Smithsonian Channel

COUNTRY: U.S.

LAUNCH DATE: September 26, 2007

OWNERSHIP: Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between Showtime Networks and the Smithsonian Institution

DISTRIBUTION: 16.2 million through the DIRECTV HD Xtra Tier

DESCRIPTION: A 24-hour high-definition channel that celebrates the American experience with branded original content from the assets of the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum and research complex. The network features original documentaries, short-subject explorations and programs highlighting America’s cultural, historical and scientific heritage.

GENERAL MANAGER, SMITHSONIAN NETWORKS: Tom Hayden

EXECUTIVE VP, PROGRAMMING & PRODUCTION,

SMITHSONIAN NETWORKS: David Royle

SENIOR VP, BUSINESS & LEGAL AFFAIRS,

SMITHSONIAN NETWORKS: Susan Sheppard

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: Storytelling is at the core of the Smithsonian Channel’s programming lineup. “What we’re trying to do is combine the credibility and integrity of the Smithsonian with the storytelling flair of Showtime,” explains David Royle, the executive VP of programming and production at Smithsonian Networks. “So we want to do programming that entertains and inspires and educates, and we want to be known as America’s storyteller.”

The programming on the channel reflects all the areas of interest represented in the Smithsonian Institution, which can range from natural history to aviation and space, to art and popular culture.

Royle notes that while the fledgling channel hopes to draw a large number of people in the 25-to-45 age group, the main goal is to reach as broad a range of Americans as possible, particularly families. “We are the only channel today to say that we’re really based on a place, and a place that really means something to a broad range of Americans,” says Royle. “We’ve got one of America’s most family-friendly brands and we intend to play to that strength. We really are going after a broad family audience.”

During the day, the network’s schedule emphasizes family and kid-targeted programming, which includes Critter Quest!, hosted by a young naturalist from Michigan named Peter Schriemer. The series is centered on activities that parents can do with their children in their own backyard.

For prime time, the channel’s schedule leans towards some of its bigger historical and natural history series, like Nature Tech. The show “looks at how scientists and engineers of today draw inspiration from the natural world,” explains Royle. He notes that the series recently just beat out Planet Earth at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival as the best natural history mini-series of the year.

As the 24-hour channel is still fairly new, there’s a “complicated repeat pattern, but it’ll get more and more reach in terms of programming as our audience grows and as we mature in the months ahead,” says Royle.

Aside from the channel’s mandate to produce high-quality HD programming, Royle says that it is also basing its schedule entirely on premiere programming. Adds Royle: “Any program that you see on our channel is new to the U.S.”

The Smithsonian Channel recently aired a weekend of programming in honor of Veteran’s Day called America’s War Stories, which featured the documentary Day of the Kamikaze, co-produced with Channel 4 and Darlow Smithson Productions in the U.K. It focused on the two-day period during World War II where American forces ran up against suicide bombers for the first time. Other programs that aired during the weekend included Remembering Vietnam: The Wall at 25 and Carrier at War: The USS Enterprise.

Other offerings on the network include the original half-hour series Stories from the Vaults. Hosted by Tom Cavanagh, star of the NBC series Ed, the series goes behind the scenes with the Smithsonian Institution’s top curators and experts to reveal the back stories on some of the amazing artifacts that visitors don’t always get to see. A second season of the series is currently in production.

In addition to Cavanagh, Morgan Freeman has also come on board to host the six-part HD music series Sound Revolution. Set in Freeman’s club in Mississippi, the series showcases popular musicians such as B.B. King, Eric Clapton and James Brown, and is expected to air before the end of the year. “One of the things�[that] has been tremendously rewarding is the number of well-known people who have been enthusiastically embracing what we’re doing and becoming involved with our programming,” says Royle.

Smithsonian Networks is also working on a range of in-house productions as well as a number of co-productions. It has an exclusive co-production and output deal with the BBC for its flagship historical program Timewatch. Co-production deals are also in place with a several broadcasters, including ORF in Austria, Channel 4 in the U.K., NHK in Japan and ZDF in Germany. The Smithsonian Channel is also working with a number of production companies in the U.S.

According to Royle, acquisitions are also a priority for the channel. Smithsonian Networks recently acquired the series The Lost Gods from Tile Films in Ireland. The series looks at some of the ancient religions that once lorded over the empires of the world, ranging from the Egyptians to the Incas and the Celts.

WHATS NEW: Smithsonian Networks is working on a new series called Aero America, featuring aerial photography that is taken through the use of gyro mounts on helicopters. “We’re taking people on a journey through America, from a perspective which they’ve never seen their country in before,” says Royle.

The Vampire Princess, the true story behind the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is also in production. It is scheduled to air in the later part of 2008.

New media is on the agenda as well. “We do see ourselves as a multiplatform channel,” says Royle. “And everything we do, we’re thinking across platforms.” The channel is already providing video for a number of the main Smithsonian websites.

—By Irene Lew