National Geographic is a British

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

channel that 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 ...

produced by 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, ...

. It features some programming similar to that on the

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 Chan ...

such as nature and science

. The channel was launched in Europe in September 1997 and time shared initially with the failing NBC Europe until NBC Europe's demise in 1998, at which point it began timesharing with

Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a jo ...

(in the UK, replacing the failed first iteration of Sky 2); with analogue transmission of the channel ending, and the sale of Fox Kids to Disney, timesharing was eventually superseded by 24-hour broadcasting. It was later launched worldwide including in Asia and the United States. Today, the channel is available in over 143 countries, seen in more than 160 million homes and in 25 languages. It is owned by a company called the "NGC-UK Partnership", which initially was jointly owned by the

and British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB), but in 2006, Sky's parent company News Corporation (now

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 Octobe ...

) purchased 25 percent of the stake in the partnership, followed by the acquisition of BSkyB's remaining 50 percent stake by its sister company, the Fox Entertainment Group. This includes an English-language version for the United Kingdom, Ireland,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and Iceland. It also includes Dutch, Italian, Norwegian and Turkish speaking channels among others. The channel's musical signature is the

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 ...

composed theme that has also appeared on the ''National Geographic'' broadcast-TV specials.

Company

The channel is owned by the NGC-UK Partnership, which was formed in 1997 as a joint venture between National Geographic Television & Film, a division of the National Geographic Society and British Sky Broadcasting through its Sky Ventures division. The NGS provides programming expertise, while BSkyB provides its expertise on distribution, marketing, commercial and advertising sales. The partnership builds and operates National Geographic channels and services across Europe. It is headquartered in London. In December 2006, News Corporation purchased 25 percent of the Society's stake in the company. This meant that BSkyB owned half company, while the National Geographic Society and News Corp held 25 percent share each.News Corp · 10-Q · For 12/31/06
/ref> In December 2007, BSkyB sold its stake in the partnership to the Fox Entertainment Group, through its

Fox Networks Group 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 channe ...

subsidiary.

HD feed

The channel launched its own high-definition feed on 22 May 2006 on Sky. The channel joined

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...

's cable TV line-up on 30 July 2009. On 5 August 2009, it was also made available on UPC Ireland's cable TV service. The HD version available in the UK and Ireland was not originally a simulcast of the standard definition version of the National Geographic Channel, with some of the content coming from

Rush HD Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Co ...

, however from 1 December 2010 National Geographic Channel HD became a simulcast feed.

Programmes

* Air Crash Investigation *

Ape Man Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its siste ...

* Banged Up Abroad *

Be the Creature ''Be the Creature'' is a TV series created by the Kratt Brothers (Chris and Martin). A wildlife series designed to immerse both the brothers and the viewers in the world of animals, unlike the brothers' previous works, ''Kratts' Creatures'' and '' ...

Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

Britain's Greatest Machines with Chris Barrie ''Britain's Greatest Machines with Chris Barrie'' is a documentary television series from National Geographic Channel. It is showing the technological progress of the 19th and 20th centuries from a British point of view. Chris Barrie is the hos ...

* Built for the Kill * Car S.O.S. *

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 circumstances th ...

Drain the Oceans ''Drain the Oceans'' is an Australian and British documentary television series that premiered on 28 May 2018 on National Geographic. The 25-part factual series is hosted by Russell Boulter, and explores shipwrecks, treasure and sunken cities u ...

End Day ''End Day'' is a 2005 docu-drama produced by the BBC. It aired on the National Geographic Channel, on the TV series, ''National Geographic Channel Presents'', and BBC Three that depicts a set of five doomsday scenarios. The documentary follows ...

* Escape Tech *

Explorations Powered by Duracell ''Explorations'' is a documentary TV series that looks into the many aspects of the human life with science, technology and research. Three series have been broadcast. Series 1 - 6 x 1hr, Series 2 - 13 x 1/2hr, Series 3 - 13 x 1/2hr. It is ...

* Explorer *

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 ...

* Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted *

Gospel of Judas The Gospel of Judas is a non-canonical Gnostic gospel. The content consists of conversations between Jesus and Judas Iscariot. Given that it includes late 2nd-century theology, it is widely thought to have been composed in the 2nd century (prio ...

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, ...

*Hollywood Science * Hunter Hunted * Interpol Investigates * Is It Real? *

Living Wild Living or The Living may refer to: Common meanings * Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms ** Living species, one that is not extinct * Personal life, the course of an individual human's life * ...

Megacities A megacity is a very large city, typically with a population of more than 10 million people. Precise definitions vary: the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its 2018 "World Urbanization Prospects" report counted u ...

* Megafactories * MegaStructures * Mysteries of the Deep *

Naked Science ''Naked Science'' is an American documentary television series that premiered in 2004 on the National Geographic Channel and ran through November 2011. The program featured various subjects related to science and technology. Some of the views e ...

* No Borders *

Planet Football A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a yo ...

Planet Mechanics ''Planet Mechanics'' is a British TV program shown on the National Geographic Channel in 2008. The show has ended after the first series. Background ''Planet Mechanics'' sees two engineers, Dick Strawbridge and Jem Stansfield, travelling in a ...

Predators at War Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill t ...

Rough Trades Rough may refer to: * Roughness (disambiguation) * Rough (golf), the area outside the fairway on a golf course Geography * Rough (facility), former gas field now gas storage facility, off the Yorkshire coast of England People * Alan Rough (born 1 ...

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 the Bible Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...

* Seconds From Disaster *

Situation Critical ''Critical Situation'' (also known as ''Situation Critical'' in the UK) is an American documentary television series. Produced in conjunction with the National Geographic Channel, the series examined various disasters A disaster is a seri ...

* Storm Stories *

Strange Days on Planet Earth ''Strange Days on Planet Earth'' is a four-part (1 hour each) television program on Public Broadcasting Service, PBS concerning human impact on the environment. It is narrated by Edward Norton. The show was produced by Sea Studios Foundation. Stra ...

* Strippers: cars for cash *

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 ...

* The Dog Whisperer *

The Living Edens ''The Living Edens'' was a Public Broadcasting Service series that aired from 1997 to 2003. Narrators included Peter Coyote and Linda Hunt. It was partially funded by ''Reader's Digest'' in exchange for various marketing rights. Episodes The seri ...

* Thrill Zone *

Thunder Beasts Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightnin ...

* Totally Wild *

Trading Faces Julia DeVillers is an American writer of books including '' How My Private, Personal Journal Became A Bestseller''. She had a cameo in the 2006 Disney Channel Original Movie, '' Read It and Weep'', which was based on the book. Life DeVille ...

*What Would Happen If...? * Wicked Tuna *

World of Wildlife In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

Continuity / Voiceovers

Rob Jarvis, who is well known as Eddie in '' Hustle'' is one of the two main male promo voices for this channel, along with Adam Longworth from XFM radio station.

References

External links