List of documentary television channels
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The table below presents a list of documentary channels, including ones affected by "channel drift"[1] and those accused of having a biased point of view.
List
| Name | Launch | Country | Language | Content focus | Change of content/bias | Examples of content in original focus (past and present) | Owner/parent company | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PBS America | 2011 | United Kingdom | English | History, Science, Current Affairs and Arts & Culture | Available on Sky, Virgin Media, Freeview and Freesat | PBS | ||||||||
| A&E | 1984 | United States | English | Documentaries, biographies and crime dramas (originally) | Reality shows, stereotypes (Southerners) | The First 48, Criminal Minds, CSI:Miami | A+E Networks | |||||||
| ABC | 1956 | Australia | English | Mass media, United States cable | Live broadcasts (sports), tv shows (television programs), reality shows | |||||||||
| Al Jazeera Documentary Channel | 2007 | Qatar | Arabic | Documentary films | Al Jazeera has been criticized for being state media owned by Qatar and assailed as anti-Semitic, anti-American bias. | Al Jazeera Media Network | ||||||||
| American Heroes Channel | 1999 | USA | English | World War II, U.S. war documentaries | ||||||||||
| Animal Planet | 1996 | USA | English | Wildlife, animals, relation between humans and animals | Speculative fiction and pseudo-documentaries (mermaids, dragons), non-animal shows[2][3][4][5] | Cats 101, Dogs 101 | Warner Bros. Discovery | |||||||
| APTN | 1992 | Canada | English | Programs and news about Aboriginal peoples in Canada | Some non-Aboriginal programming[6] | APTN National News, Blackstone, Cooking With the Wolfman | ||||||||
| Arte | 1992 | France, Germany | French, German | Arts, Culture | ||||||||||
| Arte 1 | 2012 | Brazil | Portuguese | Arts including, theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music | Grupo Bandeirantes de Comunicação | |||||||||
| BBC | 1922 | UK | English | Mass media, public broadcasting | ||||||||||
| BBC Four | 1999 | UK | English | Culture, current affairs | British Broadcasting Corporation | |||||||||
| BBC Earth | 2015 | UK | English | Nature and wildlife documentaries | BBC Studios | |||||||||
| BBC Parliament | 1992 | UK | English | Parliamentary and legislative programs | British Broadcasting Corporation | |||||||||
| BeIN İZ | 2006 | Turkey | Turkish | History and society documentary | beIN Media Group | |||||||||
| Bravo | 1995 | Canada | English | Television dramas, films, art-related programming | Film-dramas, non-art TV shows[7][8] | Inside the Actors Studio, Blue Bloods, 19-2, Dallas, Criminal Minds | ||||||||
| C-SPAN | 1979 | USA | English | Government proceedings and public affairs | ||||||||||
| C-SPAN 2 | 1986 | USA | English | Government proceedings and public affairs | ||||||||||
| C-SPAN 3 | 2001 | USA | English | Government proceedings and public affairs | ||||||||||
| Canal D | 1995 | Canada | French | Crime, biographies, nature, and science | Bell Media | |||||||||
| Canal+ Docs | 2021 | France | French | History and society documentary | Canal+ S.A. | |||||||||
| Canal+ Dokument | 2019 | Poland | Polish | |||||||||||
| Canal+ Discover | 2021 | Ethiopia | Oromo | |||||||||||
| Amharic | ||||||||||||||
| Canal+ Su Sann | 2018 | Myanmar | Burmese | |||||||||||
| CCTV-9 | 2011 | China | It has one editions: one in Chinese for mainland China. | Documentary shows | CCTV | |||||||||
| CGTN Documentary | 2016 | China | It has one editions: one in English for international broadcasting. | Documentary shows | CGTN | |||||||||
| CMT (Canada) | 1995 | Canada | English | Country music, country music videos | Blue Collar Comedy Tour, Canadian Country Music Awards, CMT Music Awards | |||||||||
| CNBC | 1989 | USA | English | Business news, financial news | Versant | |||||||||
| CNN | 1980 | USA | English | United States cable news, documentaries | Accused of both conservative and liberal bias in news[9] | News covering both conservative and liberal topics | Warner Bros. Discovery | |||||||
| Cosmote History | 2016 | Greece | Greek | Documentary and historical fiction series | OTE | |||||||||
| Crime and Investigation Network | 2004 | USA | English | Crime-related | A+E Networks | |||||||||
| ČT art | 2013 | Czech Republic | Czech | Documentary, Culture, Arts, Music | Czech Television | |||||||||
| CTV Nature Channel | 2001 | Canada | English | Science, nature, and history documentary programs | Bell Media | |||||||||
