• by Paul Gough , May 9, 2003

Going full blast into the past, The History Channel is unveiling new themed nights and a season of new series and specials for the 2003-04 season.

Primetime at the history channel will focus on vertical integration, with each night a different theme: historical miniseries relating to today's issues (Monday); series on the inner workings of technology (Tuesday); Modern Marvels (Wednesday); programs that travel back in time (Thursday); three weekly series on military history (Friday); ancient and present-day mysteries (Saturday) and a showcase of two-hour premieres and specials (Sunday).

Dan Davids, EVP/GM of The History Channel, said the idea is to present a programming front that goes beyond what the channel is popularly known for, military history. While that's still one of its focuses, Davids said that the channel has 95% original programming and that The History Channel is much more than just military history.

"Our mission is to bring history to life, and we do that by producing a powerful and diverse array of programming that matters. We do it as we look at the worlds of politics, science, technology, religion, the military," he said.

The vertical packaging comes as the result of audience research and testing of theme nights in this season's scheduling. He said the tests were so successful that programmers decided to integrate them throughout the week. Davids said the channel's objectives include increasing viewership, helping with audience flow and opening up the door to incremental sponsorships and advertisers to sponsor a whole night's worth of programming.

Because it's so early in the upfront season, no deals have been announced but Davids said ad executives are going to sales calls with the plans in hand. "The advertising market is responding very positively to our lineup. We're very optimistic," he said.

The war in Iraq put the brakes on what had been an excellent start to the year for The History Channel, which has distribution in 82 million homes nationwide. A special on Saddam Hussein that ran a week ago Sunday night delivered a 2.1 household rating and an average of 2.2 million viewers, becoming one of the network's highest-rated telecasts. That day, May 4, was the most-watched day ever on The History Channel with an average of 768,000 homes tuning in between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

"We're cooking," Davids said.

The History Channel's ratings had dampened during the war, when up to 20% of its mostly male audience went to the news channels for continuing coverage. He said that a lot of the channel's viewers are upscale and information-hungry. In recent weeks, The History Channel has seen its viewership come back and a major brand-advertising effort sparked a successful week in the ratings.

"The war is over and our inquisitive men have returned," Davids said.

Specials for the new season include Failure Is Not an Option, based on NASA flight controller Gene Kranz's memoirs; a look at President John F. Kennedy on the anniversary of his assassination; and the anniversaries of The Alamo, The War of 1812 and D-Day.

New series include Extreme History with Roger Daltry, with The Who's lead singer hosting a program on how people survived challenging scenarios; Tactical to Practical, hosted by a former Navy pilot who explores how some military technology has made it to everyday civilian life; History Now, a look at how history is being made today; and Come Home Alive, stories of international acts of aggression against Americans. Returning series include Mail Call, Conquest, Modern Marvels, Deep Sea Detectives, Dead Reckoning and Save our History.