What’s the Better Channel: Science or Discovery Channel?

The voters have spoken and one channel lives to see another day! Congratulations to…

Never has a victory been so reluctant! Although Palladia isn’t as widely known as MTV, it still very nearly beat out its own parent channel! These comments sum it up:

FranVanster: “If it wasn’t for Awkward. and Jackass, I’d awkwardly choose Palladia, even though I’ve never watched it.”

GreendaleAlum: “Palladia… I guess I’m the only one who’s heard of it.”

Miz_Tasha: “I choose MTV because it’s a channel you love to hate. Everyone picks on it all the time but these are the people who go home on Thursday nights, unplug the phones, and watch guidos gel their hair.”

R.I.P. music television. Now onto the NEXT match-up!

This week’s contest is another big bro, little bro situation!

Background: Like most cable channels these days, Science began as a Discovery Channel spin-off. Originally called Discovery Science, it first broadcast in 1999 and has made itself over a number of times in the last decade, most recently in 2011 when it debuted its current black gemstone logo and a slightly more playful tone.

Original Programming: While much of Science’s subject matter overlaps with Discovery Channel’s, probably its most distinctive programming revolves around manufacturing. Shows like How It’s Made and Factory Made are basically just machinery porn, and shows like Build It Bigger and How Do They Do It? illustrate some of the most incredible man-made engineering feats in the world. Not all its programming is dry and informational, however. Oddities is a charming reality show about a New York curiosity shoppe and Dark Matters explores the more fantastical and frightening lore in science history.

Reruns: Science also offers an array of original, yet repurposed reruns (including the entire run of Firefly), and some pretty great British science shows like Wonders of the Solar System and the hilarious Karl Pilkington miniseries An Idiot Abroad (which will return soon for Season 2). All in all, the network’s reruns are tastefully chosen, relevant in subject matter, and fresh-seeming. Not bad!

Why It’s The Best: Science airs tons of programming that’s not only incredibly entertaining, but also has consistently high academic value. Plus, and I don’t mean to sound weird, but those high-definition broadcasts of assembly line montages often border on beautiful.

Why It’s The Worst: Science may not be the coolest kid in school. But you know what’s supposedly cool? MTV2. Maybe coolness is overrated.

Background: Discovery Channel originated in 1985 as a co-venture between the BBC and various American investment firms. What began as an educational cable outlet which only broadcast for 12 hours a day to around 150,000 people is now one the largest cable networks in the world, reaching over 431 million homes worldwide.

Original Programming: Initially Discovery Channel aired content it acquired from documentary libraries and even the Soviet Union, but later produced its own specials on many subjects, most famously its annual week-long celebration of SHARKS!!! Additionally, it’s struck gold with docu-reality series like Deadliest Catch, Gold Rush, Dirty Jobs, and various other blue collar-related occupational shows. Also MythBusters! Many of Discovery’s shows have been rebroadcast or relocated to its sister networks (including and especially Science). Not strictly a science channel, Discovery also created popular game show Cash Cab, once aired the interior design-based Christopher Lowell Show, and has made superstars of its resident hunks with Man vs. Wild and Dirty Jobs.

Reruns: Discovery has produced and/or amassed one of the largest content libraries in the world, but it still finds room to air acquisitions from sources like the BBC (Planet Earth, Life, and the upcoming Frozen Planet).

Why It’s the Best: Shark Week!!!

Why It’s the Worst: I don’t care about swamp people, loggers, or really any shows where people die on the job.

Official TV.com Verdict
Just based on sheer number of minutes I spend tuned to each channel, Science wins by a landslide. Morgan Freeman would approve.

But now it’s your turn! COMMENT BELOW and tell us your verdict: Science or Discovery Channel? And make your case! What do you love or hate about each channel?

Click below to see the full tournament bracket:

Note: Because we started with an odd number of channels, we gave some of the bigger channels a first-round bye.

Want to catch up on past battles? Head over to the America’s Got Cable archives.