History

On June 17, 1985, Discovery Channel was launched with $5 million in start-up capital from the BBC, the American investment firm Allen & Company, Venture America and several other investors. In the beginning it was available to 156,000 households and would broadcast for 12 hours between 3 p.m. and 3 a.m. with about 75 percent of the content new to American viewers.^[3] John Hendricks is credited with founding of the channel and its parent company, then known as Cable Educational Network Inc, in 1982.^[4]

In its early years, the channel broadcast some Soviet programming, including the news programVremya.^[5] In 1988, the channel premiered the nightly program World Monitor, produced by theChristian Science Monitor. 1988 also saw the very first Shark Week, which has since returned annually. Within five years, the channel's reach had extended to over 50 million households.

On January 4, 2006, Discovery Communications announced that Ted Koppel, longtime Executive Producer Tom Bettag, and eight former Nightline staff members were joining the Discovery Channel.