| CTV Speed Channel | 2005 | Automotive industry and transportation documentary programs | ||||||||||||
| CTV Wild Channel | 2001 | Wildlife, animals, relation between humans and animals documentary programs | ||||||||||||
| Da Vinci Learning | 2007 | Germany | English | History, sociology, biology, physics documentary | ||||||||||
| DD National | 1957 | India | Hindi | Prasar Bharati | ||||||||||
| DD Bharati | 1985 | India | Hindi | History | Prasar Bharati | |||||||||
| Destination America | 1996 | USA | English | Traveling, how-to travel, hotel and cities touring, lifestyle, history | Speculative fiction[10] | Warner Bros. Discovery | ||||||||
| Digi Animal World | 2012 | Romania | Romanian | Nature and wildlife documentary | Digi Communications | |||||||||
| Digi World | History and society documentary | |||||||||||||
| Discovery Channel | 1985 | USA | English | Popular science, technology and history | Reality shows, speculative fiction (time-travel, alternate universes, the paranormal, etc.), speculative fiction[11][12][13][14][15] | MythBusters, Daily Planet, Curiosity, The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius, Frozen Planet, Life | Warner Bros. Discovery | |||||||
| Discovery Historia | 2006 | Poland | Polish | History | TVN Warner Bros. Discovery | |||||||||
| Discovery History | 1999 | UK | English | History | Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA | |||||||||
| Discovery Life | 2011 | USA | English | Fitness and health | ||||||||||
| Discovery Theater | 2002 | USA | Spanish, Portuguese | Culture, Science | Warner Bros. Discovery Latin America | |||||||||
| Discovery World | 1998 | USA | English | Travel, culture and history | Replaced by DTX in Europe | Warner Bros. Discovery | ||||||||
| Documentales por Movistar Plus+ | 2023 | Spain | Spanish | History and society documentary | Telefónica | |||||||||
| Documentary Channel | 2001 | Canada | English | Documentary films | CBC | |||||||||
| DTour | 1997 | Canada | English | Travel, lifestyle | Corus Entertainment | |||||||||
| Encore | 1991 | USA | English | Theatrically released feature films (older to more recent), TV shows (on some channels) | ||||||||||
| Encuentro | 2007 | Argentina | Spanish | History, science and general culture | ||||||||||
| Epic | 2014 | India | Hindi, English | Infotainment, Travel | ||||||||||
| Focus | 2012 | Italy | Italian | Documentaries, programming | Mediaset | |||||||||
| Film & Arts | 1996 | Argentina | Spanish, Portuguese | Documentary, Movies, Culture, Arts, Music, Theater | AMC Networks International Latin America | |||||||||
| Food Food | 2006 | India | Hindi | Food, Cooking | ||||||||||
| Food Network | 1993 | USA | English | Food, cooking, cuisine, the food industry | Warner Bros. Discovery | |||||||||
| Food Network (Canada) | 2000 | Canada | English | Food, cooking, cuisine, the food industry | Corus Entertainment | |||||||||
| Fox News Channel | 1996 | USA | English | United States cable news | Accused of conservative bias[16][17][18] in news although this has been stated as unsubstantiated by members of Fox News[19][20][21][17][22][23] | Fox Corporation | ||||||||
| France 4 | 2005 | France | French | Documentary, Culture, Arts, Music | France Télévisions | |||||||||
| France 5 | 1994 | France | French | Documentaries, educational programming | ||||||||||
| France.tv Docs | 2024 | France | French | Documentary | ||||||||||
| FYI | 1999 | USA | English | Biographical shows | Reality shows, speculative fiction (curses, alien and ghost encounters)[24] | Biography | A+E Networks | |||||||
| Geo Television | 2014 | Germany | German | Documentary, science, history, nature | RTL Group | |||||||||
| HGTV | 1994 | USA | English | How-to shows with a focus on home improvement, gardening, remodeling and crafts | Warner Bros. Discovery | |||||||||
| Histoire TV | 1997 | France | French | Documentary programming about history | Groupe TF1 | |||||||||
| Historia | 2000 | Canada | French | Historic dramas, documentaries, movies, human interests programs | A+E Networks | |||||||||
| History | 1995 | USA | English | Documentary and historical fiction series | Reality shows, speculative documentaries (Ancient Aliens), apocalypse shows, US history, non-historic reality shows, fairly homogeneous viewpoint, concentrated program topics (World War II,[25][26][27][28][29][15] | Museum Secrets, Ancients Behaving Badly | A+E Networks | |||||||
