A&E, an initialism of its original name (theArts & Entertainment Network), is an American cable and satellite television network and the flagship property of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Walt Disney Company (through the Disney General Entertainment Content division of Disney Entertainment). A&E was launched on February 1, 1984, as a block on Nickelodeon.
The network originally focused on fine arts, documentaries, dramas, and educational entertainment. Today, it deals primarily in non-fiction programming, including reality television, true crime, documentaries and miniseries, thus de-emphasizing its full name in the process.
Since 1985, it is no longer a programming block, due to its joint owners spinning it off into a 24-hour channel while Nickelodeon later launched Nick at Nite to fill in the time slot A&E formerly held. As of November 2023, A&E is available to approximately 63,000,000 pay television households in the United States – down from its 2011 peak of 100,000,000 households. The American version of the channel is being distributed in Canada while international versions were launched for Australia, Latin America, and Europe.
