About
History Africa (also known as The History Channel or HISTORY) is a pan-African version of the A+E Networks digital satellite channel HISTORY, which is broadcast in South Africa on the DStv satellite platform.
It is a factual entertainment channel which attempts to entertain and educate subscribers as they experience history personally, and connect their own lives to the great lives and events of the past.
AVAILABILITY
DStv: Channel 186
Bouquet: Premium, Compact Plus, Compact (from 1 April, 2025)
PICTURE FORMAT
16:9 (720p, HDTV)
ABOUT
History Africa (originally known as The History Channel) launched in South Africa on 1 December, 2003, initially only as an 18-hour offering. It expanded to a full 24-hour service on 1 August, 2008.
History Africa is a factual entertainment channel filled with characters sharing their stories from the past and present; where limits are pushed to the extreme, negotiations are won and facts discovered.
The channel takes viewers on a journey through the ages, connecting our modern world with its historic roots in a way that is absorbing, exciting, and often surprising.
Its high quality programming challenges perceptions of the past, telling stories of well known adventures and those that have remained hidden over time.
Through contemporary filmmaking techniques, vivid reconstruction and gripping narrative, History Africa transports you from the sofa into the thick of the action.
The brand connects with viewers around the world – reaching over 300 million households worldwide, in over 150 territories in 37 languages.
In August 2014 A+E Networks® UK commissioned a South African version of the global History Africa series, Pawn Stars. This marked the first locally commissioned series for A+E Networks in Africa and was the first original series produced for the channel.
In October 2016 the channel was upgraded from SD to HDTV (720p).
The channel was added to the Compact bouquet on 1 April, 2025.