a & e launched february 1 1984 sharing time with nickelodeon january 1 1985 as a 24 hour channel owned by a & e networks hearst corporation 50 % disney abc television group the walt disney company 50 % picture format 1080i hdtv 480i letterboxed for sdtv feed slogan be original country united states broadcast area united states canada headquarters new york city new york united states formerly called arts & entertainment network 1984 1995 a & e network 1995 1997 sister channel s history fyi lifetime lmn viceland website aetv.com availability satellite directv 265 dish network 118 9419 hd bell tv canada 1721 615 sd shaw direct canada 278 520 sd sky uk & ireland channel tba cable time warner cable 102 hd sd available on most u.s. and canadian cable providers check local cable listings channels may vary iptv verizon fios 681 181 sd southern fibernet 1213 213 sd telus tv canada 670 170 sd bell fibe tv canada 1615 615 sd zazeen canada 86 hd vmedia canada 270 hd streaming media apple tv watch a & e application roku watch a & e application sling tv internet protocol television a & e an initialism for its full name the arts & entertainment network 1 is an american cable and satellite television channel that serves as the flagship television property of a & e networks a joint venture between the hearst corporation and disney abc television group subsidiary of the walt disney company both of which maintain a 50 % ownership interest . the channel originally focused programming on biographies documentaries and drama series especially crime dramas and mysteries but has later expanded to include reality television programming . as of july 2015 the a & e network is available to approximately 95 968 000 pay television households 82.4 % of households with television in the united states . 2 the channel is headquartered in new york city and operates offices in atlanta georgia ; chicago illinois ; detroit michigan ; london united kingdom ; los angeles california and stamford connecticut . 3 4 5 6 the u.s. version of the channel is shown in canada while international versions exist for australia latin america and europe . contents 1 history 1.1 1984 2002 1.2 2002 2013 1.3 2013 present 2 programming 2.1 movies and miniseries 3 high definition 4 references 5 external links history edit 1984 2002 edit a & e launched on february 1 1984 initially available to 9.3 million cable television homes in the u.s. and canada . 7 the network is a result of the 1984 merger of hearst abc s alpha repertory television service arts and pre general electric merger rca owned the entertainment channel . 8 when a & e debuted the channel took over the satellite transponder timeslot that arts occupied from its launch in 1981 . children s television channel nickelodeon signed off just before 9 p.m. eastern time and a & e took over at 9 p.m. with a three hour programming block which was repeated at 9 p.m. pacific time . in january 1985 a & e moved to its own dedicated transponder and began delivering its programming 24 hours a day while nickelodeon replaced the vacated a & e programming with a classic television block called nick at nite on july 1 of that year . however some cable providers continued to carry nickelodeon and a & e on the same channel and would usually switch over to a & e at 8 p.m. eastern . it was not until the early 1990s that these companies found separate channels for both networks . a & e was envisioned as a commercial counterpart to pbs and in its early days focused on such pbs style programming as the leonard bernstein fidelio filmed in 1978 . in the 1990s it began to add programming originally seen on commercial networks such as reruns of columbo breaking away quincy the equalizer law & order and night court . highbrow british mysteries including agatha christie s poirot cracker dalziel and pascoe inspector morse lovejoy midsomer murders the joan hickson miss marple series and sherlock holmes were also featured ; several of these series were produced in association with a & e. by 1990 a & e s original programming accounted for 35 to 40 percent of the network s program content . 9 the comedy series an evening at the improv built a young adult audience in the late 80s and continued through 1996 . also comedy on the road won a cableace award 13th annual event ; both series were produced by larry o daly . a & e s signature show was biography a one hour documentary series that a & e revived in 1987 . 10 in 1994 airings of biography went from weekly broadcasts to airing five nights a week which helped boost a & e s ratings to record levels . 9 the nightly series became a & e s top rated show and one of cable television s most notable successes . 10 biography received primetime emmy awards in 1999 and 2002 . 11 in its first decade a & e had limited advertising with fewer commercials at the time mostly for a & e programs and its magazine . beginning in the mid 90 s advertising was increased substantially on the channel . in may 1995 the channel s name officially changed to the a & e network 1 to reflect its declining focus on arts and entertainment . 