What has happened to The History Channel’s programming lately?

Even recently, I remember an great lineup of shows that were informative, thorough, and thoroughly interesting, generous in dispensing facts useful to most everyone. And while there’s still miles more solid programming available there than say E!, more and more is diluting what I thought was the station’s real substance before. Now suspicion takes its place before science and fact, speculation over affirmation and so forth in many of The History Channel’s current programs.

Let’s take a look at some of the programs in the lineup…

      

  • Presidential Prophecies – “Did Abraham Lincoln foresee his own assassination?”

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  • Creatures of the Deep – “Gargantuan creatures rising from ocean depths to wreak havoc on man! Are they figments of the imagination or living relics of prehistoric times?”

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  • Doomsday 2012: End of Days – “The ancient Mayan Calendar, the medieval predictions of Merlin, the Book of Revelation and the Chinese oracle of the I Ching all point to this specific date as the end of civilization. A new technology called “The Web-Bot Project” makes massive scans of the internet as a means of forecasting the future… and has turned up the same dreaded date: 2012. Will it Happen?”

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  • Bigfoot and Other Monsters – “The mermaid, Abominable Snowman, giant squid, and dragons are all parts of myths and mysteries. But are some real?”

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  • UFO Hunters: COPs Vs. UFOs – “Police officers the world over are witness to things that even their high level of training and instincts can’t explain. They often did not want to talk about their experiences for fear of ridicule, or loss of their jobs.”

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  • MonsterQuest: Super Rats – “Recent archaeological evidence suggests that common rats once grew to massive sizes. Are these huge rodents making a comeback?”

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  • Countdown To Armaggedon – “Asteroids on a collision course with Earth, super volcanoes, global warming, killer viruses–all are potential catastrophes that threaten to wipe out life on our planet. Are these simply natural disasters that have been occurring since time immemorial? Or are these threats terrifying prophesies from the Bible that are at last coming true? Are our fears overblown? Or are the infamous Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding among us in a countdown to Armageddon?”

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  • UFO Files: New UFO Revelations: Cattle Mutilations – “A rancher’s nightmare, the mysterious murder of livestock has plagued farmlands worldwide for generations. Most often, udders, ears, tongues, and eyes are somehow surgically removed from the animal without spilling a drop of blood! We explore the prevailing belief that extraterrestrial beings bear responsibility for these grotesque, bloodless slaughters. Alien presence provides an explanation for the manner of killings and the ability to perform the delicate operation so consistently and so precisely.”

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Maybe I’m being ridiculous, but I’ve enjoyed, and mostly still enjoy The History Channel, and have noticed this surging preference for less history and more pandering to sensationalism lately.

Let’s leave that to those who only want to be E!ntertained
It’s not that I expected more, It’s just I expected the norm. Not a comprise of quality for ratings.