# H2 what happened?



## satcrazy (Mar 16, 2011)

Was I sleeping when they changed the format on H2?

Jeez, it was preferable to History for programming, now it is WORSE.

Tuned in this morning, and I don't get it.

Another channel bites the dust.

RIP History channel.


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

It's been planned awhile and I am glad. http://deadline.com/2015/11/vice-ae-networks-viceland-network-h2-1201604930/


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## satcrazy (Mar 16, 2011)

At this very moment I'm watching two kids answering phone calls from some very odd callers, and giggling their way through it.

If this is entertainment, count me out.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

I liked some things on H2, but some shows took it off the deep end in my opinion.


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## KyL416 (Nov 11, 2005)

If the countdown on the screen isn't enough of a clue for you, this is not what the channel will be airing, it's just a stunt until Viceland launches tonight at 7pm ET.

A few days ago Vice posted the phone number on their social media accounts and told people to leave messages, they're playing the result with various staff members reacting to them all day until the channel launches.


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## nmetro (Jul 11, 2006)

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viceland

It claims its "programming consists primarily of lifestyle-oriented documentary and reality series aimed towards millenials,"

AHC (American Heroes Channel) ran a full page ad in today's New York Times, that it is now the pace for History programming. Though, Smithsonian and PBS is a better places for history oriented programming. AHC is sort of a 75-25 between history and "speculative programming". Though, its speculative programming doe snot delve into the kind of so called "history" programming that aired on H2. As fro History Channel, it is pretty much a reality channel, with very little history programming.


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## dennispap (Feb 1, 2007)

https://www.viceland.com/en_us/shows


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## satcrazy (Mar 16, 2011)

KyL416 said:


> If the countdown on the screen isn't enough of a clue for you, this is not what the channel will be airing, it's just a stunt until Viceland launches tonight at 7pm ET.
> 
> A few days ago Vice posted the phone number on their social media accounts and told people to leave messages, they're playing the result with various staff members reacting to them all day until the channel launches.


Come on, that count down didn't tell me it was a "stunt" for what was to come, but it sure was a great indication for that "millennial" programing that aired this evening. I tuned in to give it a fair shot so as not to be too judgmental.

Wow, imagine my surprise when I saw a group of overweight guys stuffing their face and commenting on the cuisine while wiping their mouths on the table cloth.

I'm sure you will enjoy the new programing.



nmetro said:


> See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viceland
> 
> It claims its "programming consists primarily of lifestyle-oriented documentary and reality series aimed towards millenials,"
> 
> AHC (American Heroes Channel) ran a full page ad in today's New York Times, that it is now the pace for History programming. Though, Smithsonian and PBS is a better places for history oriented programming. AHC is sort of a 75-25 between history and "speculative programming". Though, its speculative programming doe snot delve into the kind of so called "history" programming that aired on H2. As fro History Channel, it is pretty much a reality channel, with very little history programming.


Thanks for the useful info.

I have to agree with your subsequent take on the other channels.

Like I said, History is sadly circling the drain, and Vice is not even a good substitute.


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## HobbyTalk (Jul 14, 2007)

Spike Jonze (think Jackass & _Being John Malkovich__)_ was on Cobert last night. From the interview my take is that it will kind of be like a YouTube for TV where young directors get a chance to show off non-mainstream ideas. Some may your cup of tea, others might not.

Programs like Weediquette which covers children suffering, cancer and PTSD won't be interesting for everyone. Will be an interesting experiment.


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## camo (Apr 15, 2010)

Viceland has a great lineup of wholesome viewing.

GAYCATION, Balls Deep, F*CK, THAT'S DELICIOUS, WEEDIQUETTE Stoned Kids what else could we want?  :righton:


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## nmetro (Jul 11, 2006)

camo said:


> Viceland has a great lineup of wholesome viewing.
> GAYCATION, Balls Deep, F*CK, THAT'S DELICIOUS, WEEDIQUETTE Stoned Kids what else could we want?  :righton:
> 
> So we went from Alien conspiracy theories on [email protected] to smut on Viceland. Nice present for a $5 increase.


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## Willh (Jan 1, 2009)

The target demo is the LGBT community, Millennials, people with alternative lifestyles like hipsters and focuses on teens to 30somethings. 

