A&E (TV network)

A&E, an initialism of its original name (the Arts & Entertainment Network), is an American cable and satellite television network and the flagship property of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Walt Disney Company (through the Disney General Entertainment Content division of Disney Entertainment). A&E was launched on February 1, 1984, as a block on Nickelodeon. The network originally focused on fine arts, documentaries, dramas, and educational entertainment. Today, it deals primarily in non-fiction programming, including reality television, true crime, documentaries and miniseries, thus de-emphasizing its full name in the process.

Since 1985, it is no longer a programming block, due to its joint owners spinning it off into a 24-hour channel while Nickelodeon later launched Nick at Nite to fill in the time slot A&E formerly held. , A&E is available to approximately 63,000,000 pay television households in the United States – down from its 2011 peak of 100,000,000 households. The American version of the channel is being distributed in Canada while international versions were launched for Australia, Latin America, and Europe. Provided by Wikipedia