It was November 10, the day before Remembrance Day, and I turned on the TV to History.
On the big screen appeared an episode of Forged in Fire.
Surely, this is a mistake, I thought. Maybe it鈥檚 just one episode. Nope. It was a marathon.
I am completely and utterly disgusted with History Canada, what was once known as The History Channel.
In the week leading up to the 100th anniversary of the Armistice ending the Great War, the First World War, they had next to no actual history.
Most of the week saw a few episodes of Hunting Hitler and Hunting Nazi Treasure. The rest of the time was filled with reality shows like Yukon Gold, Ice Road Truckers, Counting Cars, Mountain Men and American Pickers.
On November 10, they had seven hours of the reality series Forged in Fire, from 2 p.m. until midnight. They played Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. And two hours of the morning, 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., had another reality series, Ice Road Truckers.
On November 11, Remembrance Day, they actually had some things dedicated to the Great War. That is, if you consider seven hours of War Junk, related. From 5 a.m. to 8 a.m., you could watch War Story, an actual historical show, but little of that was during the time when people are actually awake. At 1 p.m., they aired Dieppe Uncovered, and a repeat of a War Story episode, also on Dieppe. The afternoon saw Black Watch Snipers at 4 p.m., Searching for Vimy鈥檚 Lost Soldiers at 5:30 p.m., more War Junk at 7 p.m., then two hours of 100 Days to Victory.
So one day, Remembrance Day, had some historical coverage, but not much at all about the 100th anniversary of the Armistice. It should have been wall-to-wall.
In their show listing, History has a Car Week, but no longer have A Week of Remembrance. Why they can鈥檛 rebroadcast something out of their library is beyond me.
I used to love History. There were decades worth of documentaries on it. It was thought provoking, knowledgeable, and interesting. I learned things from it, almost every time I turned it on. But not anymore.
This is how their website鈥檚 鈥淎bout鈥� page describes the channel:
鈥�History explores stories of human endeavour, achievement and progress through award-winning series and specials. History is not the story of then, it鈥檚 now. And it鈥檚 not the story of them, it鈥檚 us. History is made every day, everywhere.鈥�
Well, what do ya know? History isn鈥檛 history, folks. It鈥檚 now. I should feel so much better, now that I鈥檝e read that.
But I don鈥檛.
When I look at the dozens of channels on TV that I am paying some ungodly amount for each month (out of the hundreds available), I would like to have at least a couple that offer something of quality, each and every time I turn it on. When I turn on Discovery, I would like to see real science, but rarely is that the case anymore. When I turn on History, I want to see actual history. I don鈥檛 watch Animal Planet, but I presume they still have animals.聽
History, you have become a mockery to your name. A fraud. A pathetic excuse for a television network if there ever was one. Change your name to something else, maybe Reality Shows R Us. But please, don鈥檛 call yourself History anymore.
Corus Entertainment, I have been paying you plenty of money over the years, and for what? For this garbage? If your History channel can鈥檛 actually air real, related history during the week of the 100th anniversary of the conclusion of one of the greatest conflicts of all time, why on earth am I giving you my hard-earned money?
No wonder people are cutting the cord in droves. Who could blame them? I get infinitely more historical value from watching a handful of YouTube channels than I am getting from you.
I鈥檝e been slowly cutting down our TV, down quite a ways from a package that had been pretty much the works. And you know what? I don鈥檛 miss it, and neither does anyone else in the household.
My kids hardly watch broadcast TV at all. I don鈥檛 know if our 13-year-old could even tell me the channel number for any particular station other than the news channel. It is of little use to her. Instead, she watches Netflix, on her laptop or iPad.
I think there is a very real need and space for specialty TV; but most of those channels seem to have lost their way. And most of those channels happen to be owned and operated by Corus.
The Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has allowed this to happen, slowly but surely, over the years. If that鈥檚 the case, why do we even have a CTRC?
If History can鈥檛 show history anymore, I don鈥檛 know if I need a TV. Those scissors are coming closer and closer to cutting the cord. Are you listening, Corus?