| History (Canada) | 1997 | Canada | English | Documentary and historical fiction series | Reality shows, apocalypse shows, speculative fiction[30] | A+E Networks | ||||||||
| HLN | 1984 | USA | English | 30-minute newscast | Tabloid, Crime, opinion,[31][32] and entertainment news-related programming[33] | Morning Express with Robin Meade | Warner Bros. Discovery | |||||||
| ICI ARTV | 2001 | Canada | French | Documentary, culture, arts and music | CBC | |||||||||
| ICI Explora | 2012 | Canada | French | Science, environment, nature and health | ||||||||||
| Investigation | 2013 | Canada | French | Investigation and justice documentary | Bell Media | |||||||||
| Investigation Discovery | 1996 | USA | English | Crime-related | Warner Bros. Discovery | |||||||||
| IRIB Mostanad | 2011 | Iran | Persian | Culture, arts, society, politics, history, wilderness, nature and the Iran–Iraq War | IRIB | |||||||||
| JOJ Svet | 2023 | Slovakia | Slovak | Documentary, science, history, nature | J&T Enterprise | |||||||||
| Kabel Eins Doku | 2016 | Germany | German | Documentary, science, history, nature | ProSiebenSat.1 Media | |||||||||
| Knowledge Network | 1981 | Canada | English | Politics, culture, history, arts, music, health, parenting, and science | ||||||||||
| Kunskapskanalen | 2004 | Sweden | Swedish | Government proceedings, Educational | SVT | |||||||||
| M5 | 2016 | Hungary | Hungarian | Documentary, Culture, Arts, Music | MTVA | |||||||||
| MCM | 1989 | France | French | Music videos (popular music, French music) | Reality shows, horror series, anime shows[34] | Military History | 1999 | USA | English | World War II, wars, generals | A+E Networks | |||
| MS NOW | 1996 | USA | English | Documentary in current affairs | NBCUniversal (pending spin-off to Versant) | |||||||||
| MTV India (previously MTV3 Fakta) | 2006 | India | Hindi | Documentaries, Music | Paramount Networks EMEAA | |||||||||
| N24 Doku | 2016 | Germany | German | Documentary, science, history, nature | WeltN24 | |||||||||
| Nat Geo | 1997 | USA | English | Nature, culture, science, engineering & technology, history & society | Reality shows/stereotypes (Navajo, Southerners shows, the Amish and other minority groups) and apocalypse shows[35][15][36] | Explorer, Taboo | The Walt Disney Company | |||||||
| Nat Geo Music | 2007 | Italy, India | English | Documentaries about cultures and music around the world | ||||||||||
| Nat Geo Wild | 2010 | Hong Kong, India | English | Wildlife, natural history | ||||||||||
| National Geographic Adventure | 1994 | Singapore | English | Outdoor, travel and exploration | ||||||||||
| OLN | 1997 | Canada | English | Fact-based outdoor adventure shows | Speculative fiction (aliens, ghosts, monsters, paranormal), reality shows, conspiracy theories[37] | Departures, Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan, Duck Commander, Survivorman, Mantracker | ||||||||
| Paramount Network | 1983 | USA | English | A movie channel focusing primarily on theatrical and original made-for-TV films. | Originally founded as TNN, rebranded as Spike TV, now Paramount | Paramount Skydance | ||||||||
| PBS | 1970 | USA | English | fine arts, drama, science, history, music, public affairs, independent films, home improvement, interviews | Accused of anti-Communist and liberal point-of-view[38][39] | |||||||||
| Phoenix | 1997 | Germany | German | Documentaries, news broadcasts, special events, discussion programmes | ARD, ZDF | |||||||||
| Planète+ | 1988 | France | French | Documentaries | Canal+ S.A. | |||||||||
| 2021 | Poland | Polish | ||||||||||||
| Planète+ Aventure | 1998 | France | French | Documentaries programming about adventures | ||||||||||
| Planète+ Crime | 2007 | France | French | Documentaries programming about investigation and justice | ||||||||||
| Polsat Doku | 2017 | Poland | Polish | Documentaries | Telewizja Polsat | |||||||||
| Polsat X | 2025 | Poland | Polish | Adventures and science documentary | ||||||||||
| Prima History | 2023 | Romania | Romanian | Documentary focuses in History | Clever Group | |||||||||
| Prima World | 2024 | Romania | Romanian | Documentary focuses in Traveling | ||||||||||
| Prima Zoom | 2013 | Czech Republic | Czech | Documentary, science, history, nature | FTV Prima | |||||||||
| Rai 5 | 2010 | Italy | Italian | Documentary, Culture, Arts, Music | RAI | |||||||||
| Rai Scuola | 2009 | Italy | Italian | Educational | ||||||||||
| Rai Storia | 2009 | Italy | Italian | Historical events, occasionally with current relevance | ||||||||||
