A+E Networks UK, Sky unveil Sky HISTORY DetailsJoseph O'Halloran | 20 February 2020 Marking the 25th anniversary of their joint venture, the UK arm of content provider A+E Networks and the country’s leading pay-TV firm Sky have announced the launch of a co-branded channel in Spring 2020.The move will see A+E’s famous History channel, which enjoyed a successful 2019, with audience share up by 11%, become Sky HISTORY. The foundation of this growth is said to be the success of long-running franchises like Curse of Oak Island and new hit series such as UnXplained with William Shatner. 2019 also saw increased investment in local commissions, including innovative talent-led UK programming; Damian Lewis: Spy Wars (pictured), James Nesbitt: Disasters That Changed Britain and Al Murray: Why Does Everyone Hate the English, which was awarded the Gamechanger Programme of the Year prize at the 2019 Broadcast Digital Awards.As it goes forward, Sky HISTORY, will have further investment in locally commissioned original programming in 2020 and beyond. The additional titles will showcase premium factual series and specials delivered by a range of UK production companies. The channel will be available on linear TV and on-demand in the UK and Ireland and will also be available on streaming service NOW TV for the first time.Sky HISTORY will continue to be managed and operated by the A+E Networks UK team from their Hammersmith offices. “We are delighted to be deepening our partnership with Sky,” said Dean Possenniskie, managing director of A+E Networks UK. “It is exciting to be taking the HISTORY brand to a new level in the UK. with greater commissioning investment and broader reach. Our joint venture with Sky has been a long-standing success—this innovative brand partnership further strengthens its future.”Added Sky’s managing director of content Zai Bennett: “The launch of Sky HISTORY will build on our existing channel portfolio and complement new channel brands Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature, which will also be coming in Spring 2020. The continuation of our strong partnership with A+E Networks UK will mean more investment in premium original content and make it easier for our customers to find the shows they want to watch.”