A&E or also known as Arts and Entertainment Network was first launched on February 1, 1984. Their original focus was on dramas, biographies and documentaries but have since branched out into adding reality series. The station originated after a merger of ABC's ARTS and NBC's Entertainment Channel. A&E is the flagship station of the Arts and Entertainment Television Networks, which also owns The History Channel and The Biography Channel. A&E once aired the most British made series outside of PBS and BBC America, but has backed down since the large addition of reality programming. Once a source for fine arts programs, A&E has almost pulled the plug on that entirely. In fact, their most popular programs are all reality based series such as Dog The Bounty Hunter, Criss Angel: Mindfreak, and Gene Simmons Family Jewels. Their documentary series such as Cold Case Files, First 48 and American Justice are also highly popular. A&E has recently acquired the rights to the tough HBO drama The Sopranos. Their most watched docudrama made for the network was Flight 93, the story of the hijacked plane during 9/11 in which the passengers overtook the hijackers and crashed the plane over Pennsylvania, instead of its target in Washington D.C. The movie rated 5.9 million viewers on its first showing. A&E can now be seen in HD through many cable companies and soon on Directv.