icons. Episodes The episodes are aired in different order i ...

'' *''Apocalypse 101'' *'' Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?'' *''

Banged Up Abroad ''Banged Up Abroad'' (rebadged as ''Locked Up Abroad'' in Asia and the United States, and ''Jailed Abroad'' in India, for the National Geographic Channel) is a British documentary/ docudrama television series created by Bart Layton that was p ...

'' *''Battleground Afghanistan'' *''

Beast Hunter ''Beast Hunter'' is a television series that began airing on March 9, 2011 on National Geographic Channel. It is hosted and narrated by wildlife scientist Pat Spain.

'' *''Bid & Destroy'' *''

Big, Bigger, Biggest ''Big, Bigger, Biggest'' is a British documentary television series which began airing in 2008. A total of 20 episodes have been produced across three series. Format Each episode explores the engineering breakthroughs that have made it possibl ...

'' *''

Big Picture with Kal Penn ''The Big Picture with Kal Penn'' is a documentary series on the National Geographic Channel hosted by Kal Penn Kalpen Suresh Modi (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, academic lecturer, and fo ...

'' *''Bizarre Dinosaurs'' *''Borderforce USA: The Bridges'' *''The Boonies'' *'' Border Wars'' *''

Brain Games ''Brain Games'' is a collection of memory video games programmed by Larry Kaplan and released by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600 in 1978. It is a group of memory games, in which the player is faced with outwitting the computer in sound and pictur ...

'' *'' Breakout'' *''Building Wild'' *''

Cesar 911 César Felipe Millán Favela (; ; born August 27, 1969) is a Mexican-American dog trainer. He is widely known for his Emmy-nominated television series ''Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan'', which was produced from 2004 to 2012 and is broadcast in ...

'' *''Chasing UFOs'' *''Construction Zone'' *'' Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey'' *''

Crowd Control Crowd control is a public security practice in which large crowds are managed in order to prevent the outbreak of crowd crushes, affray, fights involving drunk and disorderly people or riots. Crowd crushes in particular can cause many hundreds ...

'' *''

Diggers The Diggers were a group of religious and political dissidents in England, associated with agrarian socialism. Gerrard Winstanley and William Everard, amongst many others, were known as True Levellers in 1649, in reference to their split from ...

'' *''

Dino Autopsy Dakota (specimen NDGS 2000) is the nickname given to an important '' Edmontosaurus'' fossil found in the Hell Creek Formation in North Dakota. It is about 67 million years old, placing it in the Maastrichtian, the last stage of the Cretaceous peri ...

'' *''Dino Death Match'' *''Dino Death Trap'' *''Dinosaurs Decoded'' *''

Dogs with Jobs ''Dogs with Jobs'' is a Canadian documentary television series about working dogs and show dogs. Each half-hour episode consists of two to three segments on individual dogs from around the world. The family-friendly series has featured service ...

'' *''

Doomsday Castle ''Doomsday Castle'' is a reality television series on National Geographic Channel, that was canceled in 2013, showing the lives of Brenton Bruns and his five children preparing for the end of the world, in a castle he has built near Pickens, Sout ...

'' *''

Doomsday Preppers ''Doomsday Preppers'' was an American reality television series that aired on the National Geographic Channel from 2011 to 2014. The program profiles various survivalists, or "preppers", who are preparing to survive the various risks to civilizat ...

'' *''Drugged'' *''

Drugs, Inc. ''Drugs, Inc.'' is an American documentary style television series on the National Geographic Channel that explores global narcotics production and trafficking. The series features drug dealers, recreational users, and addicts, as well as profes ...

'' *''

Drain the Oceans ''Drain the Oceans'' is an Australian and British Television documentary, documentary television series that premiered on 28 May 2018 on National Geographic (U.S. TV channel), National Geographic. The 25-part factual series is hosted by Russell ...

'' *''

Duck Quacks Don't Echo ''Duck Quacks Don't Echo'' is a British television comedy panel game show that aired on Sky1 from 7 February 2014 to 12 October 2017. It was hosted by Lee Mack. Rounds Each episode has three rounds. * Fact Off - The three guests reveal their ...

'' *'' Eat: The Story of Food'' *''Europe From Above'' *''Expedition Wild Week '' *''

Explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

'' *''Eyewitness War'' *''Family Beef'' *''

Family Guns Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...

'' *''Forecast: Disaster'' *''

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

'' *''Going Ape'' *''Hacking The System'' *''Hard Time'' *''Hell on the Highway'' *''

Highway Thru Hell ''Highway Thru Hell'' is a Canadian documentary TV series that follows the operations of Jamie Davis Motor Truck & Auto Ltd., a heavy vehicle rescue and recovery towing company based in Hope, British Columbia. Quiring Towing, Aggressive Towing, ...

'' *''

The Hot Zone ''The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story'' is a best-selling 1994 nonfiction thriller by Richard Preston about the origins and incidents involving viral hemorrhagic fevers, particularly ebolaviruses and marburgviruses. The basis of the book was P ...