Sent from my RCT6773W22B using Tapatalk


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## KyL416 (Nov 11, 2005)

You might want to read the descriptions:

"Stoned Kids" is not about kids getting high for fun, it's a serious topic about how in states where it's now legal, it's helping kids with cancer during chemo treatments.

"Gaycation" is not about Ellen Page going on a bunch of LGBT cruises for fun or the stereotypical stuff you would see on Ru Paul's Drag Race on Logo. It's not really targetting a LGBT only audience either, if anything its main target is the non-LGBT audience.

They also aired the special Vice did a few years ago about the actual Suicide Forest in Japan and the reasons why it's a thing, as opposed to what that horror movie that came out last year depicted it as.


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## comizzou573 (Aug 6, 2007)

I finally cut the cord to dish network, they are becoming worse by the day. I have to say I love the genie, its sad that dish doesnt listen to its customers or inform us of program changes. I really liked the H2 and I do love vice, but the price we are paying we should get both channels.


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## tampa8 (Mar 30, 2002)

comizzou573 said:


> I finally cut the cord to dish network, they are becoming worse by the day. I have to say I love the genie, its sad that dish doesnt listen to its customers or inform us of program changes. I really liked the H2 and I do love vice, but the price we are paying we should get both channels.


So lets see, I got an announcement of the change in a billing a few months ago. Then there's the little thing that.... there is NO H2 anymore. No one has it.


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## nmetro (Jul 11, 2006)

comizzou573 said:


> I finally cut the cord to dish network, they are becoming worse by the day. I have to say I love the genie, its sad that dish doesnt listen to its customers or inform us of program changes. I really liked the H2 and I do love vice, but the price we are paying we should get both channels.


H2 was not dropped by DISH, the people who own H2 (A&E Networks) converted it to Viceland. H2 does not exist any more.


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## mwdxer (Oct 30, 2013)

Yes, programming changes like H2 to VICE. Dish or any provider does not control that. If the owner of the channel decides they want to go a different direction for various reasons, they do. We have seen this many times through the years and there will be more in the future I am sure. As far as prices go, the cost to have a large package now it upwards to the $100/mo mark. Since the programmers are demanding more money, the pricing will continue to go up. We are all in the same basket with that. Any provider can offer a deal to switch, but when all is said and done and that deal runs out, the customer is left with the same expensive cost. Dish does try to keep down prices and at times we lose a channel for a time, but if Dish gave in every time, we would probably be paying 50% more. If the viewer wants the great variety in programming they have to pay for it. Gone are the days of a couple channels being enough. People want plenty of choices today, and we have them, but they cost. That is one reason I bought a Roku. A great addition to Dish and OTA and a lot of it is free.


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## camo (Apr 15, 2010)

Agree the Roku combo with Dish Smart Pack along with 1/2 off HBO & movie pack is just what the doctor ordered. More than enough entertainment with bill under $80 including Netflix.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

mwdxer said:


> Yes, programming changes like H2 to VICE. Dish or any provider does not control that.


There have been a few content changes that DISH has balked at and the channels ended up not changing. Special feeds of content that resembled the old channel were maintained to fulfill the contract. Perhaps DISH's contract to carry H2 was not content specific. Otherwise they agreed to the change (or will be dropping the channel for breach of contract at some point).


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## Gail Hooker (Mar 3, 2016)

Why did DirecTV take off the History 2 channel and replace it with a piece of trash station, Viceland?? Viceland is trashy full of drugs, idiocy, stupidity and nothing of significance that is even on the verge of intelligence. We want the History 2 channel back!!!


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## mwdxer (Oct 30, 2013)

The owners of H2 made the change. Dish had nothing to do with it. Whenever there is a programming change, the company that owns the channel, not the provider, makes changes. It is like your local grocery store changing to be a hardware store. Dish had nothing to do with the changes at the History channel.


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## KyL416 (Nov 11, 2005)

Gail Hooker said:


> Viceland is trashy full of drugs, idiocy, stupidity and nothing of significance that is even on the verge of intelligence.


Yep, having the first interview with the band that was playing at the Bataclan in Paris on November 13th isn't significant at all...

A serious report on how in states where it's now legal, medicinal marijuana is helping children with cancer during Chemo treatments instead of the alternative where time sensitive treatments have to be delayed because they can't keep a meal down and build up their strength to handle another round of chemo isn't "intelligent" at all...



> We want the History 2 channel back!!!


