‘Innovative, clear and distinctive’
A defining year for Dan Snow’s History Hit saw the online channel undertake challenges that made international headlines, including the discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance, the excavation of a major Anglo Saxon cemetery, and the discovery of skeletons from the Battle of Waterloo.
With two original docs per week as well as regular podcasts, YouTube and TikTok films, as well as articles, book clubs and events, the channel uncovered a huge range of historical stories with input from academics, researchers, and archaeologists.
Some of the channel’s highlights last year included landing its debut commission for Channel 5 – a three-part archaeology doc series fronted by Dan Snow, and the far-reaching coverage of the successful 35-day expedition to find Shackleton’s shipwreck. As well as blowing up on news outlets around the world, its daily social media coverage of the trip helped generate interest in its three-part doc Shackleton: The Story Of Endurance.
On judge described the channel’s approach as “innovative, clear and distinctive”, supported by “compelling shows.”
In the past two years, History Hit grew its subscriber base by 125%, drawing 3m channel views last year and 8m monthly podcast listens.
“To have started the service as an independent SVoD offering and grown it to where it is today – via a sale to Little Dot Studios – is a huge achievement,” said one impressed judge.
“The fact it is being judged alongside very established channels is a measure of that achievement.”
Another judge praised the “seamless 360 degree” approach to covering content across platforms, saying “they are onto something and know what they stand for”.
This post was first published in Broadcast on 6th July, check out the original article here.
