I remember that a few years ago the conventional wisdom was the big media companies would shut down many of their less-popular cable networks. The thinking was that the companies would focus on their core assets and closing down some networks would decrease the size of the average cable bundle, making it less expensive and more able to compete with the digital upstarts.
As it turns out, the exact opposite of that has taken place. Media companies continue to offer their large bundles of mostly pointless cable networks as part of a "take it or leave it" deal during carriage disputes. The only slight change is that some of the most useless networks have been shifted from the main cable TV and vMVPD tier into add-on bundles. But there are still an amazing number of channels which only exist because even with a primetime audience in the low five figures, the combination of a few cents per subscriber from the carriage deal as well as some ad revenue provides enough of a revenue stream to keep the channel alive. Even if no one cares.
Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery both have a sizeable collection of channels which exist only as revenue-skimming television zombies. They don't have original programming, they are seldom even mentioned in corporate messaging campaigns.
Here is a rundown of the Warner Bros. Discovery zombie channels, and I am including a couple of formerly vibrant networks which have been pared down so much they are essentially zombie-adjacent.
American Heroes Channel
AHC is the perfect example of a large media company's ability to use its size and negotiating strength in order to force cable systems into carrying networks which make absolutely no sense outside of the financial hustle. The network launched in 1998 as Discovery Wings Channel, with the programming focusing on planes and aerospace. In its early years, the programming included an hourly live weather segment from the National Weather Service.
In 2005, the name changed to The Military Channel, and the programming centered on a lot of military aircraft and related stories. In 2014, the network was rebranded again as American Heroes Channel. While there were a original productions in its early years, the programming for the past 5-6 years has been exclusively old programs featuring the military, stories of the Wild West and random programs with "America" in the title.
Cooking Channel
The network was launched by Scripps in 2001 as Fine Living and was targeted as a companion to the Food Network. Scripps owned 69% of the network and Nexstar Media Group owned 31%. The programming was a more upscale mix of food, home living and travel shows and the channel spent a reported $100 million on original programming in its early years. The network was rebranded as The Cooking Channel in 2010 and it added a score of new shows from familiar Food Network personalities, including Bobby Flay, Rachael Ray and Emeril Lagasse. But since 2018, the number of original programs created for the Cooking Channel has steadily decreased. In the past year, only 4-5 original episodes are added to the network and they are from long-running shows such as Carnival Eats.
Destination America
The channel launched in 1996 as the Discovery Travel & Living Network and the programming was a mix of food, travel and home improvement shows. The network was an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the rival Food Network and HGTV. Although very little of that programming found an audience. In 2008, Discovery relaunched the channel as Planet Green and it spent a reported $50 million on original programming. Many of the show were quite good, but Discovery executives never seemed committed to the idea and within two years, all of the original shows had been canceled in favor of assorted library programming.
The network was rebranded as Destination America in 2012 and was originally seen by Discovery executives as a possible competitor to rival Scripps Network's Travel Channel. But when Discovery acquired Scripps Networks Interactive in 2017, the programming was shifted to paranormal shows in order to differentiate itself from its now sister Travel Channel. But when the Travel Channel began shifting its programming to more paranormal shows the following year, Destination America shifted back to a lineup of lightweight house and travel programming from the Discovery holdings. The programming now focuses on 24-hour marathons of show such as Beach Hunters, Beachfront Bargain Hunt and Lakefront Bargain Hunt.
Discovery Family
Given that kids programming is one of the stickiest types of television programming (as well as some of the most desirable for some advertisers), it's not surprising that Discovery wanted to get in on the genre. The company launched Discovery Kids in 1998, focusing on live-action science and nature programming. In 2010, Hasbro Entertainment became a partner in the channel and it relaunched as The Hub. Programming shifted to animated series such as My Little Pony and Transformers, along with some original live-action shows based on popular Hasbro-owned board games. In 2014, the was rebranded again as Discovery Family, with Hasbro now programming the network's daytime hours with animated reruns. While Discovery filled the network's evening hours with recycled episodes of Ultimate Cake-Off and Yard Crashers.
Discovery Life
Even for a zombie channel, the history of this network has been especially convoluted. In 2011, Discovery signed a deal with Oprah Winfrey that would give her own branded co-partnership network with Discovery. To do that, Discovery rebranded its Discovery Health network as OWN. But there were still viewers interested in some of Discovery Health's programming, so Discovery FitTV was rebranded as Discovery Fit & Health. The network was rebranded again as Discovery Life in 2015, with the target audience being women in the 20s and 30s. The network originally mixed some new programs like Sex Sent Me To The ER with older programming pulled from the old TLC library. In recent years, the schedule has been filled with decade-old episodes of I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant and Our Little Family.
Motor Trend
The channel began its life in 2002 as Discovery HD Theater, billed as the "first 24/7 high-definition basic cable network." Programming was a mix of HD programming from other Discovery networks. In 2011, the network was rebranded as Velocity, which featured automotive programming targeting an upscale male audience. In 2017, Discovery partnered with the owner of Motor Trend Magazine on a new look for the channel, which was renamed Motor Trend. The primary point of the linear network was to push viewers to the direct-to-consumer streaming service Motor Trend On Demand. It's unclear how well the streaming service is doing, since Warner Bros. Discovery decided last year to no longer include subscription numbers from the service in its quarterly earning reports. What new programming the linear channel has added in recent years is programming that was originally produced for the streaming service.
This was quite a lengthy rundown, but I spent the time doing it to illustrate just how crazy the current linear TV carriage situation is for consumers. There is absolutely no reason for any of these networks to continue to exist. Other than a combination of lethargy and petty greed.
