Smithsonian Channel was a British
free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...
television channel that was launched as the UK version of the US documentary network
Smithsonian Channel
The Smithsonian Channel is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its media networks division under MTV Entertainment Group. It offers video content inspired by the Smithsonian Institution's museums, research facil ...
. It launched on 12 February 2019 and closed down on 6 January 2023.
The content of the channel, much of which is drawn from the US station, comprised predominantly original non-fiction programming covering a range of historical, scientific and cultural subjects.
Carriage
Test transmissions for the new services began with the addition of
HD and subsequently
SD broadcast capacity on the
Astra 2G
Astra 2G is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES, launched to the Astra 28.2°E orbital position on 27 December 2014, at 21:37:49 UTC from Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Astra 2G is positioned at 28.5° East (part of t ...
satellite in late 2018.
The channel was officially made available on 12 February 2019. Ahead of the launch, it had been suggested that the network would begin on satellite, then launch on
Freeview Freeview may refer to:
*Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia
*Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand
*Freeview (UK), a ...
in the spring, though it launched on all four platforms, along with
Freesat
Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Everyone TV (itself owned by all of the four UK Public broadcasting, public service broadcasters, BBC, ...
.
Closure
On December 15, 2022, it was announced that the channel would be closing on January 6, 2023 after nearly four years on air. Its programming shifted online to other Paramount Global presences, including
Paramount+
Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...
,
My5
5 (previously Five Download and later Demand 5 and My5) is the brand name of video-on-demand services offered by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited, operator of TV channel 5, in the United Kingdom. The service is ad-supported and provided over- ...
and
Pluto TV
Pluto TV is an American free ad-supported streaming television service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global. Founded by Tom Ryan (business executive), Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf in 2013 and based in ...
.
See also
*
Smithsonian Channel
The Smithsonian Channel is an American pay television channel owned by Paramount Global through its media networks division under MTV Entertainment Group. It offers video content inspired by the Smithsonian Institution's museums, research facil ...
– original US version of the station
*
Smithsonian Channel (Canada)
Smithsonian Channel is a Canadian pay television channel, owned and operated by Blue Ant Media. Smithsonian Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global’s MTV Entertainment Group division, owners of the American channel Smithsonian Channel, of the ...
– Canadian version of the station
*
PBS America
PBS America is a British free-to-air television channel derived from PBS, an American public television broadcaster similar to the BBC and Channel 4. It is a joint venture between entrepreneur David Lyons and PBS Distribution, itself a joint ...
– similar UK channel showing predominantly US documentaries
References
External links
*
{{Smithsonian Institution
Television channels and stations established in 2019
Television networks in the United Kingdom
Defunct television channels in the United Kingdom
Smithsonian Channel
2023 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2023