Honesty in Marketing Your Cable Channel

Once again I flipped to the History Channel tonight and once again, guess what was on? JAG. I swear they show that damn thing about ten times a day. I suppose if you like JAG that's great news. Even if you are JAG's biggest fan though, you'd surely have to question why exactly it's on the "History" Channel. JAG doesn't relate any actual historical events (as far as I can tell) and it seems to be set in the present day and is therefore not even historical fiction. The credential that seems to get JAG on the air is that it is about the military.

It's the same with the films they show. Most of the movies on History are war or military themed as are most of the documentaries. You are far more likely to see a completely fictitious movie (such as A Few Good Men) than any sort of non-military historical fiction (such as The Name of the Rose) or a film that actually attempts to discuss real history that isn't particularly military in nature (such as Elizabeth). The documentaries almost always have a war theme. Moreover they seem to be heavily skewed to World War II in particular.

Now in their defence, I'm sure that the History Channel would say that they are only giving their audience what they want. Which is probably true, since, like all private broadcasters, they are driven by ad revenues. But is it too much to ask for honesty? That's all I want, and in that spirit, I propose that the History Channel be renamed the War Channel.