1 April 2015: 2014 was a big year for History. Last year, the A+E Networks channel was the top factual entertainment service in Singapore; topped the Learning Pack on Astro in Malaysia; was the leading factual entertainment channel on Thailand?s TrueVisions; and was the top factual entertainment channel among the Philippines' middle classes*.The Bible helped, driving ratings in Singapore (History's highest rated show in 2014), Thailand (beat competitors in premiere timeslot) and the Philippines (+70% above channel average) in October/November. But there were others, including Vikings (top show of all international factual entertainment channels in Singapore/Thailand) and The World Wars (History's best rated series in urban Philippines in 2014; prime time channel average up 130% in Malaysia). Joyce Lim, A+E Networks' senior director, content, factual channels, says A+E invested heavily last year in docu-dramas/TV events. And this continues in 2015 with Vikings season three (Fridays, 10pm), Gangland Undercover (Fridays, 11pm), and Sons of Liberty (May). Vikings season two was, if anything, the biggest surprise in Asia, changing History programmers' perception of what's possible in the region on a Friday night. Season two premiered on the same day as the U.S., making the Friday slot unavoidable. Lim says Friday night audiences "are traditionally not very high". The third season premiere of Vikings, also on a Friday (27 February), put History channel ahead of all English pay-TV channels in Singapore (Kantar Media) and Malaysia (Nielsen). The 10-part show airs Fridays (two episodes), with encores on Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays at 10pm. If big-budget sexy docu-drama hogs headlines, competition series Storage Wars and character-driven reality such as Pawn Stars were the workhorses of History's prime-time schedule in the week of 9-15 March. Storage Wars aired in 41% of the 7pm to midnight band. History's strongest viewership in Asia is from 8pm to midnight. The Pickers, stripped across weekdays from 7pm, leads into various versions of Storage Wars, including Storage Wars Texas (8pm-8.30pm) stripped Mondays to Fridays, followed by Storage Wars Canada, also stripped Mondays to Fridays, with marathons on Sundays from 8pm-10pm. History isn't necessarily going for day-and-date releases on all titles, although windows are being shortened. For instance, season one of Curse of Oak Island aired in the U.S. in January 2014 and five months later in Asia. Season one was, despite the time lag, the top programme among factual entertainment channels in Singapore, Thailand (international factual entertainment channels) and Malaysia (Astro's Learning Pack). The window was shorter on season two; the Asia premiere was on 11 February 2015, a month after the U.S. Season two is performing at more than 170% above channel prime-time average in Singapore (Kantar Media) and more than 40% above channel prime time average in Malaysia (Nielsen). "We are also ramping up on our local production with returning series Ride n' Seek and others," Lim says. Last year's original slate included first local photography competition series Photo Face-Off, which rated more than 200% above channel prime-time average in Malaysia. A+E Networks has gone back into the archives for sister channel H2, which launched in Asia in June 2013 as a companion channel to History. Titles go as far back as 2007 (Digging for the Truth season three), 2008 (Modern Marvels: World's Strongest III) and 2009 (The Crumbling of America and The Universe season four). H2's newest title at the moment is Brad Meltzer's Lost History, which premiered in the U.S. at the end of last year. The series, which tracks lost or stolen treasures, ran on H2 Asia in March this year at 11pm, shifting to 10pm in April. H2's schedule is heavy on tech (37% of the prime-time schedule in the week of 6-12 April), history (28% of prime time, week 6-12 April) and engineering (20%), with some science and a little bit of nature. Long-running History show, Modern Marvels, which has been going since 1995, is a mainstay of early prime time, stripped from 7pm to 8pm Mondays to Fridays, with three episodes back to back on Sunday nights.ContentAsia Factual 2015