Discovery resurrects Health Channel
Move will restore most programming lost after OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) took over the channel's space on Jan. 1.
Wed, Jan 19 2011 at 6:57 PM EST
The Discovery Health Channel has been given a new lease on life.
Discovery Communications recently announced that it was bringing back most of the programming featured on the channel that was cannibalized by Oprah's OWN Network on Jan. 1. The new home will be the space currently occupied by sister network FitTV. Starting Feb. 1, the channel will be renamed Discovery Fit and Health.
“People were still very engaged and loyal,” Laura Michalchyshyn, the president and general manager of the channel told the NY Times on Monday.
Showing off the power of social media, Discovery Health's Facebook page lit up with complaints after the OWN shift. Smaller groups added pressure with names like “Oprah Stole My Favorite Channel, Discovery Health.”
For fans of FitTV, however, the new changes may not be welcome. According to Michalchyshyn, exercise programming will be sharply reduced and only available from 6 a.m.-9 a.m. The rest of the day's programming slate will be all Discovery Health, with shows focused on forensic mysteries, medical stories, baby and pregnancy programming and stories of extreme life conditions.
The new channel will be available in about 50 million homes.
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Comments
Bonnie H
06/04/2011 21:40 PM
I'm on Dish network. What channel do I go to for the programs I watched on Discovery Health. I sure do miss them a lot. Especially Dr. G the Corornor. ARe they all on Mother Nature Network, but what channel is that?
Brooke Gillette
01/20/2011 15:18 PM
Thank you for your live link MNN.com! We appreciate it! We also made sure we were all over the Discovery Health facebook page, like bees on honey, to let them know how we feel! They soon realized they couldn't delete every comment! We hope they will thoughtfully tweak Discovery Fit & Health's programming, even if they have to keep it on a more expensive cable programming tier.
