The Knight Foundation announced a challenge grant to PBS to launch this network on December 14, 2004 at the Digital Futures Initiative Summit.

By December 2005, Boston's WGBH and WNET started broadcasting World on a subchannel and added by April 2006's WETA.

Following WGBH and WNET teamed up with PBS to roll out a national version of the local channels as World.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) funded R&D for the relaunch[clarification needed] and covered costs so stations would not have to pay the license until June 2011.

The revamped World had a monthly theme for coherence and personality to create online action and buzz.

The channel expanded its scope of program offerings, such as reviewing archives, film festivals, indie producer hubs, public radio, Independent Television Service, Link TV, MiND TV, Minority Consortia, New American Media, the Sundance Institute, and Youth Media International.

To help mitigate the cuts, CPB redirected some funds towards the World network, specifically in the amount of US$750,000 (equivalent to $981,000 in 2023), that had been earmarked for the National Minority Consortia.

[2] World shows a core three-hour documentary block four times a day with other programs circulate in the other 12 hours.