The table below presents a list of documentary channels, including ones affected by "channel drift" and those accused of having a biased point of view.
List Name Launch Country Language Content focus Change of content/bias Examples of content in original focus (past and present) Owner/parent company PBS America 2011 United KingdomEnglishHistory, Science, Current Affairs and Arts & Culture Available on Sky, Virgin Media, Freeview and Freesat PBS A&E 1984 United States English Documentaries, biographies and crime dramas (originally) Reality shows, stereotypes (Southerners) The First 48, Criminal Minds, CSI:Miami A+E Networks ABC 1956 Australia English Mass media, United States cable Live broadcasts (sports), tv shows (television programs), reality shows Al Jazeera Documentary Channel 2007 Qatar Arabic Documentary films Al Jazeera has been criticized for being state media owned by Qatar and assailed as anti-Semitic, anti-American bias. Al Jazeera Media Network American Heroes Channel 1999 USA English World War II, U.S. war documentaries Animal Planet 1996 USA English Wildlife, animals, relation between humans and animals Speculative fiction and pseudo-documentaries (mermaids, dragons), non-animal shows Cats 101, Dogs 101 Warner Bros. Discovery APTN 1992 Canada English Programs and news about Aboriginal peoples in Canada Some non-Aboriginal programming APTN National News, Blackstone, Cooking With the Wolfman Arte 1992 France, Germany French, German Arts, Culture Arte 1 2012 Brazil Portuguese Arts including, theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music Grupo Bandeirantes de Comunicação BBC 1922 UK English Mass media, public broadcasting BBC Four 1999 UK English Culture, current affairs British Broadcasting Corporation BBC Earth 2015 UK English Nature and wildlife documentaries BBC Studios BBC Parliament 1992 UK English Parliamentary and legislative programs British Broadcasting Corporation BeIN İZ 2006 Turkey Turkish History and society documentary beIN Media Group Bravo 1995 Canada English Television dramas, films, art-related programming Film-dramas, non-art TV shows Inside the Actors Studio, Blue Bloods, 19-2, Dallas, Criminal Minds C-SPAN 1979 USA English Government proceedings and public affairs C-SPAN 2 1986 USA English Government proceedings and public affairs C-SPAN 3 2001 USA English Government proceedings and public affairs Canal (á) 1996 Argentina Spanish Cultural, Documentary Clarín Group, Artear Canal D 1995 Canada French Crime, biographies, nature, and science Bell Media Canal+ Docs 2021 France French History and society documentary Canal+ S.A. Canal+ Dokument 2019 Poland Polish Canal+ Discover 2021 Ethiopia Oromo Amharic Canal+ Su Sann 2018 Myanmar Burmese CCTV-9 2011 China It has one editions: one in Chinese for mainland China. Documentary shows CCTV CGTN Documentary 2016 China It has one editions: one in English for international broadcasting. Documentary shows CGTN CMT (Canada) 1995 Canada English Country music, country music videos Blue Collar Comedy Tour, Canadian Country Music Awards, CMT Music Awards CNBC 1989 USA English Business news, financial news Versant CNN 1980 USA English United States cable news, documentaries Accused of both conservative and liberal bias in news News covering both conservative and liberal topics Warner Bros. Discovery Crime and Investigation Network 2004 USA English Crime-related A+E Networks ČT art 2013 Czech Republic Czech Documentary, Culture, Arts, Music Czech Television CTV Nature Channel 2001 Canada English Science, nature, and history documentary programs Bell Media CTV Speed Channel 2005 Automotive industry and transportation documentary programs CTV Wild Channel 2001 Wildlife, animals, relation between humans and animals documentary programs Da Vinci Learning 2007 Germany English History, sociology, biology, physics documentary DD National 1957 India Hindi Prasar Bharati DD Bharati 1985 India Hindi History Prasar Bharati Destination America 1996 USA English Traveling, how-to travel, hotel and cities touring, lifestyle, history Speculative fiction Warner Bros. Discovery Digi Animal World 2012 Romania Romanian Nature and wildlife documentary Digi Communications Digi World History and society documentary Discovery Channel 1985 USA English Popular science, technology and history Reality shows, speculative fiction (time-travel, alternate universes, the paranormal, etc.), speculative fiction MythBusters, Daily Planet, Curiosity, The Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius, Frozen Planet, Life Warner Bros. Discovery Discovery Historia 2006 Poland Polish History TVN Warner Bros. Discovery Discovery History 1999 UK English History Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA Discovery Life 2011 USA English Fitness and health Discovery Theater 2002 USA Spanish, Portuguese Culture, Science Warner Bros. Discovery Latin America Discovery World 1998 USA English Travel, culture and history Replaced by DTX in Europe Warner Bros. Discovery Documentales por Movistar Plus+ 2023 Spain Spanish History and society documentary Telefónica Documentary Channel 2001 Canada English Documentary films CBC DTour 1997 Canada English Travel, lifestyle Corus Entertainment Encore 1991 USA English Theatrically released feature films (older to more recent), TV shows (on some channels) Encuentro 2007 Argentina Spanish History, science and general culture Epic 2014 India Hindi, English Infotainment, Travel Focus 2012 Italy Italian Documentaries, programming Mediaset Film & Arts 1996 Argentina Spanish, Portuguese Documentary, Movies, Culture, Arts, Music, Theater AMC Networks International Latin America Food Food 2006 India Hindi Food, Cooking Food Network 1993 USA English Food, cooking, cuisine, the food industry Warner Bros. Discovery Food Network (Canada) 2000 Canada English Food, cooking, cuisine, the food industry Corus Entertainment Fox News Channel 1996 USA English United States cable news Accused of conservative bias in news although this has been stated as