One of the biggest media revolutions in media in the last decade, and there have been many, has been the changes in TV. Both technology and viewer behaviour have been transformed, moving increasingly towards non-linear and entirely digital formats, where consumers now have near infinite choice that they can select on many different devices.
History Hit TV was formed with these changes well in mind. Linear TV programming has constraints of what it can show over the course of a day, and often companies programming for it have to consider primarily what will get the biggest possible audience. For people interested in history, this can lead to similar subject matter being produced and shown over and over again, which limits choice.
What makes history so exciting is the huge availability of subject matter and remarkable stories that can be drawn from any period. It is literally everything that ever happened on the planet, and presents so much choice. At History Hit we were determined to tell stories beyond the norm, and listen to feedback from our subscribers on what to do next. Viewing figures are of course, still of interest, but it is not our primary concern. It is a delight to see so much feedback saying people subscribe because we cover topics that more traditional channels wouldn’t touch, often bringing in new presenting talent.
Best Specialist Channel nomination
It is also a delight to announce that we’ve been nominated for Best Specialist Channel at the Broadcast Digital Awards. We are amongst some very esteemed company, and just being on the same table is a real honour. It’s testament to the hard work of our programming and production teams that we might be there at all, but also to our subscribers that we’re still growing. By listening to them, we’re increasingly able to produce the documentaries and films that people might never have even thought they’d be interested in, but then give us feedback to tell us they’ve found out something new.
Being nominated amongst this selection is already an honour.
That’s what specialist broadcasting is all about – why we’re here – and this nomination fills everyone at History Hit with immense pride. We hope our subscribers also get to share in that, because they’ve made History Hit TV the specialist channel that it is. Fingers crossed for the awards in October.
We commission programmes differently, we make programmes differently. We let our talent, on and off camera, take the lead, so viewers get authentic programmes rather than over produced compromises. We scour the world for stories, like Roman bones in Colchester, D-Day shipwrecks or World War One crash site recoveries that are beneath the notice of the massive players but are right in our audience’s sweet spot.
Dan Snow