Ancient Aliens, Modern Marvels and The Universe are moving to History, most of the rest of H2's shows are no longer being produced.

The only way you're gonna get H2 back is to move outside of the USA, but the international H2 channels are nothing like what H2 was in the USA. And those will probably go away too eventually since their deal calls for A&E to rebrand one of their overseas channels to Viceland in the next year and the H2s are the only option available, since most of the international Bio channels already rebranded to either FYI or Lifetime depending on the country.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

KyL416 said:


> Yep, having the first interview with the band that was playing at the Bataclan in Paris on November 13th isn't significant at all...


A gem covered in dog crap is still covered in dog crap.

When most of a channel's content is not desirable how does one know when to tune in for the one good thing? With good advertising I might seek out a "gem" on a channel I usually do not watch. I set a timer, the event records and I watch it without watching anything else on that channel (other than ads for that channel's other programming). There are a lot of channels I do not watch just to see what is on.

I understand that the channels I watch may be undesirable to others. And I assume that the gem programs on my favorite channels may also be missed because of a channel's reputation. It is part of life. And I accept that one or two good programs do not raise the rest up to the same level of desirability.

It is frustrating when a regularly watched channel goes away - especially when the replacement is less desirable.


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## nothappy (Mar 5, 2016)

We added a package just to get some real history programs. Give us a choice!!! Don't just change the channel completely


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

nothappy said:


> We added a package just to get some real history programs. Give us a choice!!! Don't just change the channel completely


You need to take it up with A&E Networks. They decided to remove H2 and replace it with Viceland.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Yeah, the satellite and cable providers have no option in the matter, unless the contract they have allowed them to just not carry Viceland at all which doesn't exactly help either.


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## mwdxer (Oct 30, 2013)

H2 does not exist any longer, anywhere. Even friends in Canada that had H2, they now have Viceland. You cannot get a channel back that no longer exists. A&E control that.


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## KyL416 (Nov 11, 2005)

mwdxer said:


> Even friends in Canada that had H2, they now have Viceland.


Actually up in Canada it replaced the Rogers owned Biography channel because of Vice's existing partnership with Rogers (A&E no longer had a stake in the Canadian Biography channel, while FYI Canada launched using the license for Shaw's Twist TV). H2 is owned by Shaw and still exists, although they air a mix of History and H2 content because of other programming commitments by the Canadian History channel (i.e. the Canadian History channel airs a lot of movies and some other shows like MASH).


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## APB101 (Sep 1, 2010)

nothappy said:


> We added a package just to get some real history programs. Give us a choice!!! Don't just change the channel completely


This is a re-branding.

Just like that ABC Family turned into Freeform.

(New-and-improved, if you can believe any of that.)


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## olds403 (Nov 20, 2007)

APB101 said:


> This is a re-branding.
> 
> Just like that ABC Family turned into Freeform.
> 
> (New-and-improved, if you can believe any of that.)


It is not just a re-branding, as NONE of the content from H2 is available anymore. I agree that I do not like Viceland or its content, seems like it is aimed at a MUCH younger demographic. I was not pleased when H2 disappeared from my Sling TV subscription during my first week of service. Thanks A&E.


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## camo (Apr 15, 2010)

Problem with H2 was moving toward the pseudo-scientific entertainment which many thought was crap. 
Viceland is much worse however, if its geared toward the younger generation I guess they missed the memo they don't watch much TV.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

olds403 said:


> It is not just a re-branding, as NONE of the content from H2 is available anymore. I agree that I do not like Viceland or its content, seems like it is aimed at a MUCH younger demographic. I was not pleased when H2 disappeared from my Sling TV subscription during my first week of service. Thanks A&E.


Some shows were moved to History. I know The Universe, Modern Marvels and Ancient Aliens were some. Personally I don't think one one of those belongs.


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## scottchez (Feb 4, 2003)

What ever you do NEVER tune to this channel. Dish gathers channel usage stats, the stats will show no one ever watches it and they will someday replace it with something people will watch. Sat Bandwidth is valuable.

IMPORTANT- I REPEAT What ever you do NEVER tune to this channel. Dish gathers channel usage stats, the stats will show no one ever watches it and they will someday replace it with something people will watch. Sat Bandwidth is valuable.


