Howard Hughes, who was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator and is the late founder of Trans World Airlines has a connection to the Travel Channel. Founded by Hughes, Trans World Airlines launched the Travel Channel in 1987 and then sold the company to Landmark Communications.
Landmark Communications then sold The Travel Channel to the Discovery Channel who sold it to Cox Communications. The Discovery Channel traded Discovery Communications and related assets along with $1.3 billion for The Travel Channel to Cox.
Currently the channel has 88 million+ subscribers. The channel hosts TV shows such as World Poker Tour, Taste of America with Mark DeCarlo, and 1,000 Places To See Before You Die.
Yesterday, the Travel Channel announced that they have acquired online tourism website, World Hum. Jim Benning and Michael Yessis, founding editors and travel writers will contribute content to TravelChannel.com. Benning has regularly contributed content to the likes of the L.A. Times, National Geographic, and the Washington Post. Yessis has worked as an editor for Men’s Fitness and USAToday.com
“Just as our viewers have come to rely on us for the most entertaining and informative travel content on television, our vision for TravelChannel.com is to leverage a rich library of multimedia assets to create the most engaging broadband travel resource on the Web” stated Pat Younge, the President and GM of the Travel Channel.
“The acquisition of World Hum signifies Travel Channel’s continued commitment to delivering objective and trustworthy travel information to consumers whenever and wherever they want it.”
The financial details were not mentioned in theKrillion. “In addition to the content available on TravelChannel.com, loyal World Hum visitors can continue to access the online magazine’s full content at www.worldhum.com,” states the press release.
