Discovery Channel
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | 230 Park Avenue South New York City |
| Programming | |
| Languages |
|
| Picture format | 1080i HDTV (downscaled to 480i letterbox for the SDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Warner Bros. Discovery |
| Parent | Warner Bros. Discovery Global Linear Networks |
| Sister channels | Sister channels |
| History | |
| Launched | June 17, 1985 |
| Former names | The Discovery Channel (1985–1995) |
| Links | |
| Website | discovery.com |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Affiliated streaming services | |
| Services | Sling TV, YouTube TV, Philo, Hulu + Live TV |
Discovery Channel, also known as simply Discovery and previously known as The Discovery Channel, is an American cable channel and the second flagship namesake asset of Warner Bros. Discovery that is best known for airing ongoing reality and educational programming.
Launched on June 17, 1985, it initially broadcast documentary television programming focused primarily on popular science, nature, technology, and history. Since the 2010s, it had become increasingly dominated by programs that focused on conspiracy theories or promoted pseudoscience.
By June 2012, Discovery Channel was the third most widely distributed subscription channel in the United States, behind now-sibling channel TBS and the Weather Channel; it is available in 409 million households globally. As of November 2023, Discovery Channel is available to approximately 71,000,000 pay television households in the United States-down from its peak of 99,000,000 in 2011.