The History Channel® Launches New Service in Scandinavia - 01/30/2007

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The History Channel® Launches New Service in Scandinavia

January 30, 2007 - London/New York. The History Channel® UK, a joint venture between A&E Television Networks (AETN) and British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB), has announced today an agreement to distribute The History Channel to Scandinavia, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark & Finland.

Through an agreement with Norway’s Canal Digital, the channel will debut in Scandinavia on Thursday 1 February 2007. Available to approximately one million households across the region at launch, the channel will be broadcast in English with local subtitles for each of the four countries. The History Channel in Scandinavia will be programmed by The History Channel UK, but will offer a separate schedule from the UK service. The network will air on channel 27 in Norway, Denmark and Finland, and on channel 28 in Sweden.

The History Channel features award-winning programming that covers a variety of topics, including ancient history, contemporary history, military history and conflict, and technology and transport. Among the original series that air on The History Channel are Battle Stations, Engineering an Empire, MegaDisasters, and Digging for the Truth; specials include The Crusades: Crescent and The Cross, Titanic, French Revolution and Egypt: Beyond the Pyramids.

Now available in over 125 countries in more than 210 million TV households, The History Channel is the only international television network devoted exclusively to historical programming, featuring informative and entertaining series, specials and documentaries. The network reveals the power and passion of history, allowing viewers to experience history personally and connect their own lives to the great lives and events of the past.

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The History Channel was first launched by AETN in January 1995 in the United States. The UK joint venture with Sky launched in November 1995 and operates The History Channel, The Biography Channel, Crime & Investigation Network™ and The History Channel HD™ in the UK. Scandinavia is the third territory deal outside the UK for the London based joint venture, after launching in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2003 and Greece in 2005.

Ian McDonough, Commercial Director, The History Channel UK, said, "Scandinavia is a hugely important market for us and we are excited to be launching The History Channel with a partner as strong as Canal Digital. The Scandinavian people have a keen interest in history and the channel’s programmes offer the highest production value together with topics ranging from the Ice Age to the Digital Age.”

“We are very pleased to launch The History Channel Scandinavia, and expand significantly our European footprint,” said Sean Cohan, Vice President, International, AETN. “As the brand’s visibility in the region grows, we plan to offer viewers our award-winning content across platforms – via mobile, broadband and VOD. We also look forward to introducing our other channels, The History Channel HD, The Biography Channel, Crime & Investigation Network in Scandinavia in the near future.”

About A&E Television Networks:

A&E Television Networks (AETN) is a joint venture of The Hearst Corporation, ABC, Inc. and NBC. AETN is an award-winning, international media company offering consumers a diverse communications environment ranging from television programming, magazine publishing, and web sites, to books, music CDs and home entertainment, as well as supporting Saturn educational initiatives. A&E Television Networks is comprised of A&E Network, The History Channel, The Biography Channel, History International, The History Channel en español, Military History Channel, A&E HD™, Crime & Investigation Network, AETN International and AETN Consumer Products. AETN channels and programs are available in more than 125 countries to over 235 million TV households. The AETN International web site is located at www.AETNinternational.com.

Program series titles are trademarks of AETN, all rights reserved.
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CONTACT:
For The History Channel (UK): For AETN:
Joanna Mitchell Kerri Tarmey
+ 44 (0)20 7941 5199 +1 212 551 1504
Joanna.mitchell@bskyb.com Kerri.tarmey@aetn.com