United States
Smithsonian Channel is the digital and broadcast television arm of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum and research complex, produced in partnership with Showtime Networks under the Paramount Global umbrella.
Total Followers -0.0%
4.9M
Across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok
Primary Platform
YouTube
4.3M followers · 88% of audience
Engagement
3.4%
vs. 1.5% category median
Sponsorship Tier
Macro
Est. $4.3K–$11K / IG post
The channel announced new seasons for all three franchises simultaneously, with 'How Did They Build That?' (Season 5) hosted by Jay Ellis continuing to explore major engineering achievements.
Following Skydance's acquisition of Paramount, Smithsonian Channel is listed as part of Paramount Skydance's TV Media Group via MTV Entertainment Group.
The long-running docuseries continues with new episodes covering bush pilots, Coast Guard operations, and remote Alaskan aviation challenges.
| Window | YouTube | TikTok | Combined | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 7 days | +0 +0.0% | +0 +0.0% | +0 +0.0% | +0 |
| Last 30 days | +0 +0.0% | -325 -0.1% | -107 -0.0% | -432 |
| Last 90 days | +10K +0.2% | -953 -0.4% | -215 -0.1% | +9K |
| Last 365 days | +10K +0.2% | -953 -0.4% | -215 -0.1% | +9K |
Daily follower snapshots from CreatorDB's longitudinal index.
| Brand | Type | Platform | Date | Performance vs. baseline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paramount+ Streaming / Distribution | Long-term partnership | YouTube | Long-term | — |
| Showtime Networks Media / Joint Venture | Investor / partner | YouTube | Long-term | — |
Smithsonian Channel is the digital and broadcast television arm of the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum and research complex, produced in partnership with Showtime Networks under the Paramount Global umbrella. Launched as a cable network in 2007 and now streaming on Paramount+, the channel translates the Smithsonian's vast archival and scientific resources into documentary programming spanning natural history, military history, cultural heritage, and industrial process. Its YouTube presence — built to millions of subscribers — functions as a clip-and-short-form extension of longer-form productions, with titles ranging from factory-floor explainers like the long-running *Inside the Factory* series to wildlife segments, wartime drone footage, and archive-driven social history pieces. The breadth of subject matter reflects the Smithsonian Institution's own encyclopedic scope.
Despite the institutional weight behind it, Smithsonian Channel's social media output across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok has been largely dormant since around 2024, with the YouTube channel showing no recent uploads and Instagram and TikTok activity trailing off even earlier. Notably, the YouTube catalog continues to generate above-average engagement relative to category peers, suggesting the archive of educational and nature clips holds durable audience interest even without active publishing. The channel's even gender split and broad age reach make it an attractive environment for brands in travel, science, and heritage categories, and its Paramount+ distribution relationship shapes how the brand thinks about social as a discovery funnel rather than a primary content destination. Its next phase will likely depend on whether Paramount Global reinvests in social-native production to compete with the growing wave of science and history creators on YouTube.
Smithsonianchannel reaches an audience concentrated in United States primarily through YouTube, and is best activated via long-form YouTube integrations, Instagram Reels and Stories, TikTok branded content. Their sponsorship history skews toward Streaming / Distribution, Media / Joint Venture, a clear signal of fit for brands in those categories. Demonstrated partners include Paramount+ and Showtime Networks. Engagement on YouTube runs around 3.4%, which points to an audience better suited to category-relevant, mid-funnel campaigns than to pure-reach buys. The channel's mix of long-form YouTube integrations and Instagram Reels and Stories lets a sponsor choose between short awareness placements and longer, more detailed integrations. Because the audience follows education content rather than arriving through untargeted reach, sponsorships that match the channel's subject matter tend to convert more efficiently than broad placements. A consistent, on-topic posting focus gives sponsors a predictable, brand-safe environment, lowering placement risk compared with broad, general-interest channels. Campaigns here are best measured on qualified engagement and consideration within the niche rather than on raw impression volume. For United States-focused brands in Streaming / Distribution and related categories, Smithsonianchannel offers a defined, creative-fit audience rather than broad, low-intent impressions.
Benchmark estimates for a creator at Smithsonianchannel's tier (Macro, 4.9M combined followers, United States). Pulled from CreatorDB's category benchmarks.
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Smithsonian Channel programs are available to stream on Paramount Plus, so a cable subscription is not required. The channel's official social media accounts direct viewers specifically to Paramount Plus as the place to access its full lineup of documentaries and series.
Smithsonian Channel is a joint venture between Showtime Networks and the Smithsonian Institution, the renowned American museum and research organization. That partnership is what gives the channel access to both premium television production resources and the Smithsonian's vast historical and scientific archives.
Yes — the channel is co-owned by the Smithsonian Institution itself, which means productions can draw directly on the organization's archives, collections, and subject-matter experts. This is what sets it apart from a typical cable documentary channel and gives its history content access to primary sources most networks cannot use.
Inside the Factory is a documentary series that goes behind the scenes of large-scale industrial food and manufacturing operations around the world. Episodes have explored facilities like an Indian city that processes over 3,500 tons of chilies every single day, as well as the highly automated lines that produce factory-made mashed potatoes at scale.
Smithsonian Channel has produced at least two distinct WWII series: WWII Battles in Color, which presents archival wartime footage in colorized form, and WWII by Drone, which uses aerial drone cameras to revisit historic European and Pacific battlefields. Both take a visually fresh approach to Second World War history.
Yes — Smithsonian Channel has produced content exploring LGBTQ+ history beyond the Stonewall uprising, drawing on records and artifacts held within the Smithsonian's own archives. It fits the channel's broader approach of using the Institution's unique collections to illuminate underrepresented chapters of American history.
Greek Island Odyssey is a travel and culture documentary series that takes viewers across the islands of Greece, exploring their history, landscapes, and local life. It sits within Smithsonian Channel's lineup of international exploration programming alongside series like Into the Wild New Zealand.
Into the Wild New Zealand is a nature and wildlife series focused on New Zealand's distinctive ecosystems, animals, and terrain. The channel's New Zealand content has featured birds like the North Island brown kiwi and other reptiles and wildlife unique to the region.
Yes — marine wildlife is part of Smithsonian Channel's nature programming, with content covering reef ecosystems and predator behavior including sharks. This sits alongside its land-based wildlife coverage, which spans birds, reptiles, and animals across destinations like New Zealand.
As of late 2026, Smithsonian Channel's YouTube uploads appear to have been on pause for roughly a year, though the channel has built an audience of well over four million subscribers there. Its library of documentary clips, wildlife segments, and historical series remains publicly available on the channel for viewing.
Stats (followers, engagement, audience demographics, growth) are pulled live from the CreatorDB API covering YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Bio and FAQ content is AI-assisted; news items are sourced from cited public press at generation time. Read the full methodology →
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