Discovery Health Channel Discovery Health Channel was an American
subscription television channel. Launched in July 1998, it was owned by Discovery Communications as a spin-off of
Discovery Channel, focusing on health and wellness-oriented programming. In the beginning, DHC's programming consisted of reruns of medical- and health-themed programming from other Discovery networks, particularly
TLC. As the network matured, it began producing its own reality series, mostly dealing with babies (
Babies: Special Delivery,
Birth Day), bodies (
Plastic Surgery: Before and After,
National Body Challenge), and medicine (
The Critical Hour,
Dr. G: Medical Examiner). DHC also showed episodes of the
CBS medical drama series
Chicago Hope on a semi-regular basis. DHC also aired fitness-related programming, most of which later spun off to its sister network
FitTV. DHC won its first Daytime Emmy in 2004 for its original series about adoptive families,
Adoption Stories.
FitTV FitTV was an American
pay television channel, owned by Discovery Communications. The channel focused on fitness and exercise-related programming. FitTV offered programming with such fitness celebrities as
Cathe Friedrich, Sharon Mann, Gilad Janklowicz,
Marilu Henner,
Tamilee Webb and others.
History International Family Entertainment (IFE) introduced a continuous preview of the
Cable Health Club on August 20, 1993. Beginning August 31 of that year, the channel would be available in a half-hour continuous programming format to cable system operators for free. In October, the channel moved to 24-hour programming.
Jake Steinfeld, who had starred on the network's
Big Brother Jake, hosted its first program By November 1994, the Club was sharing a channel with
Prime Sports Northwest on Seattle cable. By April 1997, the Cable Health Club was renamed Fit TV. '''America's Health Network''' was in separate operation from FitTV from March 1996 until 1999. The channel was based in
Orlando, Florida and had an $11 million production center with soundstage built at
Universal Studios in late 1995. The executives at the channel were Joe Maddox (a former
Discovery Channel executive) and Webster "Web" Golinkin, who had spent two and a half years planning, raising $75 million in capital, and building the channel. The majority owner was the
Providence Journal Company. The channel also had a five-year agreement with
Mayo Clinic and IVI Publishing, its electronic publisher, to provide medical information and illustrative graphics. Mayo and IVI were also minority owners of the channel, and other investors included venture capital firm Medical Innovation Partners, Inc. 15 minutes an hour on AHN was devoted to shopping. The "Health Mall" carried upscale, harder-to-find items for a healthy living. AHN had a deal with
Clearwater, Florida-based
Home Shopping Network to provide orders and shipping infrastructure. For cable operators, carriage deals included a small percentage of advertising and shopping revenue. With an initial cable audience of 200,000 subscribers, America's Health Network had reached 700,000 subscribers by May 1996 and 6 million by the time of the sale of its first majority owners. However, cable carriage was a long struggle for AHN and other cable outlets that launched in this time frame (
Electronic Media, now
TV Week magazine, described the environment many cable networks launched in 1996 faced as a "jungle").
Time Warner Cable, the primary cable provider in Orlando, did not carry AHN, and so many people in the channel's own hometown were unable to see its programs. In 1997, Providence Journal was bought by the
A.H. Belo Corporation. It was Belo's first venture into cable television; according to Golinkin, Belo did not desire to gain any market share in cable. 161 of the channel's 200 employees were laid off, and they ceased producing live programs. The 39 employees that remained (including the entire management team) were a skeleton crew to keep the channel running. A sale of most of the Belo stake to Columbia/HCA Health Care Corp. for $50 million was soon proposed. Columbia wanted to put AHN in its nearly 500 hospitals and surgery centers, plus many more outpatient clinics. However, during this time period, federal investigations over its billing practices; government raids; charges of Columbia officials with conspiracy and fraud; and changes in management at Columbia/HCA "turned [the company] upside down", according to a senior official. This turmoil spurred reviews of company strategies and the cancellation of some transactions, including the sale of the AHN stake. New York real estate tycoon
Howard Milstein offered a bridge loan, which was accepted. Belo's stake eventually was brought back by AHN. An investment group of former Columbia/HCA officials, including Richard Scott and David Vandewater, took control of the network in late 1997, and live series resumed. During this time, another minority investor in the channel was Access Health, a referral service. On June 16, 1998, AHN presented the first human birth carried live over the Internet, from Orlando's
Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. The birth brought AHN major national and worldwide media attention and was even the focus of an editorial cartoon two days later in
USA Today. By this time, it reached 8 million cable homes, comparable to the
CNN/SI cable network (which would fold in 2002) and the
Game Show Network. By June 1999, Scott and Vandewater had reduced their stake in America's Health. On September 12, 1999, Fox Cable Networks Group bought America's Health Network, owned by Rick Scott & David Vandewater, and merged it with FitTV, which Fox Cable already owned. The resulting network was named
The Health Network. In December, Fox Cable sold 50% of the channel to
WebMD. By the start of the year 2000, The Health Network reached 17.5 million homes. At the start of 2000, the station began new headquarters in Los Angeles, and about half of its Orlando workforce was laid off, leaving 40 people out of work. The station also ran supplementary offices in New York and Nashville. At the time, The Health Network stated it was moving more of its production to New York and Los Angeles so it could feature more celebrities on its lineup. In the fall of 2000, it very nearly relaunched as WebMD Television, with new programs and the removal of the AHN studio program library from its schedule; that plan was put on hold, and Fox received the 50% of the channel it had sold back from WebMD, which had lost $2 billion in 2000. On September 1, 2001, Discovery Communications bought The Health Network from
Fox Entertainment Group for $255 million in cash and equity. On January 1, 2004, Discovery reinstated the "FitTV" name, as Discovery recently owned its own health channel, Discovery Health. In March 2006, New York-based
Cablevision dropped the channel from its systems, resulting in the loss of some three million subscribers (down to 35 million). In January 2011, the channel's carriage remained significantly lower than most cable networks, only holding a reach of 50 million homes.
Former programs •
Total Body Sculpt with Gilad •
Shimmy • ''Gilad's Bodies in Motion'' •
Namaste Yoga •
Power Hour •
In Shape with Sharon Mann •
Cathe Friedrich •
All Star Workouts • ''Marilu Henner's Shape Up Your Life'' •
Art of the Athlete • ''Blaine's Low Carb Kitchen'' •
FitNation •
Housecalls •
Ultimate Goals •
Diet Doctor •
The Gym •
No Opportunity Wasted •
Reunion Story •
Lyon in the Kitchen •
Get Fresh with Sara Snow •
Cardio Blast •
Caribbean Workout == Programming ==