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## KyL416 (Nov 11, 2005)

Viceland's contract is tied to the rest of the A&E Networks, it's here to stay unless Dish really wants to play hardball and lose A&E, FYI, History, History en Espanol, Lifetime, LMN and Crime & Investigation as part of a dispute just so they can drop Viceland next time Dish's contract with A&E is up for renewal.

Like olds403 mentioned, this is not a simple rebranding like ABC Family -> Freeform where most of the programming remained the same, it's A&E eliminating H2 and using the distribution to partner with Vice to launch Viceland worldwide. Viceland has no intention of keeping H2's audience and the channel will not be airing any of H2's programming, the few remaining H2 originals are moving to History. It's like when Style became Esquire and the few remaining Style shows found new homes on E! or Bravo, or when Discovery Health became OWN, all of the Discovery Health programs left the channel and moved to Discovery Fit & Health (now Discovery Life), or when Fox Soccer Channel became FXX and the Fox Soccer programming moved to FS1, FS2 and Fox Soccer Plus.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

scottchez said:


> What ever you do NEVER tune to this channel.


I do not see that a s a problem for most people. Perhaps a regular viewer of H2 might change to channel 121 out of habit ... but I do not see people confusing the new programming for what was on H2.

As for getting the channel removed I do not see anything mere viewers can do. The A&E contract put the channel there - the A&E contract will keep the channel there for as long as they consider it viable.


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## Slamminc11 (Jan 28, 2005)

scottchez said:


> What ever you do NEVER tune to this channel. Dish gathers channel usage stats, the stats will show no one ever watches it and they will someday replace it with something people will watch. Sat Bandwidth is valuable.
> 
> IMPORTANT- I REPEAT What ever you do NEVER tune to this channel. Dish gathers channel usage stats, the stats will show no one ever watches it and they will someday replace it with something people will watch. Sat Bandwidth is valuable.


I've clicked on it 10 times today just because of this post. yep, a boring sunday afternoon!


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## mwdxer (Oct 30, 2013)

I must admit I have not really watched the channel much, but there may be some interesting shows on there.


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## BobCulp (Dec 21, 2013)

Best way to make a channel to go away is to contact the advertisers. Catch 22 is you have to watch the channel to know who the advertisers are.

I found this complaint board from History Channel. http://www.complaintboard.com/history-channel-complaints-l32155.html


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I don't know why this question keeps coming up... I can get people being disappointed, but IF they were regular viewers of the old H2 channel, weren't they informing their viewers of the change to Viceland? I mean... that's who should have been telling consumers they were about to change the name and programming... I wasn't a regular watcher of H2, so I don't know... but did they really pull the rug out from under people without telling them they were about to change the channel's lineup?


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

_Moderator note... duplicate threads merged._


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## tommiet (Dec 29, 2005)

No biggie.. Another channel blocked. But at some point with over 13 years as a Dish customer, I'm going to call it quits. Can only handle "taking out the trash" so much.


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## KyL416 (Nov 11, 2005)

BobCulp said:


> Best way to make a channel to go away is to contact the advertisers.


Yeah good luck on that. The advertisers were told well in advanced of the change and were given a presentation of the programming that will be on Viceland by A&E before they purchased ad time.

Advertisers don't really care unless it involves someone using a racial slur, or a star of a show being investigated for a major crime like rape or murder. Plus considering who's behind Viceland and the type of news stories Vice covers, most of the major organizations that organized successful advertiser boycotts in the past are on good terms with them.

If advertisers pulled their ads everytime someone found something offensive, didn't agree with a viewpoint, or just didn't like the programming on a channel, a lot more than Viceland would go away.


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## satcrazy (Mar 16, 2011)

Yanked it from my fav list.

Like I said, RIP. Another channel gone.

Since it's mom or dad paying the bill, and the so-called millennials [who have basically abandoned tv for their smart phones] are the target audience, what genius thought this was a good idea?

After looking up Discovery "life", Dish doesn't offer this channel. It might have been a better choice if Dish had that option, sadly it appears they do not.


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## satcrazy (Mar 16, 2011)

One note on the plus side.

I'm sure glad Dish finally added Smithsonian channel when they did!


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## Chihuahua (Sep 8, 2007)

*I actually miss the days when H2 was known as History Channel International.*


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

I remember one channel that seemed to be wall to wall Hitler. Now most of the Hitler shows are on AHC (the "American Heroes Channel").


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