The
Travel Channel is a satellite and
cable televisionCable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
channel that is headquartered in
Chevy ChaseChevy Chase is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland. In addition, a number of villages in the same area of Montgomery County include "Chevy Chase" in their names...
,
MarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, US. It features
documentariesA travel documentary is a documentary film or television program that describes travel in general or tourist attractions in a non-commercial way....
and
how-toA how-to or a how to is an informal, often short, description of how to accomplish some specific task. A how-to is usually meant to help non-experts, may leave out details that are only important to experts, and may also be greatly simplified from an overall discussion of the topic...
shows related to travel and leisure around the United States and throughout the world. Programming has included shows in
AfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n animal
safariA safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...
s, tours of grand
hotelA hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s, and visits to significant cities and towns. However, recent programming is almost entirely focused on food, while other limited programming, such as
Ghost AdventuresGhost Adventures is a weekly American paranormal television series that premiered on October 17, 2008 on the Travel Channel. Currently produced by MY-Tupelo Entertainment , the program follows and stars ghost hunters Zak Bagans, Nick Groff, and Aaron Goodwin, as they investigate locations that are...
, puts an emphasis on allegedly
hauntedA haunted house is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property...
locations. A new program titled "Deathwish Movers" follows the work of a moving crew as they attempt to place furniture in the upper floors of tall buildings.
The network is available in 95 million homes in the United States.
History
The Travel Channel was launched by
Trans World AirlinesTrans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
on February 1, 1987, presumably to boost airline patronage. The name was derived from travel-related filler programming offered by the
Home Theater NetworkHome Theater Network or HTN was the name of a premium cable television service that existed from 1977 to 1987. The service was operated by Group W Satellite Communications.-History:...
premium cable service. TWA purchased the name rights from Group W Satellite Communications in 1986, and following GWSC's shutdown of HTN in January 1987, took over HTN's transponder spot. The network was later sold to
Landmark CommunicationsLandmark Media Enterprises LLC is a privately held media company headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia specializing in cable television, broadcast television, print publishing, and internet publishing...
, then owner of The Weather Channel, and later Paxson Communications.
DiscoveryDiscovery Communications, Inc. is an American global media and entertainment company. The company started as a single channel in 1985, The Discovery Channel. Today, DCI has global operations offering 28 network entertainment brands on more than 100 channels in more than 180 countries in 39...
bought 70% of the channel in 1997, acquiring the rest in 1999. In May 2007, Discovery sold Travel Channel to
Cox EnterprisesCox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded in Dayton, Ohio, United States, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. He was the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in the election of 1920...
subsidiary
Cox CommunicationsCox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
as part of a larger multi-billion dollar transaction. However, Discovery Communications still distributed the channel under Discovery Networks.
On November 5, 2009, it was announced that
Scripps Networks InteractiveScripps Networks Interactive is an American media company formed on July 1, 2008 as a spin out of the E.W. Scripps Company. Since launching HGTV in 1994, Scripps has become a leader in lifestyle media, developing relevant content for television, the Internet satellite radio, books, magazines, and...
had paid $1.1 billion for a 65% interest in the network. The deal closed in January 2010. Scripps currently distributes Travel Channel and rebroadcasts some programming on it from Food Network.
Confusingly, some TV listings display the logo of an unrelated cable channel, also called the
Travel Channel (UK)Travel Channel is a British satellite television channel, transmitting 24 hours a day in 19 languages across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific...
and airing in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, as that of the American channel as well. That channel is owned by an independent company with no relation to Scripps, Discovery, or Cox which holds the "Travel Channel" trademarks in the British Isles.
Travel Channel HD
Travel Channel HD is a
1080i1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels...
high definition
simulcastSimulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
of Travel Channel that launched on January 14, 2008. It is available nationwide on
Dish NetworkDish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
and
DirecTVDirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
, and regionally on
Verizon FiOSVerizon FiOS is a bundled Internet access, telephone, and television service which operates over a fiber-optic communications network. It is offered in some areas of the United States by Verizon Communications. Verizon was one of the first major U.S...
, AT&T U-Verse,
ComcastComcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
,
Time Warner CableTime Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
, Cox Cable,
CharterCharter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
, Cablevision,
Bright House NetworksBright House Networks is a cable television company, the seventh largest cable operator and the sixth largest traditional multiple system operator in the United States owned by Advance/Newhouse, headquartered in Syracuse, New York...
,
Buckeye CableSystemBuckeye CableSystem, formerly known as The CableSystem until the 1990s, is a cable company located in Toledo, Ohio and serves Northwest Ohio and parts of Southeast Michigan...
,
MediacomMediacom is a cable television and communications provider in the United States. Founded in July 1995, it serves primarily smaller markets in the Midwest and Southern United States. Formerly a publicly traded firm, it went private in a $600.0 million transaction in March 2011 and is, as of 2011,...
,
SuddenlinkSuddenlink Communications, formerly Cebridge Connections, is a top-10 cable broadband services provider in the United States with approximately 1.4 million subscribers. Suddenlink operates in 18 states in primarily medium-sized communities. With its corporate headquarters in St. Louis, MO,...
, and
InsightInsight Communications is the 13th largest multiple system operator in the United States with approximately 692,000 customers in the three contiguous states of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio...
. When the network's operations were taken over by Scripps Networks, the network's presentation of series filmed in standard definition changed from a 14:9 pillarboxed presentation as had been done when owned by Discovery to Scripps's default HD format of video stretched across the screen.