The History Channel Unveils New Online, TV Projects

NEW YORK, May 1: The History Channel has announced that its
website, History.com, will launch five new original digital brands this year,
and that the linear network is currently developing six new specials that will
air in the fourth quarter of this year and in 2008.

The five original digital brands include the
military-oriented blog Band of Bloggers, which
collects exclusive, raw “soldier generated content” from military bloggers and
is scheduled for a premiere in the third quarter; the exclusive broadband
short-form series The Naked Underground, which is an off-shoot of the new weekly linear series Cities
of the Underworld and will air in the
second quarter; Hero Ships, a
short-form broadband series airing in the fourth quarter that brings to life
fascinating moments in a legendary ships' history; and the series History
Uncut, which will be broadcast in the
second quarter and highlights memorable events that are unedited and
unfiltered, including the Wright Brothers’ first flight attempt.

The History Channel has also acquired the rights to a
collection of 94 never-before-seen half-hour historical documentaries based on
George Lucas’ The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones television movies, for premiere on The History Channel
website later this year. The documentaries are based on events that took place
during the early part of the 20th century and provide context to the fictional
adventures of the Young Indiana Jones. The television movies will also
broadcast on the linear channels The History Channel and History International.

"There is no question that the industry has reached a
new level in terms of what digital multi-media can provide," said Nancy
Dubuc, the EVP and GM of The History Channel. "Just as The History Channel
is where television audiences go when they want the best in insightful and
thought-provoking programming, History.com is the number one online destination
for the history enthusiast. Technology is enabling us to bridge the gap in how
we interact with our audiences and is changing where content is born. No matter
what the platform, it is about enabling history fans to experience great
content any way they want it."

In addition, the History Channel has announced that it is
developing six major specials that will air this year and in 2008, including China’s
First Emperor, China Central Television’s
(CCTV) first major co-production with an American television network.

Four of the specials will air in the fourth quarter of this
year. They are: A Global Warning, which
tries to separate out manmade global warming from natural causes; Stalking
Jihad, which is based on the upcoming book Stalking
Jihad in Paradise from best-selling author
Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down) and
is a glimpse into how U.S. intelligence tracks terrorists; Lost Book
of Nostradamus, an exclusive investigation
into how a manuscript believed to have been written by Nostradamus ended up in
Italy's National Library in Rome; and Manhunt, which chronicles the story behind the 12-day hunt for
John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln.

The two specials premiering in 2008 include Egypt Project
(working title), which will air in the
first quarter and chronicles the accomplishments of the Egyptian pharaoh
Radjedef, who spent much of his life living in his shadow of his father Khufu,
responsible for building the Great Pyramids of Giza; and China’s
First Emperor, which will air in the third
quarter and is CCTV’s first major co-production with an American television
network. The special takes viewers on trip to ancient China to tell the epic
saga of Chin Shihuang, who commanded an army larger than Napoleon's and
conquered more territory than Alexander the Great.