The Aviators is an award-winning weekly documentary-lifestyle-science TV series featuring interesting people, the latest aircraft, current technology and fly-in destinations. The show’s site describes subject matter as follows: “We will take you behind the scenes to show you how airline pilots train, how planes are built, and how ATC works. We will profile aviation businesses and showcase aviation products. We will provide safety tips for private and recreational pilots and career tips for professional pilots.”
The Aviators premiered on the Global Television Network on Saturday, September 4, 2010. It could also be seen on CHEK-TV in Canada and is distributed to all 356 Public Broadcasting Stations in the United States for broadcast in numerous markets starting in September 2010. On September 1, 2010 the producers announced that a deal had been signed with Discovery Channel Asia that saw the series broadcast overseas in the spring of 2011.
In the first six months after its premiere, the show aired almost 8,000 times across North America – an average of over 40 times a day. The Aviators launched on Hulu in February 2011 and was viewed over 32,000 times in just two weeks. In March 2011 producers announced some changes for season two including the addition of country music singer George Canyon to the cast as a guest host for the season. The current season’s premiere date is September 16, 2013. Production for a fifth season has begun, and is planned to air in North America in September 2014.