History Hit, the award-winning streaming service and one of the UK’s largest and most successful podcast networks, today marks its tenth anniversary. A decade since its first podcast was released to commemorate the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo, History Hit has transformed from a one-man audio experiment into a global history network spanning podcasts, original documentaries, social video, books, and a FAST channel - revolutionising how history is told and consumed in the digital age.
Dan Snow, History Hit’s Founder and Creative Director, left behind a prolific career with the BBC in 2015, and became a pioneer creator driven by a vision to “pivot to digital” and take history directly to audiences on their terms. Initially launched with only social media accounts and a single podcast, the brand has since become a multi-platform, self-commissioning powerhouse with nearly 10 million podcast listens per month, over 1,250 original documentaries, and more than 1.6 million YouTube subscribers.
“I remember the first time someone paid me just to talk about history online - it felt like a moment of emancipation,” says Snow. “We’re still riding that wave of excitement 10 years later.”
Today, History Hit operates eight podcast shows, including the flagship Dan Snow’s History Hit, covering everything from ancient civilisations and medieval power struggles to social history and true crime. These podcasts publish 16 episodes weekly and have received industry acclaim. The other podcast brands under the History Hit umbrella feature Betwixt the Sheets with sex historian Kate Lister, Gone Medieval with Matt Lewis and Eleanor Janega, American History Hit with Don Wildman, The Ancients with Tristan Hughes, Not Just the Tudors with Suzannah Lipscomb and Echoes of History, produced in partnership with Ubisoft, which explores the stories behind the Assassin’s Creed franchise and hosted by Matt Lewis and contributor Holly Nielsen, and After Dark with Anthony Delaney and Madeleine Pelling.
The SVOD platform, History Hit TV, launched in 2017 and now delivers a new original documentary every week. As well as History Hit’s presenters, it has featured world-renowned historians including Lucy Worsley, Mary Beard and David Carpenter. With content ranging from Roman archaeology to China’s Terracotta Warriors, History Hit has become a trusted destination for in-depth storytelling, streaming to an audience across 100+ countries.
History Hit also makes headlines with original investigative content, including uncovering the long-lost prayer book of Thomas Cromwell, the discovery of an Anglo-Saxon warriors’ cemetery, and the forgotten skeletons of the Battle of Waterloo. A standout achievement was the Endurance22 expedition, where the brand partnered with the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust to document their discovery of Shackleton’s iconic sunken ship, a multimedia campaign reaching millions across podcasts, social media, and SVOD, culminating with National Geographic Documentary Films commissioning and releasing the official Endurance documentary co-produced by Little Dot Studios, History Hit, Consequential LLC and Little Monster Films. The film premiered at the BFI London Film Festival and was released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland before its global launch on Disney+.
Expanding beyond audio and video, History Hit has built an ecosystem of accessible, educational content. Its social video programming now draws more than 1 billion views annually, supported by a YouTube audience of over 1.6 million subscribers and 7 million monthly views. The brand’s FAST channel, launched in 2022, brings curated history content to viewers free across all major streaming platforms. Books, vertical video content, and short-form explainers continue to diversify History Hit’s reach and appeal.
Acquired by global production company, social agency, and digital media network Little Dot Studios (an All3Media company) in 2020, History Hit has grown exponentially thanks to Little Dot Studios’ expertise in digital distribution and platform strategy. The partnership has driven more than 2.5 million new social followers and enabled major content partnerships with the likes of National Geographic, Channel 5 and Ubisoft. Collaborations have ranged from co-produced documentaries to branded editorial campaigns supporting blockbusters like Napoleon.
“We can all thrive,” says Snow of the wider history media space. “A rising tide lifts all boats. History is booming - and we’re just getting started.”
Check out Podcasting Today's article here.