H2 (or History2) is a brand name owned by

A&E Networks A&E Television Networks, LLC, doing business as A+E Global Media (formerly A+E Networks) is an American multinational broadcasting company owned and operated as a 50–50 joint venture between Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company th ...

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 acce ...

between the

Hearst Communications Hearst Corporation, Hearst Holdings Inc. and Hearst Communications Inc. comprise an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate owned by the Hearst family and based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York ...

and the

Walt Disney Television The first and original incarnation of Walt Disney Television was an American production company and the original/former television production division of the Walt Disney Company, which was active from April 18, 1983 to 2003. Productions from ...

division of

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

), used for a sister television channel of

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. The brand was debuted in September 2011 when History International in the United States was relaunched as H2. The brand was expanded outside the U.S. since then. H2 in the United States was relaunched on February 29, 2016 as

Viceland Viceland (stylized in all caps; also known as Vice TV in the United States) is a brand used for television channels owned and programmed by Vice Media. The brand launched on February 29, 2016, with two cable channels in North America. The Vice ...

, but the H2 brand is still used for sister channels to History in other markets. A&E Networks began rebranding the remaining versions of H2 as History2, starting with Latin American version on January 1, 2019. On November 6, 2018, concerning Disney's proposed acquisition of

21st Century Fox Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., which did business as 21st Century Fox, was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was formed on June 28, 2013, as the legal successor ...

, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

required Disney to sell A&E's television operations in Europe, which include the versions of H2 in the area.

North America

The H2 brand was introduced in the United States, when History International was re-branded as such on September 26, 2011, with its programming was refocused to feature documentary content from its sister network History, prior to that network's shift towards more reality programming. The American channel was subsequently replaced by

on February 29, 2016.

Canada

On August 27, 2012,

Shaw Media Shaw Media, Inc. was the television broadcasting division of Shaw Communications. It owned the Global Television Network, which broadcasts nationally via 13 television stations, as well as 19 specialty channels including Slice (TV channel), Slice ...

, relaunched the male-focused Category A digital channel, The Cave as a domestic Canadian version of H2.

Latin America

In 2014, a Latin American version of H2 was launched under the ownership of A+E Networks Latin America (a joint venture between A+E Networks and Ole Communications) and distributed by

Ole Distribution Ole Distribution is a company which owns several pay television networks in the region of Latin America. The company was founded as a joint venture between Warner Bros. Discovery and Ole Communications. Distributed channels Ole Distribution ...

. On January 1, 2019, H2 was re-branded as History2.

Europe

*Croatia: The Croatian version of H2 was launched on 1 February 2018 on

Hrvatski Telekom Hrvatski Telekom, also known as HT or Telekom, is a Croatian telecommunications company founded in 1998. Headquartered in Zagreb, it is majority-owned by Deutsche Telekom with a 53.5% stake and is publicly traded on the Zagreb Stock Exchange. ...

's MaxTV. *Poland: The Polish version of H2 was launched on 28 October 2014. On 6 February 2019, the channel was rebranded as History2. *Serbia: On 12 April 2015, the Serbian version of H2 was launched to Orion TV customers. It was also made available to MTS TV customers in May of that year. *United Kingdom and Ireland: On 4 May 2013, the local version of

Military History Military history is the study of War, armed conflict in the Human history, history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to Politics, local and international relationship ...

was re-branded as H2. It launched on TalkTalk on August 28, 2014, and a few months later on BT TV. An HD version launched on Virgin Media on 1 December 2015, and later on BT TV in October 2016. On February 6, 2019, this version was re-branded again as History2. On May 27, 2020, to coincide with the launches of Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature,

and History2 rebranded to Sky History and Sky History2, respectively, in the UK and Ireland.

MENA

In the Middle East and North Africa, the regional version of H2 is available on

OSN Orbit Showtime Network, commonly known as OSN, is a Dubai-based Satellite television, satellite TV company, serving the Middle East and North Africa region. OSN mainly broadcasts programming from TV networks owned by Paramount Global, Warner B ...

since 1 February 2016.

Asia

In Southeast Asia, A+E Networks launched a regional version of H2 on 14 June 2013. After 9 years of broadcasting, H2 Asia ceased broadcasting on 1 October 2022.

References

A&E Networks Television channels in North Macedonia {{DEFAULTSORT:H2 (AandE Networks)