- This article is about the type of specialty TV channel. For channels called Documentary Channel, see Documentary (TV channel) and .
A
documentary channel is a
specialty channel which focuses on broadcasting
documentaries. Some documentary channels further specialize by dedicating their
television programming to specific types of documentaries or documentaries in a specific area of knowledge.
documentary and
The History Channel are examples of this. There is some overlap between
news channels and documentary channels, but while a documentary channel may also broadcast programs about current affairs, it will, as a rule, air longer, more in-depth segments and not present up-to-the-minute news coverage. Also, many other TV channels regularly air documentaries, but unless a channel is significantly dedicated to documentary-type programming it probably will not be considered a documentary channel. As of 2006, some of the most famous documentary channels are the
Discovery Channel and the
National Geographic Channel.