The Documentary Channel was an American

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and

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location.ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems ...

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

that featured

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

programming. It aired independent documentary films from around the world, including those not released in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The channel (along with

Halogen TV Halogen TV was an American digital cable and satellite television channel that aired feature-length films, documentaries, short films, and original reality programs that centered on making positive social changes and making the world a better pl ...

) was replaced by

Pivot Pivot may refer to: *Pivot, the point of rotation in a lever system *More generally, the center point of any rotational system *Pivot joint, a kind of joint between bones in the body *Pivot turn, a dance move Companies *Incitec Pivot, an Austra ...

, a channel aimed at young adults between 18 and 34 years old, that was also owned by

Participant Media Participant Media, LLC was an American independent Film industry, film and television production company founded in 2004 by Jeffrey Skoll, dedicated to entertainment intended to spur social change. The company financed and co-produced film and te ...

, and debuted on August 1, 2013. Pivot ceased operations on October 31, 2016, folding the former Documentary Channel channel space.

Background

Documentary Channel launched in January 2006. It was founded by

Tom Neff Thomas Linden Neff (born 1953)-, known as Tom Neff, is an American film executive, director and producer, born in Chicago, Illinois. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Education Neff received his Bachelor of Arts from Lawrence University with a ma ...

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

nominated and

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

winning documentarian, and attorney John Forbess. Originally, it was supported in part by

WNPT WNPT (channel 8) is a PBS member television station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The station is owned by Nashville Public Television, Inc., a community-funded, non-profit organization. WNPT's studios are located on Rains Avenue in ...

, the

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

station. Documentary Channel won its first

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, for Outstanding Documentary, in September 2007, for '' Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire.'' Documentary Channel's signature series, ''DocTalk'', entered its third season July 1, 2011. ''DocTalk'' was a weekly half-hour program featuring filmmakers and their newest documentary film projects and releases. The channel was independently owned and operated until it was purchased by

in December 2012.

Closure

In March 2013, Participant Media announced that Documentary Channel and new sister network

would merge into one network, and both would relaunch as

, a network focused on 18 to 34 year olds, with elements of programming from both networks. The change was later announced to take place on August 1 of that year. Documentary Channel built up to the launch of Pivot with a countdown clock in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, where the logo normally is, saying "xx Hours xx Minutes until we Pivot", but there was no special programing taking a look back at the channel's history, instead just showing a normal day of programing. At approximately 6 p.m ET on Dish receivers, the channel's EPG name changed from "DOC" to "PIVOT", signifying the change happening overnight, in 12 hours time. At 5:40 a.m ET, the channel's final documentary, '' 8: The Mormon Proposition'', ended. 5 minutes later, the channel's final regularly scheduled program, the channel's original program ''Doc Talk'', began, with the subject being "Full Frame Fest 2". At 5:58 a.m ET, the channel began playing an old style

Indian Head test card The Indian-head test pattern is a test card that gained widespread adoption during the black-and-white television broadcasting era as an aid in the calibration of television equipment. It features a drawing of a Native American wearing a headd ...

, and started playing

Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American Broadcast journalism, broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broa ...

's "Wires and Lights in a Box" speech, talking about how television can help people learn, but only if they accept it. Midway through the speech, in the bottom right, a message said: At 6:00:04 a.m ET, Documentary Channel ended, and Pivot begun, with the final words spoken on the network being "Good night, and good luck." When the successor channel Pivot folded three years later the last program on the network was five consecutive showings of the film ''

Good Night, and Good Luck ''Good Night, and Good Luck'' (stylized as ''good night, and good luck.'') is a 2005 historical drama film directed by George Clooney from a screenplay by Clooney and Grant Heslov. It stars David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, Clooney, Jeff D ...

'' from 8PM on the 30th onward until the shuttering. The film choice was likely a nod to the final words spoken on Documentary Channel.

References

External links

An Idea Whose Time Has Come
- DigitalFilmmaker article on Documentary Channel's launch
DOC Channel on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doc: The Documentary Channel Defunct television networks in the United States Documentary television channels Television channels and stations established in 2006 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2013

Background

Closure

See also

References

External links