Investigation Discovery

This article is about the American channel. For other uses, see Investigation Discovery (disambiguation).

Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries, similar to corporate sibling HLN. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery's networks division and is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland. ID was originally launched as the Discovery Civilization Network, and focused on world history and geography. It was later renamed to Discovery Times, in partnership with the New York Times Company, publisher of The New York Times. After the rebrand, the network focused more on United States culture. The Times divested their stake to Discovery in 2006, and the channel took its current name and format two years later.

Investigation Discovery

Country	United States
Broadcast area	Nationwide
Headquarters	Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.[1]
Programming
Picture format	1080p HDTV
Ownership
Parent	Warner Bros. Discovery Networks
Sister channels	List Adult Swim American Heroes Channel Animal Planet AT&T SportsNet Boomerang Cartoon Network Cartoonito Cinemax CNN Cooking Channel The CW Destination America Discovery Channel Discovery en Español Discovery Family Discovery Familia Discovery Life Food Network HBO HGTV HLN Magnolia Network Motor Trend Oprah Winfrey Network Science Channel TBS TLC TNT Travel Channel TruTV Turner Classic Movies
History
Launched	October 7, 1996; 28 years ago (1996-10-07)
Former names	Time Traveler (prelaunch, 1994–1996) Discovery Civilization Network (1996–1998) Discovery Civilization Channel (1998–2003) Discovery Times (2003–2008)
Links
Website	investigationdiscovery.com
Availability
Streaming media
Affiliated Streaming Service	Max/Discovery+
Service(s)	Philo, YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, Vidgo, Sling TV, Hulu + Live TV

As of November 2023^[update], ID is available to approximately 69 million pay television households in the United States-down from its 2015 peak of 86 million households.^[2]

History

20th century

The channel launched in 1996 under the name Discovery Civilization Network: The World History and Geography Channel. It was one of four digital cable companion networks; Discovery Travel & Living Network (now Destination America), Discovery Science Network (now Science Channel) and Discovery Kids (now Discovery Family, which has been a joint venture with Hasbro since 2010) were rolled out by Discovery Communications simultaneously in October 1996.^[3] Plans for the channel had surfaced in November 1994, when its working name was Time Traveler.^[4]

21st century

In April 2002, The New York Times Company and Discovery Communications announced a joint venture to run the Discovery Civilization Channel. By then, it was available in 14 million households. The partnership aimed to complement the historical shows, with programming about current events and contemporary history.^[5] On March 25, 2003, the channel was rebranded as Discovery Times, focusing more on the culture of the United States, as well as other miscellaneous programming. The previous name was described as "a little off-message" by executives.^[6]

In April 2006, The New York Times sold its stake in Discovery Times back to Discovery Communications, ending its ownership in the channel.^[7] Despite this, "Times" was kept in the channel's name until Early-2008, when Discovery Times was relaunched as Investigation Discovery (ID), oriented towards true crime programs.^[8]

In 2016, owing to a resurgence in popularity within the true crime genre, ID was the second-highest-rated cable network among women 25–54.^[9] In 2018, ID was the sixth-highest-rated basic cable network in full-day viewership.^[10]

On April 12, 2020, Investigation Discovery introduced a new logo, placing a greater focus on the "ID" initialism to make it better-suited for multi-platform use.^[11]

In December 2022, the team responsible for ID also took over responsibility for HLN, formerly CNN Headline News, which became a sibling channel following the merger that formed Warner Bros. Discovery earlier that year. That channel had gradually shifted to a similar true crime-focused format since the mid-2010s, dropping its last original news programs at the same time as the management change, and had already begun airing repeats of ID programming such as Hometown Homicide shortly after the WBD merger.^[12]

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by Investigation Discovery

Most of ID's programs are original productions, but it also airs re-titled off-network reruns, including ABC's 20/20, CBS' 48 Hours, and NBC’s Dateline.

ID's longest-running series is On the Case with Paula Zahn which debuted in 2009. Other long-running shows on the network include Disappeared and Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda.

On June 7, 2015, ID aired its first ever scripted mini-series; Serial Thriller: Angel of Decay chronicled the investigation of convicted (and later executed) serial killer Ted Bundy. A second installment, Serial Thriller: The Chameleon, premiered as a two-part miniseries in December 2015, chronicling the crimes that resulted in the execution of American serial killer Stephen Morin. A third installment, Serial Thriller: The Headhunter, about serial killer Edmund Kemper (which possibly includes the story of serial killer Herbert Mullin), premiered on February 20, 2016.

International versions

• Canada (Rogers Media-operated; since January 1, 2025)
• Europe
• Latin America
• India (Asia Pacific) (Closed on February 1, 2018, relaunched on January 13, 2020)
• Australia and New Zealand
• France (as Discovery Investigation)
• Italy
• South Africa
• Vietnam (2005–2007)

Former

• Russia (closed on March 9, 2022)^[13]
• Canada (Bell Media-operated; formerly Court TV Canada; relaunched as Oxygen on January 1, 2025)