MUMBAI: The History Channel UK, a joint venture between A&E Television Networks (AETN) and British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB), has announced an agreement to distribute The History Channel to Scandinavia, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Through an agreement with Norway's Canal Digital, the channel will debut in Scandinavia on 1 February 2007. Available to approximately one million households across the region at launch, the channel will be broadcast in English with local subtitles for each of the four countries.
The channel in Scandinavia will be programmed by The History Channel UK, but will offer a separate schedule from the UK service. The network will air on channel 27 in Norway, Denmark and Finland, and on channel 28 in Sweden, informs an official release.
The History Channel features award-winning programming that covers a variety of topics, including ancient history, contemporary history, military history and conflict, and technology and transport. Among the original series that air on the channel are Battle Stations, Engineering an Empire, MegaDisasters, and Digging for the Truth; specials include The Crusades: Crescent and The Cross, Titanic, French Revolution and Egypt: Beyond the Pyramids.
The History Channel UK commercial director Ian McDonough said, "Scandinavia is a hugely important market for us and we are excited to be launching The History Channel with a partner as strong as Canal Digital. The Scandinavian people have a keen interest in history and the channel's programmes offer the highest production value together with topics ranging from the Ice Age to the Digital Age."
"We are very pleased to launch The History Channel Scandinavia, and expand significantly our European footprint," said International AETN Vice President Sean Cohan. "As the brand's visibility in the region grows, we plan to offer viewers our award-winning content across platforms - via mobile, broadband and VOD. We also look forward to introducing our other channels, The History Channel HD, The Biography Channel, Crime and Investigation Network in Scandinavia in the near future."
