History
The Travel Channel was launched by Trans World Airlines on February 1, 1987, presumably to boost airline patronage. The name was derived from travel-related filler programming offered by the Home Theater Network premium cable service. TWA purchased the name rights from Group W Satellite Communications in 1986, and following GWSC's shutdown of HTN in January 1987, took over HTN's transponder spot. The network was later sold to Landmark Communications, then owner of The Weather Channel, and later Paxson Communications. Discovery bought 70% of the channel in 1997, acquiring the rest in 1999. In May 2007, Discovery sold Travel Channel to Cox Enterprises subsidiary Cox Communications as part of a larger multi-billion dollar transaction. However, Discovery Communications still distributed the channel under Discovery Networks.
On November 5, 2009, it was announced that Scripps Networks Interactive had paid $1.1 billion for a 65% interest in the network. The deal closed in January 2010. Scripps currently distributes Travel Channel and rebroadcasts some programming on it from Food Network.
Confusingly, some TV listings display the logo of an unrelated cable channel, also called the Travel Channel (UK) and airing in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as that of the American channel as well. That channel is owned by an independent company with no relation to Scripps, Discovery, or Cox which holds the "Travel Channel" trademarks in the British Isles.
On 22 March 2012, Scripps Networks Interactive announced that it had agreed to pay £65m (US$102.7m) to acquire Travel Channel International Limited, the UK-based distributor of the Travel Channel brand across the Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific markets. The deal was completed on 1 May 2012 following regulatory approval. The international channel will be integrated with Scripps' Travel Channel.
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