The network was originally one of four digital cable networks launched by Discovery Communications in 1996. The new networks were first announced in November 1994, with a launch planned for Spring 1995. At the time, the network had the working title
Living and was described as "a home repair network". The launch was delayed, and the channel made its debut in October 1996, originally known as
Discovery Travel & Living Network and offering programming including
do-it-yourself projects,
cooking,
interior design and
landscaping, and party planning. By 1998, it had settled on the name
Discovery Home & Leisure, but the "Leisure" part of the name was dropped on March 29, 2004, when the channel became
Discovery Home Channel. Much of the travel-related programming was dropped in the process to provide more focus on home improvement and cooking.
Planet Green In April 2007, during its
upfronts, Discovery announced that Discovery Home would re-launch in 2008 as a new channel focused on
environmentalism and
sustainable living as part of the growing trend of public awareness on global warming, climate change, and other environmental issues. The channel itself was announced as part of a $50 million corporate initiative known as "
Planet Green", undertaken under Discovery's new CEO
David Zaslav, which would include the production of programming on other Discovery channels (such as the Discovery Channel series
Ten Ways to Save the Planet) that appeal to these themes, an "innovation conference", and making its headquarters
carbon neutral. Zaslav stated that Discovery Home had been economically sound, but wasn't "serving this higher purpose". On August 1, 2007, Discovery announced its acquisition of
TreeHugger, a
blog focusing on sustainable living. The site was to be positioned as a digital companion to the new channel. In October 2007, Discovery hired veteran producer Andy Friendly as a consultant for Planet Green's programming, and to executive produce a series for the channel. Further programming details were announced in Discovery's April 2008 upfronts, including specials hosted by
NBC News correspondent
Tom Brokaw, the reality show
Battleground Earth with
Ludacris and
Tommy Lee,
Emeril Green,
Hollywood Green with Maria Menounos, and the
Bill Nye-hosted
Stuff Happens, among other series. It was announced that the network would launch on June 4, 2008, and that a "sneak peek" of the network's programming would become available via
video on demand on April 17. Later that month, Planet Green ordered
Focus Earth, a weekly environmental newsmagazine produced by
ABC News and hosted by
Bob Woodruff. Planet Green was one of the two highly anticipated Discovery network re-launches spearheaded by Zaslav, the other being the
Oprah Winfrey Network—a relaunch of Discovery Health that was ultimately delayed to January 2011. Despite high expectations, the network's launch was unsuccessful; Another issue was a lack of available content. Few television programs which were focused on environmentalism were available at that time, which resulted in the same programs being aired over and over again, and audiences gradually became disinterested. By March 2010, Planet Green's programming had broadened to include
programs unrelated to its original concept, such as
The Fabulous Beekman Boys. In February 2011, Discovery Communications executives were acknowledging the channel's failure. Zaslav stated in a conference call with investors that Discovery "can probably do something else with that that would be more meaningful."
Destination America On April 4, 2012, Discovery announced through the early release of an article in
USA Today that Planet Green would be re-branded as Destination America, a network focusing primarily on cuisine, natural history, and travel programming, appealing primarily towards
Middle America. The launch lineup also featured programs that had previously aired on
Travel Channel before its sale to
Cox Communications. The channel was originally expected to have a
Memorial Day launch on May 28, 2012. In 2015, the network began to experiment with
professional wrestling by picking up
TNA programming (which had recently been dropped by
Spike), including its flagship weekly program
Impact Wrestling. Later that year, the network also announced that it had signed a 26-week television deal for
Ring of Honor's weekly show,
Ring of Honor Wrestling, which would begin on June 3, 2015.
Impact moved to
Pop in January 2016. The network also began to increase its focus on programs dealing with paranormal topics and investigations; on October 30, 2015, it aired
Exorcism Live—a live special broadcast from the
St. Louis site of the
exorcism of Roland Doe, featuring the cast of
Ghost Asylum and
Chip Coffey. The March 4, 2016 premiere of
Paranormal Lockdown was among the highest-rated series premieres in the channel's history, which prompted further growth in the channel's focus on paranormal series. Destination America underwent a rebranding in 2017, with
on-air presentation carrying a darker and "uneasy" atmosphere (including a signature "glitch" effect) to reflect its change in programming direction. Discovery's 2018 acquisition of
Scripps Networks Interactive brought Travel Channel back under its ownership; a rebranding of Travel Channel in October 2018 repositioned the network to focus more on paranormal programming. Since then, Destination America's schedule has largely shifted back towards its original format, drawing from Discovery and SNI's program libraries. ==Programming==