12 by 1996 the network had branded itself as simply a & e and was using the slogans time well spent and escape the ordinary . the word arts in regard to television has associations such as sometimes elitist sometimes boring sometimes overly refined and doesn t translate well to tv whitney goit executive vice president for sales and marketing stated . even the arts patron often finds arts on tv not as satisfying as it should be ... and the word entertainment is too vague . therefore much like espn uses its letters rather than what they stand for entertainment sports programming network we decided to go to just a & e. of the network s tagline goit said intellectually time well spent defines a comparison between those who view a lot of television as a wasteland and their acknowledgment that there are good things on tv and that they d like to watch more thought provoking tv . 13 a & e commissioned horatio hornblower 1999 winner of two primetime emmy award and the seven subsequent dramas in the series ; dash and lilly 1999 which received nine emmy nominations ; and the crossing 2000 which won the peabody award . the network created two original weekly drama series sidney lumet s 100 centre street and nero wolfe both of which lasted from 2001 to 2002 . 2002 2013 edit in mid 2002 a & e underwent an overhaul in management which moved the network s focus toward reality television in order to attract a younger demographic 14 and cancelled the network s two original scripted series . in may 2003 a & e launched a marketing campaign with the network s new tagline the art of entertainment . 15 between 2003 and 2007 the channel gradually retired several long running series moving its classic mysteries to the biography channel and cancelling breakfast with the arts in favor of reality programming such as dog the bounty hunter gene simmons family jewels growing up gotti family plots airline inked king of cars and criss angel mindfreak . in addition a & e had garnered favorable notice for true crime documentary series such as cold case files american justice city confidential investigative reports and the first 48 . the network also cut back on its broadcasts of biography from originally twice daily to weekend mornings only . 16 the changes were criticized as causing a & e to become an aberration of its original focus on fine arts programming . for example maury chaykin reflected on the cancellation of the a & e original series a nero wolfe mystery in a 2008 interview i m a bit jaded and cynical about which shows succeed on television . i worked on a fantastic show once called nero wolfe but at the time a & e was transforming from the premiere intellectual cable network in america to one that airs dog the bounty hunter on repeat so it was never promoted and eventually went off the air . 17 the docudrama flight 93 about the hijacking of the plane which crashed in pennsylvania during the september 11 2001 attacks was the most watched program on the network ; it attracted 5.9 million viewers for its initial telecast on january 30 2006 . this was later surpassed by duck dynasty s third season premiere . the previous record holder for the network was a world war ii docudrama ike countdown to d day starring tom selleck and broadcast in 2004 with 5.5 million viewers . 18 a & e later acquired rights to rerun the critically acclaimed hbo series the sopranos ; its a & e premiere on january 10 2007 averaged 3.86 million viewers making it the most watched premiere of a rerun off network series in cable television history at the time . 19 the series has continued to perform well for a & e and the network now regularly ranks in the top ten basic u.s. cable channels in prime time ratings . 20 on may 26 2008 in conjunction with the premiere of the original film the andromeda strain a & e rebranded with a new logo and slogan real life . drama . representing its shift from an arts focused network to a more contemporary network focused on scripted programming . 21 22 as part of its continuing efforts to include more scripted shows a & e ordered several dramas for fall 2009 . among them were projects from jerry bruckheimer shawn ryan and lynda obst and a western miniseries from kevin costner . several unscripted series were also renewed or ordered for fall including intervention the first 48 gene simmons family jewels dog the bounty hunter crime 360 criss angel mindfreak paranormal state manhunters storage wars parking wars and shipping wars . 23 in june 2009 it was reported that a & e television networks was in discussions to acquire lifetime then jointly owned by two of a & e s then three corporate parents hearst and disney . 24 25 26 the transaction was eventually consummated on august 27 2009 . 27 28 in july 2012 nbcuniversal sold its 15 % stake in network parent a & e networks to hearst and disney which each owned a 42.5 % interest in the company making the two companies 50 50 partners in the joint venture . 29 2013 present edit on december 11 2013 a & e unveiled a new on air brand identity built around the slogan be original emphasizing the network s lineup of original productions and positioning it as a much lighter more fun place to come and spend time . 22 30 31 on december 19 2013 a & e placed phil robertson from duck dynasty on indefinite hiatus following remarks on homosexuals in an interview with gq . 32 33 34 a & e said in a statement we are extremely disappointed to have read phil robertson s comments in gq which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series duck dynasty . his personal views in no way reflect those of a e networks who have always been strong supporters and champions of the lgbt community . 35 36 37 on december 27 2013 a & e announced they would begin filming again with the entire robertson family on the heels of large public outcry and discussions with the robertson family and