The channel was launched on 1 October 2000 by a joint-venture between A+E Networks and British Sky Broadcasting in the United Kingdom.

The channel's programming, as the name suggests, is made up of the biographies of famous people, including bands, politicians and criminals.

In the United Kingdom the channel was available on Sky, Smallworld Cable and Virgin Media.

A high definition version launched on Sky on 5 November 2008,[1] it was also available on Virgin Media Ireland from October 2009.

[2] The channel closed on 3 July 2012 to allow CI HD to broadcast 24 hours a day.