By the late 1990s, after an acquisition by Discovery, Inc. earlier in the decade, the network began to pivot towards reality television programming—predominantly focusing on programming involving lifestyles and personal stories—to the point that the previous name with "The Learning Channel" spelled out was phased out in favor of its initialism.

ARC submitted a proposal to participate in the ESCD and use the ATS-6 communications satellite (launched into orbit in 1974) to disseminate "career education" programming to teachers at no cost;[2] the consortium set up 15 earth station receiver sites across eight states in conjunction with local education service agencies.

[3][4] The ATS-6 temporarily ceased service to the Appalachian region after being re-orbited to India in September 1975; by the time the satellite reoriented to the United States the following year, the number of earth receivers used to transmit AESP content increased to 45 sites in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina (some of which also acted as relays to local television stations in the region).

As a result, ARC decided to purchase transponder time on the commercial Satcom I communications satellite, in order to continue its distance education offerings.

The channel mostly featured documentary content pertaining to nature, science, history, current events, medicine, technology, cooking, home improvement, and other information-based topics.

These were more focused, more technical, and of a more academic nature than the content that was being broadcast at the time on its eventual rival, The Discovery Channel, which launched in 1985.

TLC began to explore new avenues starting in the late 1990s, deemphasizing educational material in favor of entertainment.

The block was dropped completely in late 2008, and Cable in the Classroom programming, meant for recording by teachers, was discontinued in 2014.

During this period, there was a huge shift in content, with most new programming being geared towards reality-drama and interior design shows.

The new theme also played on "life lessons", which featured heavily in the network's advertising and promotional clips.

This new slogan came as TLC began to shift even more to personal stories, and away from the once-dominating home improvement shows.

[13] Also premiering on TLC in 2009 was Cake Boss, which focuses on the head baker at Carlo's Bakery and his staff, who mostly consist of his family.

TLC's American feed is available in Canada on most cable and satellite providers, as it is authorized for carriage as a foreign cable television service by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission; save for a few differences it features the same programming schedule as that seen in the United States.

[26] TLC Romania was launched on January 20, 2011, replacing the European version of Discovery Travel & Living in this country.

TLC Germany launched on April 10, 2014, on cable, IPTV and satellite services in both HD and SD.

TLC Balkans was also launched on October 1, 2010, replacing the European version of the "Travel & Living Channel" in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

On July 4, 2011, a Dutch version was launched, time sharing with Animal Planet's standard definition feed.

A South Korean version was launched on December 4, 2013, under the Discovery Communications and CMB (Central Media Broadcasting Korea).