'' *''Inside the American Mob'' *'' Inside Combat Rescue'' *''Inside: Secret America'' *''Inside: Thirumala Tirupathi'' *''

Kentucky Justice ''Kentucky Justice'' was a reality television series which followed the activities and exploits of the Harlan County Sheriff's department, in eastern Kentucky, from 2013 to 2014. The series was produced by the National Geographic Channel and aire ...

'' *''Lawless Oceans'' *'' The Legend of Mick Dodge'' *''Let it Ride'' *''Life After Dinosaurs'' *''

Life Below Zero ''Life Below Zero'' (styled as ''Life Below Zero°'' on the title card) is a documentary television series which illustrates the daily and seasonal activities of subsistence hunters as they make their living in remote areas of Alaska. Produced by ...

'' *''

Life Hacker ''Lifehacker'' is a weblog about life hacks and software that launched on January 31, 2005. The site was originally launched by Gawker Media and is currently owned by G/O Media. The blog posts cover a wide range of topics including: Microsoft ...

'' *''The Link'' *''

Live Free or Die "Live Free or Die" is the official motto of the U.S. state of New Hampshire, adopted by the state in 1945. It is possibly the best-known of all state mottos, partly because it conveys an assertive independence historically found in American po ...

'' *''

Locked Up Abroad ''Banged Up Abroad'' (rebadged as ''Locked Up Abroad'' in Asia and the United States, and ''Jailed Abroad'' in India, for the National Geographic Channel) is a British documentary/ docudrama television series created by Bart Layton that was p ...

'' *''Lords of War'' *''

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

'' *''

Megastructures ''Megastructures'' is a documentary television series appearing on the National Geographic Channel in the United States and the United Kingdom, Channel 5 in the United Kingdom, France 5 in France, and 7mate in Australia. Each episode is an ed ...

'' *''Meltdown'' *''Mountain Movers'' *''Mudcats'' *''The Numbers Game'' *'' Origins: The Journey of Humankind'' *''One World: Together at Home'' *''

One Strange Rock ''One Strange Rock'' is an American television documentary series, produced by Nutopia in conjunction with Darren Aronofsky, which premiered on National Geographic on March 26, 2018. On July 25, 2018, National Geographic renewed the series for a ...

'' *'' Polygamy, USA'' *''Port Protection'' *''

Race to the Center of the Earth ''Race to the Center of the Earth'' is an American reality television show that premiered on March 29, 2021. The show was created by Elise Doganieri and Bertram van Munster, who previously had created ''The Amazing Race'', of which ''Race to the ...

'' *'' Remote Survival'' *'' Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections'' *''

Rocket City Rednecks ''Rocket City Rednecks'' is an American television show that focuses on engineering. The show is set in Huntsville, Alabama (known as "Rocket City" for its historic contributions to the American space program), and features Travis Taylor, three ...

'' *''

Scam City ''Scam City'' is a television show which started airing on Travel + Escape in June 2012, and has subsequently aired on the National Geographic Channel, and in Australia on the subscription channel Nat Geo People. Host Conor Woodman travels to ...

'' *''

Science of Stupid ''Science of Stupid'' is a comedic television series on the National Geographic Channel. The United Kingdom version of the show was initially hosted by Richard Hammond, later replaced by Dallas Campbell. Localised versions are produced in other ...

'' *'' Seconds From Disaster'' *''Sky Monsters'' *''Snake Salvation'' *''

Southern Justice ''Southern Justice'' is a reality based television series which follows the activities and exploits of two southern Sheriff's departments in the Appalachian Mountains of the southern United States. These departments are the Sullivan County Sherif ...

'' *'' StarTalk'' *''

Street Genius ''Street Genius'' (formerly known as ''None of the Above'') is a popular science TV series that airs on National Geographic Channel. It features scientific experiments related mainly to physics, chemistry and engineering performed by British p ...

'' *''

The Story of God with Morgan Freeman ''The Story of God with Morgan Freeman'' is an American television documentary series that premiered on the National Geographic Channel on April 3, 2016. The series features actor Morgan Freeman who explores various cultures and religions, and ...

'' *''

The Story of Us with Morgan Freeman ''The Story of Us with Morgan Freeman'' is a documentary series televised on the National Geographic Channel in 2017. It is hosted and narrated by actor Morgan Freeman. Produced by Revelations Entertainment, the series examines some of the fundame ...

'' *''Supercars'' *''SharkFest'' *''

SuperCroc ''Sarcosuchus'' (; ) is an extinct genus of crocodyliform and distant relative of living crocodilians that lived during the Early Cretaceous, from the late Hauterivian to the early Albian, 133 to 112 million years ago of what is now Africa and ...

'' *''

Taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

'' *''

To Catch a Smuggler ''To Catch a Smuggler'' is a documentary television series that depicts the work of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement law enforcement officers at multiple United States airports. Violations range from ...