unsubstantiated by members of Fox News Fox Corporation France 4 2005 France French Documentary, Culture, Arts, Music France Télévisions France 5 1994 France French Documentaries, educational programming France.tv Docs 2024 France French Documentary FYI 1999 USA English Biographical shows Reality shows, speculative fiction (curses, alien and ghost encounters) Biography A+E Networks Geo Television 2014 Germany German Documentary, science, history, nature RTL Group HGTV 1994 USA English How-to shows with a focus on home improvement, gardening, remodeling and crafts Warner Bros. Discovery Histoire TV 1997 France French Documentary programming about history Groupe TF1 Historia 2000 Canada French Historic dramas, documentaries, movies, human interests programs A+E Networks History 1995 USA English Documentary and historical fiction series Reality shows, speculative documentaries (Ancient Aliens), apocalypse shows, US history, non-historic reality shows, fairly homogeneous viewpoint, concentrated program topics (World War II,2012hoax.org - History Channel - 2012hoax , 2010-08-17bsalert.com - Archeologist Debunks History Channel's "Ancient Aliens" - BSAlert.com , 2012-02-07 Museum Secrets, Ancients Behaving Badly A+E Networks History (Canada) 1997 Canada English Documentary and historical fiction series Reality shows, apocalypse shows, speculative fiction A+E Networks HLN 1984 USA English 30-minute newscast Tabloid, Crime, opinion, and entertainment news-related programming Morning Express with Robin Meade Warner Bros. Discovery ICI ARTV 2001 Canada French Documentary, culture, arts and music CBC ICI Explora 2012 Canada French Science, environment, nature and health Investigation 2013 Canada French Investigation and justice documentary Bell Media Investigation Discovery 1996 USA English Crime-related Warner Bros. Discovery IRIB Mostanad 2011 Iran Persian Culture, arts, society, politics, history, wilderness, nature and the Iran–Iraq War IRIB Italiana 2026 Italy Italian Culture, Cuisine and Tourism RAI JOJ Svet 2023 Slovakia Slovak Documentary, science, history, nature J&T Enterprise Kabel Eins Doku 2016 Germany German Documentary, science, history, nature ProSiebenSat.1 Media Knowledge Network 1981 Canada English Politics, culture, history, arts, music, health, parenting, and science Kunskapskanalen 2004 Sweden Swedish Government proceedings, Educational SVT M5 2016 Hungary Hungarian Documentary, Culture, Arts, Music MTVA Magenta History 2016 Greece Greek Documentary and historical fiction series OTE MCM 1989 France French Music videos (popular music, French music) Reality shows, horror series, anime shows Military History 1999 USA English World War II, wars, generals A+E Networks MS NOW 1996 USA English Documentary in current affairs Versant MTV India (previously MTV3 Fakta) 2006 India Hindi Documentaries, Music Paramount Networks EMEAA N24 Doku 2016 Germany German Documentary, science, history, nature WeltN24 Nat Geo 1997 USA English Nature, culture, science, engineering & technology, history & society Reality shows/stereotypes (Navajo, Southerners shows, the Amish and other minority groups) and apocalypse shows Explorer, TabooThe Walt Disney Company Nat Geo Music 2007 Italy, India English Documentaries about cultures and music around the world Nat Geo Wild 2010 Hong Kong, India English Wildlife, natural history National Geographic Adventure 1994 Singapore English Outdoor, travel and exploration OLN 1997 Canada English Fact-based outdoor adventure shows Speculative fiction (aliens, ghosts, monsters, paranormal), reality shows, conspiracy theories Departures, Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan, Duck Commander, Survivorman, Mantracker Paramount Network 1983 USA English A movie channel focusing primarily on theatrical and original made-for-TV films. Originally founded as TNN, rebranded as Spike TV, now Paramount Paramount Skydance PBS 1970 USA English fine arts, drama, science, history, music, public affairs, independent films, home improvement, interviews Accused of anti-Communist and liberal point-of-view Phoenix 1997 Germany German Documentaries, news broadcasts, special events, discussion programmes ARD, ZDF Planète+ 1988 France French Documentaries Canal+ S.A. 2021 Poland Polish Planète+ Aventure 1998 France French Documentaries programming about adventures Planète+ Crime 2007 France French Documentaries programming about investigation and justice Polsat Doku 2017 Poland Polish Documentaries Telewizja Polsat Polsat X 2025 Poland Polish Adventures and science documentary Prima History 2023 Romania Romanian Documentary focuses in History Clever Group Prima World 2024 Romania Romanian Documentary focuses in Traveling Prima Zoom 2013 Czech Republic Czech Documentary, science, history, nature FTV Prima Rai 5 2010 Italy Italian Documentary, Culture, Arts, Music RAI Rai Storia 2009 Italy Italian Historical events, occasionally with current relevance RMC Découverte 2012 France French Documentary, men's interest RMC BFM RMC Story 2012 France French Documentary, science, history, nature RT Documentary 2011 Russia English, Russian Russia ANO TV-Novosti RTS Nauka 2020 Serbia Serbian Documentary, Nature, Science RTS RTS Trezor 2016 Documentary, History Russian Travel Guide 2009 Russia English, Russian, Turkish Nature, science, culture, and history of the Russian Federation Science 1996 USA English Space, technology and science Speculative fiction, non- science shows The Challenger Disaster, How Do They Do It?, How It's Made, How The Universe Works, Wonders of Life Warner Bros. Discovery Showcase 1995 Canada English Canadian and worldwide independent films, drama, comedy, mini-series American shows and movies Sky Adventure 2025 Italy Italian Adventures and extreme sport documentary Sky Group Sky Arts 2007 UK English Arts including, theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music Sky Arte 2012 Italy Italian Sky Documentaries 2020 UK English History and society documentary 2021 Germany German Italy Italian Sky Crime 2019