| RMC Découverte | 2012 | France | French | Documentary, men's interest | RMC BFM | |||||||||
| RMC Story | 2012 | France | French | Documentary, science, history, nature | ||||||||||
| RT Documentary | 2011 | Russia | English, Russian | Russia | ANO TV-Novosti | |||||||||
| RTS Nauka | 2020 | Serbia | Serbian | Documentary, Nature, Science | RTS | |||||||||
| RTS Trezor | 2016 | Documentary, History | ||||||||||||
| Russian Travel Guide | 2009 | Russia | English, Russian, Turkish | Nature, science, culture, and history of the Russian Federation | ||||||||||
| Science | 1996 | USA | English | Space, technology and science | Speculative fiction, non- science shows[40][15] | The Challenger Disaster, How Do They Do It?, How It's Made, How The Universe Works, Wonders of Life | Warner Bros. Discovery | |||||||
| Showcase | 1995 | Canada | English | Canadian and worldwide independent films, drama, comedy, mini-series | American shows and movies | |||||||||
| Sky Adventure | 2025 | Italy | Italian | Adventures and extreme sport documentary | Sky Group | |||||||||
| Sky Arts | 2007 | UK | English | Arts including, theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music | ||||||||||
| Sky Arte | 2012 | Italy | Italian | |||||||||||
| Sky Documentaries | 2020 | UK | English | History and society documentary | ||||||||||
| 2021 | Germany | German | ||||||||||||
| Italy | Italian | |||||||||||||
| Sky Crime | 2019 | UK | English | Investigation and justice documentary | ||||||||||
| 2021 | Germany | German | ||||||||||||
| 2023 | Italy | Italian | ||||||||||||
| Sky History | 2020 | UK | English | Documentary and historical fiction series | Museum Secrets, Ancients Behaving Badly | |||||||||
| Sky Nature | 2020 | UK | English | Nature and wildlife documentary | ||||||||||
| 2021 | Germany | German | ||||||||||||
| Italy | Italian | |||||||||||||
| Space | 1997 | Canada | English | Science fiction, space-related programming | Reality shows, fantasy, horror, paranormal[41] | InnerSPACE, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate Universe, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Doctor Who | ||||||||
| TGRT Belgesel | 2010 | Turkey | Turkish | Documentary | İhlas Yayın Holding | |||||||||
| Travel Channel | 1987 | USA | English | Traveling, how-to travel, hotel and cities touring | Paranormal (haunted places, ghosts)[42] | Edge of America, Off Limits, | Warner Bros. Discovery | |||||||
| TruTV | 1991 | USA | English | Legal programming | Reality shows[43] | Sony Pictures Entertainment | ||||||||
| TRT Belgesel | 2009 | Turkey | Turkish | Documentary | Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu | |||||||||
| TV4 Fakta | 2005 | Sweden | Swedish | Science | TV4 AB | |||||||||
| TVP Historia | 2005 | Poland | Polish | Documentary, History | Telewizja Polska | |||||||||
| TVP Kultura | 2007 | Documentary, Culture, Arts, Music | ||||||||||||
| TVP Dokument | 2020 | Documentary | ||||||||||||
| TVP Nauka | 2022 | Documentary, Nature, Science | ||||||||||||
| U&Eden | 2004 | UK | English | Documentary, Nature | UKTV (BBC Studios) | |||||||||
| U&Yesterday | 2004 | UK | English | Documentary, History | ||||||||||
| Viasat Explorer | 2002 | Sweden | English | Wild animals, extreme sports, adventure, travel and technology | Viasat World LTD | |||||||||
| Viasat History | 2004 | Sweden | English | History, culture and society | ||||||||||
| Viasat Nature | 1994 | Sweden | Swedish, Danish, Norwegian | Nature and wildlife | ||||||||||
| ViJu Explorer | 2023 | Russia | Russian | Wild animals, extreme sports, adventure, travel and technology | Viasat Russia | |||||||||
| ViJu History | History, culture and society | |||||||||||||
| ViJu Nature | Nature and wildlife | |||||||||||||
| W Network | 1995 | Canada | English | Women-oriented feminist programming[44] | Primetime movies | |||||||||
| The Weather Channel | 1982 | USA | English | Weather news and information | Documentary programs[45] | |||||||||
| The Weather Network | 1988 | Canada | English | Weather news and information | ||||||||||
| TVR Cultural | 2002 (original) 2022 (relaunch) | Romania | Romanian | Documentary, Culture, Arts, Music | Televiziunea Română | |||||||||
| Ushuaïa TV | 2005 | France | French | Documentary programming about nature | Groupe TF1 | |||||||||
| YLE Teema Fem | 2017 | Finland | Finnish | Documentary, Culture, Arts, Music | YLE | |||||||||
| ZDFinfo | 1997 | Germany | German | ZDF | ||||||||||
| Zing | 2006 | India | Hindi | Indian Music | Zee Entertainment |