'' *''The '80s: The Decade that Made Us'' *''The '90s: The Last Great Decade?''
(also entitled ''The '90s: The Decade that Connected Us'') *''The 2000s: The Decade We Saw It All'' *''The Truth Behind'' *''T-Rex Autopsy'' *''T-Rex Walks'' *''

Ultimate Airport Dubai ''Ultimate Airport Dubai'' is a documentary television series which airs on international versions of the National Geographic Channel in more than 170 territories, and available in 45 languages. The program was commissioned by National Geographic ...

'' *''Ultimate Dino Survivor'' *''

Ultimate Factories ''Ultimate Factories'', also known as ''Megafactories'' in non-US markets, is an American documentary television series that premiered in 2006 on the National Geographic Channel. The program explored the inner workings of factories worldwide. Each ...

'' *''

Ultimate Survival Alaska ''Ultimate Survival Alaska'' was an American television reality competition series produced by Brian Catalina Productions that premiered on the National Geographic Channel on May 12, 2013. The series was executive produced by Brian Catalina, Kris ...

'' *''When Crocs Ate Dinosaurs'' *''

Wicked Tuna ''Wicked Tuna'' is an American reality television series about commercial tuna fishermen based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, who fish for the lucrative Atlantic bluefin tuna in the North Atlantic Ocean. The teams of fishermen battle each other to ...

'' *'' Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks'' *''Wild Amazon'' *'' Wild Justice'' * ''Wild Russia'' *''Witness: Disaster'' *''WW2 Hell Under the sea'' *''You Can't Lick Your Elbow'' *'' Yukon Gold'' *''

Yukon River Run ''Yukon River Run'' is an American reality television series, produced by Gurney Productions for the National Geographic Channel. The series follows three crews travelling along the Yukon River in Alaska attempting to sell wood and other essentia ...

Theme fanfare music

The National Geographic Channel's signature theme

fanfare A fanfare (or fanfarade or flourish) is a short musical flourish which is typically played by trumpets, French horns or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. It is a "brief improvised introduction to an instrumental perfo ...

music, which is played at the beginning of many of the channel's television programs, was composed by

Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...

. It was originally written in 1964 for the Society's

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

s, which were broadcast on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

from 1964 until the early 2000s.

Other National Geographic US channels

National Geographic HD

The United States

720p 720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcast ...

high definition simulcast of the National Geographic Channel launched in January 2006. It is available on all major cable and satellite providers.

Nat Geo Wild

Nat Geo Wild (stylized as Nat Geo WILD or abbreviated as NGW) is a cable/satellite TV channel focused on animal-related programs. It is a sister network to National Geographic Channel and it is the latest channel to be jointly launched by the National Geographic Society and Fox Cable Networks. It was launched in United States on March 29, 2010, focusing primarily on wildlife and natural history programming.

Nat Geo Mundo

Nat Geo Mundo is broadcast in American Spanish, and was launched in 2011. It shares programming with the Nat Geo Channel available in Hispanic American countries. The channel is fully-owned by the National Geographic Society with no involvement from Disney General Entertainment Content.

Nat Geo TV

Nat Geo TV is an

application Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a c ...

for

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

s and

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being comput ...

s, along with

Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on J ...

. It allows subscribers of participating pay television providers (such as

Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...

and

Comcast Xfinity Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications company and division of Comcast Corporation used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the com ...

) numerous viewing options: *individual episodes of National Geographic and

's original series and documentaries (which are made available live)

Controversy and criticism

In 2013, the network began airing the reality show '' Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?''. National Geographic Channel was criticized for their association with the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

, an organization which, until a vote in May of that year that overturned its ban, had forbidden openly gay members. Archaeologists have protested that National Geographic shows such as ''Diggers'' and ''Nazi War Diggers'' promote the looting and destruction of archaeological sites by promoting the work of metal detecting souvenir hunters and collectable dealers. In 2013 the National Geographic Channel set off a firestorm of controversy with its reality show ''Diggers''. Professional archaeologists from the

Society for Historical Archaeology The Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) is a professional organization of scholars concerned with the archaeology of the modern world (15th century-present). Founded in 1967, the SHA promotes scholarly research and the dissemination of knowledg ...

, the largest scholarly group concerned with the archaeology of the modern world (A.D. 1400–present), roundly criticized the network for promoting the theft of cultural materials on public and private land. The show ''Nazi War Diggers'' was accused of showing unscientific and disrespectful handling of human remains. A promotional quote from a military relic dealer, "I feel that by selling things that are Nazi-related and for lots of money, I am preserving things that museums don't want to deal with," was removed from the channel's website in March 2014. National Geographic expressed regret for how the series was presented by its own website but maintained that many of the accusations against the series were based on misinformation. The show was repackaged, amid controversy, as ''Battlefield Recovery'' for air during 2016 on Channel 5 in the UK.

References

Channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

Entertainment companies of the United States Mass media companies based in Washington, D.C. Television channels and stations established in 2001 English-language television stations in the United States National Geographic Partners Disney television networks Peabody Award winners Television networks in the United States Shorty Award winners

Overview

TV shows

Theme fanfare music

Other National Geographic US channels

National Geographic HD

Nat Geo Wild

Nat Geo Mundo

Nat Geo TV

Controversy and criticism

See also

References

External links