A Review of The Learning Channel

Corporate Background & Channel History

The Learning Channel (TLC) was originally launched in 1972. In 1991, the channel was bought by Discover Communications, which also holds other channels including Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and The Science Channel.

Programming

TLC has changed formats quite a bit over the years and now features what I would consider multiple formats geared toward different audiences.

First, there's home and garden learning shows such as "Flip that House," "Take Home Chef," "Take Home Handyman," "Trading Spaces," "The Real Estate Pros," and "My First Home." This is providing competition with channels such as HGTV.

In a very different direction, there are also reality shows such as "Miami Ink," "LA Ink," "Jon and Kate Plus 8" and "Little People, Big World." Reality shows have stayed fairly popular since the late 90s, and TLC shows to have some learning element to them even though they're equally entertaining. Medical reality shows have also been added to this as well, including "Big Medicine" and "Bringing Home Baby."

Commentary

One thing that's impressed me on looking over TLC and other channels within Discovery Communications is they have a good feel on when they need and don't need to adapt a channel's programming. TLC has probably changed the most out of all the channels they own, but they've found several formats that have worked for them.

I'm not sure if the show is even on anymore, but I began watching TLC back in the late 90s and early 2000s when "Junkyard Wars" was very popular. I'm a big fan of entertaining shows that automatically have learning as a side-effect. I think the closest show to that right now is "Mythbusters" on Discovery Channel, which is owned by the same corporation.

I also remember my brother and Dad watching "Robotica" and wanting to build a fighting robot of their own. Since Dad had been working with electronics for over 20 years, what eventually resulted was a tubby little robot that vacuumed with a hand-held vac and could carry a soft drink can from one room to the other. It was pretty cool, but it's only defense would be to throw the soft drink can at its opponent.

I believe a lot of the current programming is going to stay around, at least for awhile. I'm curious if the current real estate shows will gain more popularity due to housing prices being lower than normal in many areas (buyer's market) or if the channel will slowly shift into another arena because of the temporary slump. Their reality shows are also very unique, to the point I believe a lot of viewers watch them that don't traditionally enjoy reality shows. The great thing about this channel however is that it's not afraid to adapt if something new comes along or their format needs to be tweaked at some point in the future.

For More Information

The website for TLC is http://tlc.discovery.com/