A fledgling cable channel is mounting a campaign to win the hearts and minds of military and history buffs. Though not scheduled to launch until 1998, the Military Channel just released four of its original series on home video.
Military Channel Home Video taps into one of home video’s steadiest niche markets. There are an estimated 1.4 million people on active military duty in the United States, with 1 million on reserve duty. More than 30 million aviation and military enthusiasts attended air shows and military museums last year.
Typically, networks such as The Discovery Channel and A&E release programs through their video divisions following broadcast. Military Channel Home Video is a first strike, intended to provide potential subscribers with an advance look at representative programming that promises to offer “the military from the inside out.”
“Frontline Pilots,” “Tools of the Trade,” “Fleet Firepower” and “The War That Changed War” “are not pro war, but pro defense,” said COO Dean Hoke. “We are interested in the military as defenders of the nation.” The focus, he added, is not just on state-of-the-art technology, but also on the people who operate and depend on it.
“Frontline Pilots,” a four-volume series, profiles real-life top guns and presents in dramatic words and combat footage — primarily from the Gulf War — a cockpit perspective of air-to-air combat. The episodes “Enemy Intercept,” “Blue Water Ops,” “Deep Interdiction” and “Ground Pounders” retail for $14.95 each, or are available in a boxed set for $49.95.
“Tools of the Trade” promises “war on the ground . . . as hot as anything in the air.” This four-volume series examines how computers, satellites and simulations are employed in modern warfare on the so-called “digital battlefield.” “Armored Assault Team,” “Reach Out and Touch the Enemy,” “Backbone of the Army” and “A New Generation” retail for $14.95 each ($49.95 boxed set).
“Fleet Firepower” chronicles how the U.S. Navy has redefined and retooled itself to project American power around the world. The episodes “New Doctrine and “New Technology” retail for $19.95 each.
“The War That Changed War” boasts declassified World War II footage that reveals the science and strategy that forever altered the way war is fought. The episodes “Armor,” “Aircraft,” “Carriers” and “Secret Weapons” retail for $14.95 each ($49.95 boxed set).
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Military Channel Video is available by calling Videofinders (800-343-4727) or Movies Unlimited (800-4-MOVIES).
