Sky Documentaries, Nature and History go live
David Farnor | On 27, May 2020
Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature have gone live today, bringing two new factual channels to Sky customers.
The new channels include extensive on-demand libraries offering hundreds of hours of factual programming, including original commissions and acquired content.
Sky Documentaries brings together HBO, Showtime and Hulu exclusives as well as new Sky original documentaries. With a mix of feature-length documentaries and series that will challenge, provoke and entertain, the channel is home to 100 on-demand titles, ranging from sport and politics to real-life controversies.
McMillions will debut on 27th May, telling the story of a gaming scam that lasted a decade. Ali Vs Cavett (29th May) will portray the life of boxing legend Muhammad Ali through the lens of his frequent appearances on the Dick Cavett Show. The Plastic Nile (1st June) looks at the devastating effect of plastic pollution on the world’s longest river. Hillary will arrive on 11th June, providing an intimate portrait of public woman Hillary Clinton. And Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men (24th June) looks back on the group’s career combining intimate and reflective interviews from each of the nine living members.
Sky Nature is home to breathtaking natural history programming, including Sky’s existing David Attenborough collection and Love Nature 4K’s programming. Shows available at launch include Gangs of Lemur Island (27th May), Africa’s Underwater Wonders (27th May) and Mysteries of the Mekong (28th May). Landmark Sky original series Wild Animal Babies will arrive on 31st May, following Patrick Aryee and a cast of baby animal characters as they face their first days, weeks and months on Earth.
Sky History, a co-branded venture with A+E Networks (previously known as History), tells stories full of colourful characters through a mix of award-winning, talent-led UK commissions, premium innovative documentaries and global hit franchise programming.
Coming soon are ncient Superstructures (1st June), which explores the unique investigations into the engineering mysteries behind the world’s most breath-taking ancient monuments; The UnXplained (9th June), which sees William Shatner and discover stories that have mystified mankind for centuries in; Secret Wars Uncovered (19th June), which reveals the facts behind battles that were shrouded in corruption and misinformation; and Washington (4th July), produced by renowned historian Doris Kearns Godwin and narrated by Jeff Daniels, which chips away at the marbled image of America’s first president to seek the truth behind the legend.
All three channels are available to Sky customers at no extra charge through linear and on demand. They are also available on NOW, as part of an £8.99 NOW Entertainment Membership. (A NOW Entertainment Membership auto-renews at £8.99 a month until 1st September 2020, £9.99 thereafter unless cancelled.)
Sky Documentaries, Nature and History set for May launch
17th April 2020
Sky will be launching its two new factual channels, Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature, this May, alongside Sky History.
The new channels will include extensive on-demand libraries and offer hundreds of hours of factual programming, including original commissions and acquired content.
Sky Documentaries will be the home of world-class, real life stories from award-winning film makers, including HBO, Showtime and Hulu exclusives and new Sky original documentaries. With a mix of feature length documentaries and series that will challenge, provoke and entertain, the channel will house 100 on-demand titles. The channel will cover a wide range of topics from sport, to politics, to real-life controversies.
Sky History, a co-branded venture with A+E Networks (previously known as History), tells ground-breaking stories full of colourful characters through a mix of award-winning, talent-led UK commissions, premium innovative documentaries and global hit franchise programming.
Sky Nature will be home to breath-taking natural history programming, dedicated to exploring the beauty and wonder of the natural world and inspiring us all to do more to look after it.
All three channels will launch on 27th May. They will be available to Sky customers at no extra charge through linear and on demand. They will also be available on NOW, as part of the NOW Entertainment Membership.
Sky to launch Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature
28th January 2020
Sky is launching two new factual channels, Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature.
These new additions to Sky’s entertainment portfolio follow the launch of Sky Crime in October and Sky Comedy yesterday, as the pay-TV broadcaster increasingly delineates its content line-up to push each brand to target audiences, in a similar approach to Netflix’s social media presence.
Research shows that documentaries are rising-up the popularity stakes with Sky customers – factual shows are now the second most popular genre after drama. These two channels will offer hundreds of hours of factual programming, providing an unmissable mix of premium, original commissions and acquired content, including extensive on demand libraries.
The channels will launch this spring and be available to Sky customers at no extra charge both linear and on-demand. They will also launch on NOW, available as part of the NOW Entertainment Membership.
Sky Documentaries will be the home of world-class, real life stories from award-winning film makers, including HBO and SHOWTIME documentaries and new Sky original documentaries. With a mix of feature length documentaries and series that will challenge, provoke and entertain, the channel will explore a broad range of topics from sport and real-world controversies through to biographies of some of the world’s most famous and infamous people.
New Sky originals will include Bitter Pill: Primodos and Tiger Woods: The Comeback, alongside HBO exclusives McMillions from executive producer Mark Wahlberg and After Truth directed by Andrew Rossi. SHOWTIME exclusive The Kingmaker directed by Lauren Greenfield will also air, along with an extensive on demand library of documentaries including What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali and Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind.
Sky Nature will be home to natural history programming, dedicated to exploring the beauty and wonder of the natural world and inspiring us all to do more to look after it. The channel will feature landmark Sky original series, including Sky’s existing David Attenborough collection, and be the home of Love Nature programming on Sky.
New Sky originals will include Extreme Animals: One Wild Day and Extreme Animals: Life’s First Steps, with two further premium originals currently in development. Love Nature originals will include Amazing Animal Friends, produced by Emmy & BAFTA award winning producers, Oxford Scientific Films and; Wild Tales from the Farm, filmed in the UK and narrated by Hugh Bonneville.
Zai Bennett, Managing Director of Content at Sky, says: “Premium documentaries and nature series are increasingly important to our customers, with them wanting to get to the shows they want as quickly as possible. That’s why we’re launching two new content brands, Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature. These new channels will offer our customers an unrivalled destination for brand new, world class documentaries and nature programming as well as an extensive on demand library of the world’s best factual programmes.”
The entertainment portfolio on Sky in UK and Ireland and NOW now includes eight core Sky channels: Sky One, Sky Atlantic, Sky Witness, Sky Arts, Sky Crime, Sky Comedy, Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature alongside the Sky Cinema and Sky Kids services. Sky’s other channel brands include E!, SYFY, Pick and Challenge.